AEE Staff

Sherry Bagley
Executive Director

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Contact: Sherry@aee.org

303-440-8844 x100

Sherry Bagley is the Executive Director of the Association for Experiential Education. In this role, she gets to assist in the elevation and expansion of experiential education by building an inclusive and accessible community; supporting research and programs; and presenting resources to public audiences. Her career path has taken some hard turns from driving tug boats in the Marshall Islands to catering weddings on the beach. She found her true calling when she began working in the experiential education field over 13 years ago. She can often be found out on or in the water swimming, fishing, boating, kayaking, snorkeling, and scalloping. She lives in St. Petersburg, Florida in a 100-year-old house with her amazing husband, 2 great kids, 2 polite dogs, and 2 ridiculous cats. 

Steve Pace, M.S.W.
Director of Accreditations and Certifications 

Pronouns: he/him/his
Contact: steve@aee.org

303-440-8844 x102

Steve was introduced to the power of experiential education when he was an undergraduate at Antioch College. He was transformed after participating in a 3-month field semester course and had the opportunity to lead a similar course before he graduated. Since that time Steve worked for eleven years at the Voyageur Outward Bound School as an instructor, course director, program director, staffing director, and risk manager. He then spent 25 years at Prescott College teaching in the Psychology and Human Development and Adventure Education Programs and later as the Dean of Resident Degrees.  His areas of expertise include adventure education and college program administration, risk management of field activities, interpersonal and group communication, mediation and conflict resolution, and therapeutic use of adventure education.

In 1979 Steve went to his first AEE Conference and was introduced to this remarkable community of educators. Later Steve became an active member of AEE and served both as the President of the Board of Directors and as the Chair of the Accreditation Council. For over twenty-five years, Steve has witnessed the effectiveness of the AEE accreditation process and how it gives organizations a comprehensive method to evaluate and evolve. He is humbled to work with the many talented and dedicated volunteers who make this grassroots program so strong.

In addition to his work at AEE, Steve serves as a member of the Safety Committee of the Board of Outward Bound USA and is an Emeritus Professor at Prescott College.

Anna Miano
Membership & Marketing Manager

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Contact: anna@aee.org

303-440-8844 x 101

Anna is thrilled to serve the AEE community through her role as the Membership & Marketing Manager.  Anna grew up exploring the natural world around her through hiking, camping, rock-climbing, kayaking, and countless other adventures with her family. Anna built her values around the natural world and learning through experience from an early age. Anna also had the opportunity to experience the benefits of experiential education early on in her schooling; as a "lifer" of a Quaker School in Philadelphia. Anna's professional background includes working within the Admissions department of an experientially-focused K-12 School, and as an Event Manager for corporate clients around the world. When she isn't serving the AEE community, Anna can be found hiking, running, baking, painting, or playing with any and all dogs she can find (including her own). Anna currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her husband and dog.

Kat Brown

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Contact: kat@aee.org 

Kat is a freelance virtual assistant and founder of Virtually Possible 365. She left the corporate environment in 2019 to launch her business venture, which would allow her to use the skills and talents she has acquired over the past 30 years to help businesses, associations, and non-profit organizations achieve their goals.   She has a BA in Marketing and Healthcare Administration Management/Human Resources. She is a published children's book author.  When she is not wearing a cape trying to save the world, she enjoys spending time with her fiancé and her rescue pup, Jett. She loves enjoying any time near the water, listening to audiobooks, watching an interesting documentary, traveling, and seeing her best friends as often as possible. She is a native Detroiter. She believes the best thing about launching her business is the freedom to pick and choose her clients, so she was eager to join the team.

Board of Directors

Jay Zarr

Rosanne Mistretta

Kymberly Lacrosse

Justin Hougham

Dr. Justin Hougham is faculty at the University of Wisconsin- Madison where he supports the delivery of a wide range of science education topics to K-12 students, graduate students, and in-service teachers. Justin’s scholarship is in the areas of place-based pedagogies, STEM education, and education for sustainability. Justin has taught 17 different undergraduate and graduate courses as well as instructed over 1000 days in the field. He continues to teach courses, clinics, and trainings that develop pedagogies in experiential education. Justin’s projects and research in the use of technology in place-based environmental education can be found in journals and in conference presentations throughout the US.

