and spent nine years in finance with Intel Corporation, working with everything from an internet start-up to a $2.5 billion factory construction project. In 2002 he made a career shift and moved back to the Twin Cities. He spent nine years as the President of Youth Frontiers, a nonprofit organization that partners with schools to improve school climate, and reaches more than 100,000 students annually, before joining the VOBS Crew.

Outside of work, Jack is active in his church and community and enjoys traveling with his wife, Laura, and their three children, Elisabeth, Catherine and Timothy.

She is proud to serve on our leadership team, head-up strategy and partner with community stakeholders for a more compassionate and resilient future. Marlais believes in the power of group learning and outdoor education. She is dedicated to creating inclusive and safe spaces, and is always eager to put people on course for character and leadership. Marlais is also an Outward Bound alum, writer, and mother of twin daughters. She loves to travel everywhere, and considers Lake Superior her True North.

He also educated himself on what human activity is doing to the environment and tries to make lifestyle choices to minimize his impact and help heal the Earth. He is fortunate enough to share the stewardship of a summer cabin on a small lake and a few acres of woods and fields in the Avon Hills of Central Minnesota and it is his happy place.

Jay’s many interests and activities over the years have included running marathons and triathlons, playing in a folk music group and with a west African drumming group, Latin dancing (and even a bit of teaching) and organic gardening.  His winter focus over the last decade has been Nordic skiing – he hopes to complete his 8^th American Birkebeiner in 2021 although it will be a strange pandemic version of this much-loved ritual of winter.   He is primarily a skate-skier but plans to get back into classic skiing also because he can’t wait to explore the woods and waters around Homeplace!

Jay’s motivation to return to VOBS, other than the opportunity to work with awesome people, was that he believes that two qualities we need a lot more of in today’s society are compassion and resilience.  Development and nurturing of these qualities is central to the mission of Outward Bound and he can’t think of a better way to contribute than to lead the financial stewardship of VOBS.

During this time, he realized that while climbing and adventures were fun and exciting, he found true purpose and meaning when working with people. A desire to combine high adventure with youth development and mentorship is what drew him to Outward Bound.

In 2010 he started as an intern at the Ely, MN basecamp. Since then he has worked as a field instructor, course director, staff trainer, and in a variety of management roles. While he has always called VOBS home, he has spent time at many other Outward Bound schools across the USA and Outward Bound Australia. He was very proud to return to VOBS as the Director of Safety & Operations in 2023.

He brings a wide breadth of life experience to this role. His flexibility, creative thinking, and collaborative nature are traits that have served him well in this field.

Stacey holds a master's degree in philanthropy and her non-profit experience includes leadership roles in education, healthcare, and international development. She loves the outdoors and can't wait connect with you to partner to deliver this incredible mission.

From there, she developed her roles and experience as an assistant instructor, lead instructor, course director and trainer, working in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Costa Rica and the Twin Cities.

The time came when she knew it was time to expand her comfort zone and practice what she preached on oh so many courses. In 2016, she applied to Teach for America and moved from her 100 square foot cabin nestled at the bottom of the North Cascades to a triple decker in South Boston. Laying the tracks as she drove the train, Anabell taught middle school science while simultaneously attending night classes, earning her Master of Education in Teaching and Curriculum from Boston University.

Yearning to be “home” and near family, Anabell moved back to Minneapolis in 2020 and began teaching with Hiawatha Academies. She has always lived and worked along Outward Bound's values and is beyond excited to be back within the community, back once more flying the Blue Peter, back “home”, ready to serve, to strive and not to yield!

In addition to her service at VOBS, Andrea has worked at a variety of other youth-serving organizations, including time as a naturalist and teacher at the country’s first accredited Environmental Learning Center, as a crew leader and work projects coordinator for the Minnesota Conservation Corps, and as a science teacher at an experiential education high school in Oregon.

While it was working in the wilderness that first drew Andrea to working for VOBS, she continues to work here because of the compassionate people she has met and gets to learn from every day. When she is not working with staff and students at Homeplace, Andrea and her husband, Brian, enjoy learning from and with their children, Reed and Nels.

working up a sweat, bathing in rivers and writing postcards to loved ones. During some very long walks in the woods, Dan learned a little about gratitude, resilience, loneliness, compassion, positivity and the unforgiving wonder of wilderness.

