Speakers: Alexis Dascoulias - Camp CenterStage

Play and games are an important part of healthy human development. Large group games at camp can be hugely fun for campers and incredibly stressful for those planning the games. This session examines the reasons why as well as HOW play is important through exploring large group games for all ages. More players means more laughter, more celebrations and more accessibility. Explore (and play) many large group games with minimal supplies or prep time and key debrief questions. Based on 20+ years of leading large groups of campers, actors, students and business professionals, this session will help you master planning, explaining, and playing successful large group games.

Speakers: Simone Gamble - OAAARS

In this workshop, participants will learn about “The Kids Are Ready” Program, which uses play as a transformative tool to discuss social identity, power, social justice, and allyship at camp. This summer, OAAARS partnered with camps and schools to offer customized programming for middle and high school youth to explore and understand power dynamics, and advocate for change in their communities. Participants will learn practical strategies for incorporating these conversations into their own camp.

Speakers: Danielle Heaton - Twenty-One Senses

Regulation of the nervous system, often referred to as being calm, is an important part of mental health. Humans are not born being able to self-regulate. When physically being in association with one another, we can influence each other’s regulated state, for better or worse. Together we will dive into co-regulation and the neuroscience behind the foundation of mental health, using easy to understand vocabulary and relatable scenarios, adding new tools to your toolbox, so you can PROACTIVELY use co-regulation strategies to improve everyone’s mental health at camp.

Speakers: Katie Johnson - Chalmers Camp Insurance

Just as rivers need banks to guide their flow, at camp, our campers require clear boundaries to navigate their interactions. In today’s world, influenced by social media, technology and the lasting effects of isolation brought on by COVID, campers arrive with varied “norms” and behaviors that can sometimes create confusion. This session will discuss the importance of establishing the “banks of the river”—clear and developmentally appropriate boundaries that help shape a positive camp experience. We will equip leaders and staff with practical tools to effectively communicate these boundaries, fostering a safe and nurturing environment where campers can thrive.

Speakers: Rena Paul - The Paul Firm PLLC

Some of the most challenging conversations a camp leader will have during the camp season will be with the parents of staff and campers. Whether it involves a report of camper-to-camper abuse, a medical issue or a disciplinary action, speaking with parents about matters affecting their children can be stressful! In this practical skills session, camp lawyers will discuss effective communication in high-stakes moments. The session will cover de-escalation tactics, how to communicate with transparency while maintaining privacy and how to establish appropriate boundaries.

Speakers: Chelsea Rendlen - YWCA VT Camp Hochelaga & John Hamilton - Alliance for Camp Health

Camps, as rites of passage, are inherently spiritual spaces. Columbia University has identified spirituality (within or apart from religious traditions) as the number one indicator for thriving youth and improved well-being. According to a study by VCU, a person’s degree of spirituality is determined 71% by their environment. As leaders of camp environments who create culture, are we considering the spiritual DNA of our camps? In this session we offer practical ways to nurture your camp’s holistic well-being for campers, staff, and leaders.

Speakers: Whit Ryan - Clearview Life Coaching and Consulting/Wyonegonic Camps

Come ready to strengthen your leadership training program. Leadership training is a vital program in our camps. Staffing is always a challenge and there is no doubt that staffing for 2025 will bring on new challenges. We need to work now to assure that our counselors in training are ready for future summers!! Your best staff is there, in camp, in the making. Bring along the schedule, description, and goals of your program so we can workshop together ways to enhance what you are currently doing. We may find that we are using counselors in training sooner than we think. Come to this session ready to evaluate, share and build your program.

Speakers: Nick Teich - Fairwinds Camp Consulting

As a longtime camp director who has worked in both non-profit and for-profit camping, Dr. Nick Teich will help for-profit camps who are looking to increase donor-funded camperships. There are several ways to set up funds, and for those who already have funds for this, Nick will discuss how to bolster the funding so that: 1) you can enroll more campers who wouldn’t have the chance to come to your camp otherwise, and 2) tuition and more is covered by donors. We will discuss targeted fundraising from alumni, current families, friends of camp, and more. We will discuss ways to do this without adding much more to directors’ already full plates.