Justin currently is on the leadership teams for several federally funded projects that serve needs in community engaged research focused on culturally responsive environmental science education and leadership. Further, he successfully conducts research into and documentation of educational strategies advancing environmental education and organizational change leadership that supports environmental education innovations. He is actively evolving programming innovation to support development of scholarship and research in education in the urban context and expanding access for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Environmental Science Education.

Prior to his faculty role in Wisconsin, Justin served in leadership roles in environmental education programs in New Mexico, Idaho and Washington. This included a Post doctoral fellowship through a NASA funded climate literacy project as well as research projects on-site in the south pacific and in Greenland. Other projects include field work in Alaska, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, and Costa Rica.

Bernie Rupe

Bernie Rupe has 30 years of experience in the adventure therapy field and has 15 years’ experience working and managing Adventure Therapy programs. He is the founder and Executive Director of Chicago Voyagers, a non-profit charity providing free adventure therapy services to low-income youth of color. He is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Nationally Board-Certified Counselor, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist. He has developed a community-based model for providing services to those in need and presented workshops seven times at national and international conferences and published research in the field. He is also on the Outdoor Behavioral Health Council’s Proposal Selection Committee for the Wilderness Therapy Symposium.  Bernie feels at home in the outdoors and enjoys international adventure vacations and riding his bicycle almost every day.

Brad Daniel

Brad Daniel has been a college professor, wilderness trip leader, outdoor educator, and field science instructor for over 35 years. He is co-founder and Executive Director of 2^nd Nature TREC (Training, Research, Education, Consulting), a consulting agency that partners with existing programs to help them become more effective. He also teaches courses in the Masters in Experiential and Outdoor Education program at Western Carolina University. Brad has served in various roles in AEE including Southeast State Ambassador Coordinator, Southeast Regional Council member, and co-chair of the Symposium for Experiential Education Research (SEER). One of his professional passions is bringing groups together to create a greater impact and he is a member of many outdoor-oriented organizations including the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), the Wilderness Education Association (WEA), the Association for Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE) and the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEA). He serves on the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors (CEO) Research Committee. Brad’s passion is using outdoor experiential learning to engage the heart, challenge the mind, and nurture the spirit. He enjoys hiking, canoeing, photography, rescuing dogs, drinking coffee, exploring natural landscapes via any mode of travel, and reflecting on this thing called life.

John Kelley

Member-At-Large

John Kelley is a veteran educator who has worked in both traditional, outdoor, and adventure education for the last twenty years. He has served independent schools as a Head of School, Dean of Students, Teacher, Risk Manager, and Outdoor Program Director. Beyond his time in schools, John has worked in therapeutic wilderness programs, taught in college adventure education departments, led international and outdoor trips, worked as a rock climbing guide, served on re-accreditation teams, and designed programs for global travel organizations. Through this time, John has remained deeply committed to the power of experiential education and gained a deep understanding of nonprofits and independent schools. John has a Masters Degree in Adventure Education and Program Administration from Prescott College.

Phil Brown

President-Elect

Phil, originally from Ipswich, England, is a Senior Trainer at High 5 Adventure Learning Center based in Brattleboro, VT in the US. He moved to the US in 2008 where he started working at a summer camp and then later became an outdoor educator at that same site. Phil brings high energy and devotion to the Adventure field and has presented at many conferences national and international conferences on adventure education, experiential education and enhancing facilitation skills. He is also one of the co-authors of the book “Tinker: Building Purposeful Experiences from Classic Adventure Activities” and the producer/host of “Vertical Playpen” – the podcast all about Adventure and Experiential Education. He has been actively involved in AEE for the past 15 years, serving in many roles in the Northeast Region including the Chair of the Northeast conference committee and has a love of sharing the power and importance of experiential education with educators around the world.