A random act of kindness by a stranger during one such walk in led Dan to the Boundary Waters and VOBS in 2014, where he has traveled by canoe, foot, ski and dogsled ever since.

She returns to VOBS after earning a Master’s in Education, classroom teaching in Minnesota and Alaska and raising her family (which included homeschooling her children). She is the parent of three children who have been traveling in the BWCAW and other wilderness areas since they were infants. She lives on a small hobby farm in Duluth with her family, goats, chickens, cats and dogs. Libby enjoys running, reading, and wilderness travel with family and friends whenever possible. She is thrilled to be working with VOBS again and believes passionately in the Outward Bound mission and values. “We can do more than we think we can and we need each other.” (Kurt Hahn)

at Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School for a year before returning to VOBS and committing to year round work in Ely, Minnesota and Redford, Texas. Yoshie's experiences with VOBS also inspired her to co-found Wheels for Mental Wellness, a cycling trip across America to raise awareness around mental health. In 2018, Yoshie and fellow Outward Bound instructor Catherine Dyer spent 54-days cycling from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida. Along the way they conducted interviews and wrote blog posts about a myriad of mental health issues. This expedition challenged Yoshie to apply the skills she had learned at Outward Bound in a new context and further informed her love for expeditionary learning.

Outward Bound has opened a world of challenge, adventure, and discovery that Yoshie never knew existed as a teenager. Her time at Outward Bound has informed her values and given her invaluable tools to communicate with the people she cares about. She is honored to be a part of imparting those same experiences and tools to the students she works with and supporting them through challenge and adventure. She learns something new from each expedition and is excited to keep growing and challenging herself alongside her students.

You name a job at the school and Ledoux has done it. Currently, she is the Logistics Manager at our Ely basecamp.

Of her current post, Ledoux says, “It’s a perfect job for me; I get to create systems that make gear and food an easy part of packing for a course. I truly enjoy working with all of the instructors – they are loud, entertaining, and inspire me every day with their love for their students.” When she’s not fixing something, cleaning something, or organizing something in the Trips building, you can find Ledoux running a small carpentry business, learning to skate ski in the winter and spending her springs coaching The Bears, a local Little League baseball team. Go Bears!

During that time, Emily was a math tutor and took pride in helping kids go from thinking they are bad at math to getting engaged and excited about solving math problems. After graduating from Hamline, she decided to stay in Minnesota and that’s when she found VOBS.

Similar, in its own way, to getting a kid excited about their least favorite subject, Emily understood how challenge and discovery has the ability to change lives. Emily started at VOBS in 2015 as the Development and Executive Assistant, where she discovered her passion and skills in database management and analytics. Now, as the Development Associate, Emily helps the Development team get excited about technology and using our data to solve problems.

she served two years in AmeriCorps, leading paddling, hiking and other educational events for an environmental advocacy nonprofit in Asheville, NC. During her time in AmeriCorps, she also worked as a campaign manager for a North Carolina State Senator. Her time working in local politics and nonprofit advocacy lead her to pursue a Master's degree in Planning at Clark University. However, after two years of virtual classes and working remotely for a Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, she was swayed by an offer to instruct a 15-day multi-element course at the Twin Cities Center for VOBS. Working outside, in-person, helping students find their confidence in the outdoors felt like returning 'home' and Catie is beyond grateful to be working at VOBS for the foreseeable future.

and studied Outdoor Education.

Her classes were nontraditional, as she got to spend her time learning and doing the skills she was being taught, like white water canoeing. She developed her love for canoeing when she was younger and it has only grown since graduating college. Since starting as an Instructor at VOBS, she has had the ability to grow her Instructor skills and continue to learn her canoeing and camping skills. She really enjoys getting to share the joy of all things outside with my co-workers and Students.

Tessa also spent some time as a senior naturalist in Homer, Alaska. 

Tessa came to Outward Bound in 2015 as an instructor and now works on our Student Services team year-round as a course advisor.  When Tessa isn’t busy helping prepare students and families for their expedition, she gets out alongside our students as a field instructor in the winter and summer seasons!

