The Rustic Team

Anna is an alumna of School Year Abroad and has a dual degree in geoscience and Mandarin from Dartmouth. Anna’s passion for experiential education and travel was sparked in high school and furthered in college. She now applies this passion at Rustic Pathways, providing opportunities for teachers and students to immerse themselves in new surroundings and engage powerfully with other cultures. Anna was previously director of our China operations and now resides in San Francisco.

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With a master’s degree in risk management and more than 20 years of relevant experience, Dave specializes in implementing risk management and emergency response programs for domestic and global tour operators. 

Dr. Will Smith is a recognized leader in wilderness medicine who joined Rustic Pathways in 2015. He practices emergency medicine in Jackson, Wyoming, and is clinical faculty for the University of Washington School of Medicine, as well as the Medical Director for the National Park Service. Locally, he serves as the Co-Medical Director for Grand Teton National Park, Teton County Search & Rescue, Bridger Teton National Forest, and Jackson Hole Fire / EMS.

Focusing his academic research on Genocide studies, Zack graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Sociology. Prior to Rustic, with a lifelong passion for travel and education, Zack worked as a high school English teacher in Japan and a historical tour guide in his hometown of New York City. In his time off, Zack has backpacked extensively throughout Europe and Asia, visiting over fifty-five countries thus far. Zack may be spotted running through the park or dancing at a local music festival. A trained Emergency Medical Technician, Zack uses his expertise to keep our students and staff safe throughout their program experience.

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Lauren joined Rustic Pathways in 2008 after graduating from Emory University. She spent her first six years in Costa Rica overseeing our operations and seasonal staff. Lauren then formed our Alumni Association where she developed programs for continuing student involvement. She now uses her extensive skill set to continue to improve the hiring and training of all program leaders across the globe. Lauren lives in Chicago, travels often, and enjoys maintaining her Spanish fluency.

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Patrick began his career in experiential education as a Harvard student, managing the University’s First-Year Outdoor Program. After graduating with high honors from the Social Studies Department, Patrick continued his passion for social enterprise as an AmeriCorps volunteer. He now brings his strong leadership skills, love of the outdoors, and experience as Country Director in Mongolia and Tanzania to our team of Personal Travel Advisors in Ohio. Patrick’s immense dedication to community partnerships and passion for creating meaningful student experiences continue to shine through in our customer service.

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Hollie’s life changed when she witnessed the impact that Rustic Pathways programs have on both students and communities while leading her first program in 2015. After teaching art for 7 years in Baltimore, Maryland, she joined the Rustic team in Fiji for over a year. Now, Hollie is happy to be at home in Findlay, Ohio working as a Personal Travel Advisor. Being a PTA allows Hollie to talk about the programs she loves all day long with her dogs at her feet and her family nearby!

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With a gift for organization and a calm, compassionate personality, Carly has supported students traveling with our growing Gap Year division since 2012. After earning her degree in international studies from Miami University of Ohio, she spent several years in New York City before returning to the Cleveland area. From her own adventures in Europe, Morocco, and Costa Rica, Carly knows firsthand how powerful and life-changing world travel can be, and she loves helping to provide similar opportunities to young people on the threshold of adulthood. She also enjoys working on home improvement projects, reading novels, and taking nature walks with her young daughter.

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Heather is a graduate of Cleveland State University with a degree in Psychology. Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, her desire to learn new cultures is always satiated with each day working at Rustic Pathways. Her first international travel was with Rustic and helped her be brave enough to travel alone to Ireland and Scotland. When not working, she enjoys reading, taking nature walks and exploring all parts of Ohio.

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Shelby, a Californian native, avid surfer, and retired rugby player, was inspired to pursue a career in travel, education, and adventure while studying abroad in New Zealand. Since graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in ecology, she has obtained a master’s in education. After leading outdoor leadership expeditions around the world for 10 years, Shelby joined Rustic in 2016 to lead programs in Fiji and now manages Group Travel in Hong Kong.