Jennifer Williams

Member-At-Large

Jennifer Williams (she/her) is a community-centered and forward-thinking educator and facilitator, deeply curious about what becomes possible when people gather—especially beyond the conventional boundaries of classrooms and boardrooms. Over the past 20 years, Jennifer has dedicated herself to fostering connections with self, others, and the land through diverse experiential education programs. Her most formative career experience was a four-year tenure as Director of Class Afloat, a high school aboard a tall ship, where she developed a passion for community-based learning and deepened her understanding of the vital relationship between nature, personal growth, and environmental values. As the founder of WILD Awakenings, Jennifer designs and facilitates immersive, nature-based experiences for youth and adults, rooted in the belief that authentic connections—with oneself, others, and the environment—are essential for transformative learning. Her work is driven by a passion for hosting meaningful conversations using participatory processes that ignite curiosity, imagination, and innovation. When not working, Jennifer finds inspiration in nature through hiking, paddling, and cross-country skiing, and expresses her creativity through pottery and soap-making.

Melanie Wills

Member-At-Large

Melanie brings an eclectic background and experience including an undergraduate degree in International Economics with a Latin American Studies focus and a Master of Public Health in Physical Activity. She has spent the last 25+ years enhancing her professional career by managing school development projects in Barbados, leading outdoor education and teambuilding groups with multiple camps/retreat centers, and coordinating numerous staff, programs, and facilities. Prior to her present role, she served at Bradford Woods - Indiana University's Outdoor Center for over a decade where she dove more fully into working with the disability community to engage with outdoor programs and climbing. She currently serves as the Director of Operations & Development (COO/CTO) at Experiential Systems, Inc. where one of the core values is Diversity and Inclusion and a conversation about universal design & accessibility tends to happen daily. She spends much of her free time as a volunteer with the South Orange Technical Rescue Team supporting local, state, and regional needs. She strives to keep a balanced life full of hiking her local trails, exploring waterways, tinkering with home gardening projects, and pouring herself into a good book. Formerly from Indiana, she now lives in Carrboro, NC with her family.

KC Ray

Secretary Elect

Co-Owner Experiential Development Resources (EDR) KC started her adventures in experiential education as an eight-year-old at Camp Wohelo, where she spent 10 summers swimming & canoeing deep in the woods of Maine. These early experiences combined with her father thru-hiking the AT while she was in high school, an intro level challenge course class at Texas A&M University and a fall out with a professor while pursuing a degree in Elementary Education, led to her changing majors to pursue Outdoor Education. After graduation, KC became the Adventure Camp Director at the YO Ranch & began volunteering with the Texas Experiential Ropes Association (TERA) before returning to Texas A&M to pursue a master’s degree in human resource development. Since earning her degree, KC has enjoyed a variety of roles including challenge course facilitator, road race event director, stay-at-home mom, and homeschool/ unschool/ roadschool parent. In 2022, she, her husband, Tony, & their good friend, Leigh Carruth founded EDR, a mobile facilitation company that brings group development programs & training to teams, organizations & businesses. KC currently resides in College Station, TX with her husband & four kiddos. They enjoy road tripping, exploring new places and all things outdoor related (to varying degrees).

Brian Strozewski

Member-At-Large

Therapist and Supervisor at Everchanging Counseling and Consulting, LLC Brian is a Counselor and Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist (CCAT) serving Greater Cleveland, Ohio. Brian was first introduced to Adventure Therapy (AT) in 2009 assisting with AT groups and camps at Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health in Canton, Ohio. Right away Brian knew experiential therapy was his passion. Brian earned his bachelor’s and master’s at Walsh University and returned to C&A to learn to lead AT in groups and family work, and later served as counselor and supervisor at Crossroads Health in Lake County, Ohio. In all, Brian served youth and families with complex trauma in Community Mental Health for a decade using Adventure Therapy in community, school, Day Treatment, outdoor, and office settings. In 2023 Brian started Everchanging near his home in Northeast Ohio where he provides attachment-focused Adventure Therapy and Nature Based Therapy focusing on parent-work and intergenerational families. Brian also provides trauma-informed training, supervision, and consultation services through Everchanging and Life Adventures for All, with a focus on integration of Adventure and Nature into therapeutic practice. Brian is passionate about creating spaces of inclusion and belonging and is most connected with his authentic self when he's in Nature, especially by water, and in community with others.