It is evident that Tessa has sought out a life filled with adventure in her professional and personal life. In 2014, Tessa was a part of the 8 Rivers North Expedition, where she and her crew paddle over 900 miles in 60 days, connecting 9 different rivers in the Canadian Arctic ending on the Arctic Ocean.  When she is not working Tessa spends her time thinking of the next adventure. She also enjoys exploring the local flora and fauna, canoeing, baking bread, and spending time with her community here at her home in Ely, Minnesota!

After graduating from Northern Michigan University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Outdoor Recreation Leadership Management, Justin decided to put camp on the back burner and stumbled upon the Voyageur Outward Bound School where he started working as a summer and winter intern in 2018.Justin immediately fell in love with the winter program, and the impact it has on the students that come through. His passion for mushing and leading winter expeditions kept him in the blistering cold of Ely, Minnesota where he has spent the past six winters instructing, course directing ,and training dogs. When Justin is not working, you can find him at a yard sale on an early Friday morning, or playing a game of ultimate frisbee with some friends.

 Outdoor Education with an emphasis in Adventure Leadership and Equity and Inclusion at Northland College, in Northern Wisconsin. She spent her class time learning about the foundations and principles of Outdoor Education as well as rock climbing, paddling, hiking, and whitewater canoeing. Many of her professors were former Voyageur Outward Bound instructors who spoke very highly of their work and connection to the Voyageur Outward Bound School (VOBS). Pursuing a career with VOBS felt like the natural next step for her upon graduating college.

She started working at Voyageur Outward Bound School in 2021 as an Intern and has since worked as an Instructor, Lead Instructor, and winter Intern. She considers the work we do at Outward Bound to be a powerful catalyst in the world to create positive change for individuals and communities, and ultimately help save the planet.

When not working for Outward Bound, she enjoys sea kayaking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, watching the sunset and anything that allows her to spend more time outdoors , connecting with others and nature. 

and moved in with her family in northern Wisconsin. Although her move to the Midwest was meant to be temporary, she fell in love with ButterBurgers from Culver’s, the amazing summer weather, the cost of living and the Midwest Nice culture (which was much needed after living in Boston).

For over a year, Kim worked as an HR Coordinator for Greenheck Group in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry. As the current HR Coordinator for VOBS, Kim is excited to return to the nonprofit world and support outdoor education. Kim currently resides in Minneapolis, MN with her dog Ari, whom she adopted from a local rescue in August 2022.

After spending a few years working in a laboratory studying water quality, Megan was eager to get back into working with kids in outdoor education. This brought her back to Ely where she worked at the Camp Widjiwagan Outdoor Learning Program before coming to work for the Voyageur Outward Bound School. Here at Outward Bound Megan loves getting to talk to families about all the opportunities they can have in the wilderness, and seeing how much students grow and change through experiential education. When she is not working you can find Megan out paddling in the summer, cross country skiing in the winter, and making lots of homemade pasta with friends and family. 

It was also through this program that he learned about Outward Bound and the opportunity to work with Outward Bound staff who were serving as consultants to the program. Enamored with their tales of adventure in the Northwoods, Elliott almost pursued a career at Outward Bound immediately following college, but decided to take a few years to live in a big city and work as a product design consultant. Unable to ignore his longing to work in a wilderness setting as an educator, Elliott eventually made the move to Northern Minnesota in 2016 and has not left since.

and spirit of VOBS. He has returned year after year to foster the values of compassion, integrity, and grit as a means to improve the lives of his students and allow them to improve their communities when they return home.

Over the past five years, Will has worked as an instructor, trainer, and course director during the summer months in Ely, on canoeing and backpacking courses. Will has also filled those same roles for VOBS at its Big Bend, TX base in the spring, winter and fall, working with students on backpacking and whitewater canoeing expeditions. He has instructed nearly all course types that VOBS has to offer, from multi-element canoeing and backpacking, to Intercept, to grieving teens programs. In addition to his technical skills in canoeing and backpacking, he is skilled and knowledgeable in rock climbing, something on which he spends a great deal of his free time.