Speakers: James Tresner - Bethany Hill Place

Summer camps are a unique and challenging environment for developing and sustaining a Board of Directors equipped with the right skills, connections, and perspectives to effectively advance the organization. Relational complexities, parochialism, history, and emotional attachments can make it particularly difficult for a camp Board to fully understand and fulfill their roles and maximize their impact. In this session, we will explore the fundamental functions of a Board and the positive effect they can (and should) have on your camp. We will also examine the tripwires and pitfalls that pose risks to optimal effectiveness in nonprofit camp governance and outline actionable steps to improve your Board and your relationship with them.

Speakers: Elise Wulff & Jack Lewis - MGH Aspire

Aspire consultants will provide best practices for managing and supervising neurodivergent employees. Topics include strategies to enhance perspective taking, organization and task follow-through, environmental accessibility, and self-regulation support.

Speakers: Jon Biedermann - Camp Scheduling Pro & Evan Saltman - Kamp Kohut

Giving campers choice can transform their experience—but managing elective scheduling can be a logistical headache and hard on staff!

Join us as we dive into the advantages of elective scheduling, backed by insights from a recent nationwide survey of day and overnight camps. We’ll connect these findings to the ACA National Camp Impact Study, revealing the link between elective scheduling and positive youth outcomes.

We’ll share best practices, pitfalls, and engage in interactive group discussions to help you enhance or reinvent your own elective programming!

Speakers: Sarah Brajtbord Fahey & Bruce King & Mike Griswold - Maine Boys To Men

Based on their culture of specializing in community, connection, and belonging, camps are uniquely positioned to address a variety of social issues and support young people to do the same. In this session, we’ll examine how deeply rooted gender stereotypes contribute to a culture of disrespect and can lead to psychological and physical harm. Using Maine Boys to Men’s evidence-based curriculum, we’ll learn how to disrupt the narrow, confusing, and often destructive messages around masculinity. Participants will learn tools to leverage the special nature of camp cultures to challenge harmful beliefs and behaviors and break the cycle of harm perpetuated by gender stereotypes.

Speakers: Brandon Brichetto, Dakota Brichetto & Megan LaCroix - Camp Susan Curtis

Transitions can be hard but they don’t have to be. Let’s explore the beauty of building successful transition times that help your youth have successful programming days. During this session we will give tips, explore possible activities, and talk about risk management around transition times. Transition time can be considered a blank time where nothing can be accomplished but it’s a great time to connect with your youth, to build peer connection, and to improve group dynamics.

Speakers: Jacob Brier - Butterfly Benefits LLC

Difficult discussions, and the desire to avoid them, can often create a challenging work environment, inhibit productivity, and reduce engagement. This doesn’t need to be the case. Mindfully approaching these discussions and having “courageous conversations” is an opportunity for personal and organizational growth.

In TALK IT OUT, we’ll list topics and situations that often lead to difficult discussions, explore ways to approach those conversations courageously, identify strategies for navigating those conversations, and review practices to set yourself up for success.

Speakers: Jen "Dusty" Clitheroe - Strength Perspective

One thing that’s true of every generation is that we work stronger together. As current leaders, we must ensure that our staff know how to work together regardless of age group. Gen Z, born from approximately 1995 to 2010, is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history. They’ve been influenced by, and are influential in, the macro social movements and systemic issues that have shaped who they are and what they stand for in the workplace and society. Our organizations must develop new strategies to adapt to Gen Z employees. Join an interactive discussion to help you understand what fuels Gen Z staff and how to lead them with celebration and inclusion!