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Thank you to these incredible Board Members whose term concludes in 2024!

Jonah Hacker
Treasurer (2021-2024)
Product Manager, MSI Data

Jonah is a Product Manager at a growing software company in Milwaukee, WI. As treasurer of the board, Jonah is committed to ensuring that AEE thrives financially as it pursues its mission of elevating experiential education as a positive force for change in the world. Jonah holds a BA in French from St. Olaf College, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. Jonah is an adventuresome home cook, amateur string bass player, and mediocre gardener. Prior to entering the private sector, Jonah worked as a teacher for several years. He is excited to contribute to the future development of AEE.​

Mx. Jeromy Slaby​ (he/him)

Secretary Elect (2021-2024)
Elementary School Teacher

Jeromy is an elementary teacher now based in Seattle, Washington. Previous to Seattle, he called Durango, Colorado his home where he studied Adventure Education at Fort Lewis College. It was here that Jeromy first came to know AEE through helping plan the Rocky Mountain Regional Conferences. Being a young professional, his experience with online, outdoor, and classroom settings for education provides him with a diverse lens that will strengthen the association. Likewise, his experience with and knowledge of modern social justice and political movements will support AEE's ends.

As for the outdoors, Jeromy is an avid hiker, backpacker, and camper. While he will try any adventure at least twice, he can confidently say that he is most comfortable on the ground. You can find Jeromy anywhere you can set up a hammock that is as far away from the highway as possible. 

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Abby Oxborough

Member At Large (2021-2024)

Director of Leadership Programming and General Manager at a family-owned resort in Northern Minnesota

Abby is the Director of Leadership Programming and General Manager at a family-owned resort in Northern Minnesota. She was first exposed to experiential education as a camp counselor, where her love for the outdoors translated to meaningful experiences with campers and staff alike. Abby has done everything from working a corporate Marketing job to teaching English in Thailand to writing and editing travel articles - all of which have contributed to her current role in helping small businesses and groups discover strengths and grow as a team in a retreat setting through experiential learning. Abby grew up in Northern Minnesota and her accent really comes to life when talking with her mother. She’s visited over 55 countries (and counting), will be giving a TED Talk in the Spring about the power of customer service, and recently graduated with her MS in Experiential Education from MSU Mankato. 

Tom Shorrock

Member At Large (2021-2024)

Operations Manager for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award based in Abu Dhabi

Tom Shorrock is an Operations Manager for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award based in Abu Dhabi and oversees the development of the Award in the UAE. After obtaining a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, Tom worked in Industry for 6 years in the UK & France. Alongside his work, he was also a member of the local Army Reserve unit. He developed his love for the outdoors and non-formal education by taking part in various courses as well as being involved with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).  His activities with the RSC, allowed him to develop teaching and learning beyond the classroom and create community outreach activities with the help of his local section. Work with the Society has continued throughout his career and was subsequently awarded with a Fellowship. It was during his involvement with the cadet force and working with the RSC, he made the decision to become a teacher and trained through the Graduate Teacher Training Programme. Having taught in the UK, Tom went on to teach Chemistry, Science and French at various schools in Qatar, Bahrain and UAE. He has an interest in Education but in particular Non-Formal Education and how the latter is important for young people throughout school ages but also later on for the world of work.

Tom holds various qualifications: Certificate in Business Management, Diploma in Risk Management, Certified Foresight Practitioner(Futures Foresight and Strategic Planning through The Futures School by Kedge). 

Interested in serving on the AEE Board of Directors? Have Questions or a Grievance?

Email the Board at board@aee.org