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Kelli has worked in the student travel industry for the past 10 years with a focus on both the sales and operational sides of the business. She studied Social Studies at Eastern Washington University with an emphasis in Secondary Education and has since traveled extensively both domestically and internationally to meet with teachers eager to travel with their students. Kelli currently resides in McKinney, Texas with her husband and two young girls. She is an active board member and volunteer at her local elementary school with the PTA.

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Originally from Portland, Oregon in the states, Evan’s travel bug was bit when she studied abroad in Kenya, Tanzania, and Israel in college studying both Biology and Film Studies. She says that photography is what brought her abroad initially, but it’s the people she meets around the world that keep her traveling. She began Program Leading with Rustic in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam in 2015, and has since then called a village in Bali her home base in Southeast Asia.

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Amanda, a rock music junkie and amateur rock climber, fell in love with service-oriented travel when she first embarked on a service-learning trip to Belize. After graduating from the University of Louisville with a bachelor’s degree in political science and minors in Middle Eastern Studies and Spanish, Amanda packed her bags to teach English as a Second Language in the island nation of Comoros. Amanda brings these travels, work experience in refugee resettlement, and a love for mango sticky rice to Rustic, where she helps customize our group travel experiences for international schools.

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Matija completed an undergraduate degree at Northeastern University, then went on to earn a master’s degree from Harvard. Her expertise in leadership training and recruitment has enabled her to achieve great success within the Rustic Pathways Group Travel division. Her highest priority is that educators and students walk away completely satisfied and fulfilled from their incredible experience. In her free time, Matija enjoys reading, working out, running, and practicing power vinyasa yoga.

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Theresa is a University of Maryland alum and an avid traveler visiting over 45 countries. After graduation she completed two Fulbright grants in Colombia, deep in the Amazon rainforest. She joined Rustic as a program leader in 2017 working in Costa Rica, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand and meeting with students and families as our representative in Europe and the Middle East. When she isn’t helping families pick their perfect program you can find her reading, dancing or practicing new languages with whoever she meets.

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Cody is a graduate of University of Hawaii with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology. He fell in love with the ocean and the water at a very young age. He was a nationally ranked swimmer and bodyboarder, as well as, the team captain of the university’s swim program his senior year. Since he was five, he’s always wanted to protect the marine ecosystems around the world. Cody is an avid scuba diver, surfer, bodyboarder, and free diver. Cody program led in Fiji, was an outreach coordinator in the Midwest US, and now is working to help pick out the best program for you and your family. He loves live music and all types of foods.

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Zoila was born in New York, Brooklyn. She later moved to the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo with her mother and father. She was the only girl of four brothers. Her being Dominican and Haitian has changed her view on life. At the age of five, she moved back to New York. Zoila loves to sing and is often called a songbird. She is a mother of four, two boys and two girls and a wife of seven years. Zoila is a very vibrant individual who loves to help people and always tries to see the good in them. She is very positive and optimistic about life and believes that everything happens for a reason and good comes out of bad.

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Candice is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio with a degree in business administration, and she recently earned her MBA from Lake Erie College. Candice brings her expertise, kindness, and attention to detail to our human resources department. She assists with the on-boarding of all staff and manages staff benefits and professional development.

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Scott joined the Rustic team in 2018. He has been passionate about travel and sustainable development since he was bitten with the travel bug in college. He spent 5 years working in Japan, first as an English teacher and then pursuing an MA in International Development. He has led gap year programs that circumnavigated the world but now gets to spend a little less time in airports and focus on sharing the value and importance of intentional Rustic Pathways travel experiences to families. On his next travel adventure, he wants to go to Namibia.

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A member of the Rustic Pathways family since 2007, Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University in non-profit administration and psychology with a focus on contemporary urban issues, fundraising and development. In addition to her work as a certified travel administrator for Rustic Pathways, she has a passion for world travel and learning about foreign cultures. She has extensive travel experience in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. In her free time, Jamie can be found volunteering, reading books, and spending time with her three children in Ohio.

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Born and raised in the Cleveland area, and a veteran member of our Ohio office, Katie is instrumental in keeping our complex administration systems running smoothly. She is a certified travel agent, who greatly enjoys the dynamic, face-paced environment of travel operations. In her spare time, Katie enjoys spending time with her family, and is passionate about baking and trying new recipes.

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