Speakers: Emily Golinsky - Bright Moose, LLC

Today’s staff bring their whole selves to the workplace, and that includes their trauma history and its enduring effects on their lives. Whether or not they find success in their camp role depends in large part on how safe and cared for they feel. A trauma-informed workplace (T.I.W.) is key to that sense of safety, and this session will empower you to make simple, immediate inroads towards that goal. We’ll cover how/why trauma affects employees, the core principles of a T.I.W., and specific steps you can take today to prioritize emotional safety in the workplace. Please note: this session has been designed to minimize triggers (no stories/open sharing or graphic examples) and focus on positive improvements designed to set staff up for success.

Speakers: Ajay Henry-Hill - Maine Teen Camp

This session looks at how to care for and understand your voice, whether speaking, singing, chanting or reading out loud. There will be techniques to add to your camp toolbox including how to project, ways to warm up to speak, how to use your voice to convey what you mean and ultimately, ways to become more comfortable with your own voice.
This is not just for the loudest people at camp, everyone will walk away with tangible skills to teach your staff to use every day to maintain good vocal care. It’s not a requirement of any camp staff member to destroy their voice every summer. This will be a fun session to explore your own voice in an interactive and informative way.

Speakers: Ryan Moore - Kaleidoscope, Inc

Camp leaders have to make a lot of choices. What should we charge? How much should we fundraise? What would happen if we hired more staff? Could we serve a new audience? Can we afford a new program? Or even a new water heater? In evaluating the variety of potential options, thriving camps consistently use a strong decision-making framework. Measurable metrics and data form a core component of this framework. This workshop will explore best practices in foundational metrics like finance, usage, and program outcomes. Come learn what to measure, how to measure it, and end the guesswork in leading camp operations.

Speakers: Rena Paul - The Paul Firm PLLC

Camps are increasingly fielding reports of physical conduct between bunkmates including intimate touching, simulated sex, and sexual teasing and aggression. This conduct poses legitimate risks to camps. It can have a harmful impact on the affected campers and camp culture, and it can trigger legal reporting requirements, disciplinary action, and the need for difficult conversations with campers, staff and parents. In this session, experienced camp legal advisors will discuss the risks camp administrators face when a report of this nature is made, and will share best practices for addressing these situations in a way that safeguards a joyful camp experience for all its campers.

Speakers: Chris Rehs-Dupin & Al Murray - TQAMP

Camp people are the best people on earth to “bring the fun.” But what if we used bringing the fun as a tool to change the world? This hands-on session will focus on the beautiful symmetry of facilitating game play with equal parts justice, and joy. We will begin by building a foundational understanding of safety, discomfort, and power in game play and then work through a seven layered approach to building a space of belonging to play. Finally, we will put our learning into use as we work through some games, and how to facilitate them in a way that prioritizes community.

Speakers: Chris Hudson - Planetchris Consulting

Alert! DEI efforts are flagging across all industries! It’s time to get real about your DEI initiatives at the board, leadership, staff, and customer level. In this workshop, you’ll work with other attendees to examine your current policies and confront how much advancement you’ve made to be more inclusive. Be prepared to ask and answer tough questions about your org’s efforts as we seek honesty and congruence between what we believe and what we say and what we do.

Speakers: Jeff Jubelirer - AMSkier

Developing and maintaining relationships with your camp families is paramount to a strong partnership. Ongoing transparent communication is critical, but when you consider engaging them in difficult conversations about their children’s behavior, there are many factors to be mindful of before picking up the phone or pushing “send” on that email message. Should you even reach out? If so, how and when? Is it different for day camps vs. residential camps?

Learn from a camp public relations expert as he discusses real-world scenarios in which these difficult decisions must be made quickly and effectively. Be ready to bring your questions to the session, where Jeff will address them in real-time.

Speakers: Christine Perry - YWCA Vermont Camp Hochelaga

We all know camp can sometimes feel like a “lawless land” – and that’s lovely. This session will discuss how we can harness the camp environment to teach our youth when and how to appropriately question (and even break) the rules that take hold of our day to day lives – from the “rules” we tell ourselves, to those upheld by societal norms and structures. Camp can create a model for the community we all want to live in, which we can then use as a teaching tool to help our campers question the norms being accepted in their own lives.

