Instructors

Course Director & Rock Instructor, Rising Together & Redwood Adventure Rock

Grace has been working with GirlVentures since 2014. In addition to working for GirlVentures' she also instructs for NOLS and Balanced Rock. Grace's mission is to share her outdoor knowledge, skills and resources with folks from communities that have been underrepresented in the mainstream outdoor narrative. When she isn't playing in the dirt, she can be found on her bike, binge reading books or hosting parties.

Instructor, Redwood Adventure Rock & On The Rise

McKenzie hails from the soggy streets and rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in Portland, OR, she's supposedly a grown-up now but she still loves to play outside. This is her second season with GirlVentures, and for six years she has been leading outdoor excursions for a variety of organizations, schools, and guiding outfitters. McKenzie considers herself a perpetual student and she is inspired by what she learns from listening to other people’s stories. She is working hard to figure out her role in making this world a more loving place for EVERYONE. No exceptions. She believes in the good in people and in the ability of the outdoors to bring out our best selves. When she is not leading GirlVentures trips, she also loves to go rock climbing, read things, ride her bicycle through rainstorms, paint sloppy watercolors of beautiful places, eat whole grapefruits like an orange, pull the weeds out of the garden, and sing really loud alone in the car.

Course Director & Rock Instructor, Transitions

Narinda joined the GirlVentures community in Fall 2013 as a mentor for Girlz Climb On East Bay. She worked as an Admissions Associate for the 2014 season, during which she also became a field instructor. She's since worked community and summer courses for GirlVentures as well as wilderness courses with NOLS, Eagle Rock School, and Dunn School. Prior to work as an outdoor educator, Narinda graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in English literature in 2007 and worked in the nonprofit sector in Los Angeles 2007-2012. Narinda recently joined the Stanford Adventure Program as part-time and field staff. When not working in outdoor education, she spends her time rock climbing, writing, and making pottery.

Instructor, Project Courage 

Lydia grew up and went to college in Maryland, and after graduating, decided to try working in the outdoors. She started an internship with Outward Bound's At-Risk program in Florida, which showed her just how impactful outdoor experiences can be. From there, she instructed abroad, then most recently in California, where she discovered a love for the mountains. She has continued to pursue this field because she wants to help make these experiences accessible to young people where they can be challenged, encouraged, and immersed in a place away from their everyday lives. Lydia believes that everyone needs to pushed out of their comfort zones to grow. It is a dream to be able to work outside and grow as an instructor everyday, and she looks forward to learning from and leading participants through reflective, fun, and transformative experiences as well!

Instructor, Rising Together + Redwood Adventure Coast + Fierce n' Fabulous 

Miah is a queer, mixed-race, Black woman from Asheville, North Carolina. She has worked for the North Carolina Outward Bound School for the past 7 years, cycling through a variety of titles and responsibilities ranging from intern, logistics, instructor, whitewater specialist, and course director. Miah has had the privilege of working with, adventuring alongside, and learning from hundreds of students, and feels so lucky to build community with folks in wilderness! She is especially grateful for having had the opportunity to listen and learn from the stories and experiences of adjudicated youth, veterans, trauma survivors, and youth of color. As a graduate student in the College of Ethnic Studies at SF State, Miah is interested in the politics of space, racialized landscapes, and the relationship between healing the people / healing the land.

Logistics Coordinator

Vanessa hails from the small coastal town of Marina, CA (near the much better known Monterey, CA – yes the aquarium). With a backyard like Big Sur, she was always close to and inspired by the beauty and power of the outdoors. Though she didn’t take her first camping/backpacking trip until the ripe age of 22, she has since fallen in love with anything and everything outdoors-related, and is passionate about getting young people to experience it for themselves.

As one of three girls raised by a single mother in low-income housing, Vanessa understands the challenges of getting youth outside. She hopes to use her experience to guide following generations outdoors. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2017 (first one in the family to get a Bachelors!) with a degree in Anthropology and traveling the world for 7 months, people are her passion, followed closely by climbing, hiking, eating, and definitely coffee.

Instructor, Fierce & Fabulous + Redwood Adventure Coast

Erin grew up in the Bay Area adventuring to local open spaces with her family, and moved to the Southwest four years ago. When she was in middle school she was introduced to outdoor adventure based programming and since then her passion for the working outdoors has only grown. Erin recently graduated from Prescott College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major in Adventure Education and Human Development. Erin sees the value in this work because the leadership, communication and personal development skills that she gleaned from her outdoor experiences as a young person are the same skills she still relies upon to work her way through life’s challenges.

Course Director, Redwood Adventure Coast

Avalon is a GirlVentures baby, having grown up learning how to be outside with GirlVentures programs. As a student she has been on Project Courage, Transitions, and Girls Climb On. After GirlVentures she went on a month long NOLS course that brought her to the alpine lakes of Wyoming. She then worked as an Assistant Instructor for Transitions the summer after high school and has returned the past three years as a full instructor. She is now returning to GirlVentures as a course director for Redwood Adventure. She graduated from Bard College in 2018 with a BA in Anthropology. This past year she has been working as the Outings Assistant at a local high school, learning more about what it means coordinate and organize trips. She has also been working as the Program Coordinator for Girls Climb On in SF. Avalon is passionate about the work that GirlVentures does and is ever grateful for the place it made for her in the outdoor community. She is continuing to learn about what it means to create more access and inclusion within the outdoor world. Avalon also loves soccer, climbing, (is learning more about kayaking), and dancing.

Instructor, Rising Together/Redwood Adventure Rock/Project Courage/On The Rise

Amelia Vigil started working with Girl Ventures this year. As a San Franciscan, Two- Spirit, Urban- Indigenous/Latinx, performance artist, poet, outdoor educator & twin she has been tracking GV since 2013. Acting chair of the board of Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit. Her advocacy and support of Indigenous self-determination are a constant in her life. Amelia has an A.A. from Feather River Community College in Outdoor Recreational Leadership & a B.A. in English from Mills College. In 2018 she completed a 114-mile journey of the Nuumu Poyo with Indigenous Women Hikes. You can find her reading three books, crying and playing the flute to the moon on any given day.

Photo credit Autumn Harrys