Speakers: Sarah Schechter - SRS Events

Hosting successful alumni events requires an intentional balance of tradition and modernity. Using exercises and targeted questions to identify your priorities and creative opportunities, participants will learn to plan events that honor their camp’s unique identity, as well as steward the next generation of donors and parents. With input and observations from camp professionals who have run successful alumni events, this session will highlight the impact of alumni engagement on fundraising and camper enrollment and send you home with some tips and trends to consider for your next alumni event!

Speakers: Nick Teich - Fairwinds Camp Consulting

Directing camp is not what it once was. The camp world is more complex now, from camper needs to staff demands to increasing costs, and everything in between. During this session, Dr. Nick Teich, former camp director and current executive coach for camp directors, will discuss what he sees as the most common issues in the eyes of camp directors. He will open up a frank discussion about how directors can help themselves, and each other, navigate the nuts and bolts of camp leadership that is required in 2025. Directors will get helpful takeaways to aid in their future professional planning.

Speakers:

Connect with fellow camp professionals and “glow with the flow” in spaces designed for fun and camaraderie. Whether you’re here to face off in a friendly game of glow-in-the-dark mini golf, or just soak in the neon vibes. ACA AFTER DARK is your chance to unwind, have fun, and make memories with fellow camp professionals that will last long after the conference ends, and has something for everyone. Activities include: trivia, “minute to win it” games, crafts, mini golf, and a 360 photo booth. As the evening winds down the fun turns up with karaoke. Don’t miss this unforgettable night of laughter, community, and glowing vibes – we can’t wait to see you there!

Thank you to Party People, Inc. and Camp Scheduling Pro for their generous sponsorship of this program.

Speakers: Dan Berg & Julie Tanguay - Camp Becket YMCA

Over the past decade, Camp Becket has evolved its approach to Mental, Emotional, Social Health (MESH), transforming it from remote support and weekly check-ins to a comprehensive system with in-residence leadership and licensed professionals. In this session, Dan Berg, Camp Director and Julie Tanguay, Director of Community Life, will share their journey of integrating MESH into the daily camp experience, emphasizing the importance of proactive support and ongoing development for campers and staff. Attendees will learn how to build a sustainable MESH program, overcome challenges, and prioritize mental and emotional well-being in every aspect of camp life.

Speakers: Dakota Brichetto - Camp Susan Curtis

Waterfront programming can be challenging. You’re trying to build necessary skills so that campers can increase confidence and increase their safety around the water. While you’re aiming to reach these goals, you are also trying to engage campers in meaningful and entertaining lessons. In this session we’ll talk about how to balance the two. As well as how to create a lesson plan, and how to ensure quality programming. We’ll also discuss some activities that you will be able to bring back to your campers.

Speakers: Phil Brown - High 5 Adventure Learning Center

Emotions and feelings are deeply integrated into the adventure experience. They are the driving
force behind our own behavior both personal and social, and without the ability to recognize,
communicate, and manage them effectively, working with others can become incredibly difficult.
This workshop will provide attendees with engaging tools for doing all three and ways to integrate
them into a stronger SEL-based adventure program.

Speakers: Lisa Drennan - MERGE Diverse Abilities Inclusion Consulting

No More Suspensions! Being disability-inclusive takes effort. This session explores working with families, effective intake processes, staff training, and managing challenging behaviors. Attendees will learn tools to reduce or eliminate suspensions, focusing on strategies for success. The session concludes with with a demonstration on distinguishing between meltdowns and tantrums, and how to effectively handle each to lead to better outcomes for both campers and staff

Speakers: Carmen Epstein - Songadeewin of Keewaydin

Participants will learn about the importance of connecting, discuss challenges to managing conflict, and practice utilizing tools that help support effective communication such as mindful listening and running a restorative circle.

Speakers: Tracey Gaslin - Alliance for Camp Health

Providing medication services continues to be the most litigated measure for camps. Addressing all aspects of medication safety and securement requires a team of camp leaders and care providers to establish procedures and ensure effective communication. This session will walk through all the aspects of medications management and help encourage camps to stay abreast of current considerations.

Speakers: Chris Hudson - Planetchris Consulting

In this awesome session, we’ll explore how to balance being an empathic leader while also setting clear, professional boundaries. No, we are not a “family,” we are camp professionals and we are at work! We’ll discuss how to effectively supervise all skill levels of staff, build a responsive and inclusive culture, and give feedback (the “feedback sandwich” is so 20th century!). Staff want to work at a camp that is efficient, productive, and warm. By the time we’re done, you’ll be equipped to build that community and guide your staff toward becoming super camp professionals! Great for first time supervisors and leaders.

Speakers: Taylor Levesque - MGH Aspire

Camp is a great place to practice managing discomfort in the moment while also leveraging it for success. By supporting our next generation of youth to identify and advocate for their own personalized “growth zones,” we are facilitating their resilience and independence. In this session, participants will explore the theory behind progress, normalize the importance of day-to-day challenge, and explore ways to support campers during hard moments while also modifying camp environments to promote “just-right” learning opportunities. This session is best suited for camp staff that will be working directly with campers and for training staff that will be working with campers.

Speakers: Christopher Thurber - Exeter & Belknap

From health forms to session dates, all camps struggle with penetrating the pre-season flood of information parents receive every day. Then, on opening day, staff encounter new communication challenges in their face-to-face interactions with parents. Participants in this practical session will learn three principles of effective communication for virtual, phone, and in-person communication with all types of parents.

Speakers: Dan Weir - Day Camp Community & Immersive1st & Marcie Glad - Help My Spreadsheets

Who should your marketing campaign target? How successful was the campaign? Spreadsheets answer these questions and more! Come to this session to follow a marketing campaign from start to finish and learn how to organize your spreadsheets to work smarter.

Speakers: Colleen DelVecchio - Maxady/Bay Path University

Board members can be powerful advocates for your camp’s mission, but what happens when they stray off course? Learn strategies to actively involve your board in a way that aligns with your camp’s goals, even when personalities clash or some members pursue their own agendas.

Key topics include:
Channeling their passion towards what you need
Establishing clear expectations
Effectively managing “rogue” actions without derailing progress
Leveraging board expertise
Building a framework that fosters accountability and collaboration

By the end of this session, camp leaders will have practical tools to cultivate a cohesive, engaged, and effective board, equipped to handle challenges while championing the long-term success of their camp.

Speakers: Jeff Frigon - The Browne Center for Innovative Learning, Phil Brown - High 5 Adventures & Greg Urban - Project Adventure

Join challenge course professionals from High 5, Project Adventure, and The Browne Center, as we valiantly attempt to de-mystify the alphabet soup of the challenge course world and provide clarity on industry best practices and standards as they apply to hiring staff.
This workshop will be a mix of facilitated brainstorming, content-based interactive activities, and Q and A.

If we build it and you come, you will have the opportunity to connect with other folx around successes you have experienced and challenges you are facing in the strategic hiring, training, and retaining of your Challenge Course Staff.

Speakers: Emily Golinsky - Bright Moose, LLC

Campers are struggling to meet basic behavioral expectations such as listening, speaking respectfully to others, and participating with the group. Staff are struggling to handle these “supposedly simple” camper concerns, and it’s affecting their self-confidence, effectiveness, and job satisfaction. This gap between staff and kids feels like it continues to grow each year, and you need REAL solutions. Join Emily to understand more about what’s causing the disconnect and the strategies that will help staff bridge the gap. You’ll leave this session with enhanced confidence and also with the necessary content for a training session designed to prepare your staff to support the campers in their care with less frustration and more joy.

Speakers: Kathleen Hilchey - Strong & Kind Conflict Specialists

For an increasing number of families, dropping kids at camp is causing incredibly high anxiety. Staff are managing both campers AND parents: High levels of homesickness from the kids, and repeated phone calls from the parents as they try to soothe their own worries of letting go. This session will:

• Explore camp-specific tools to help campers manage their emotions without the support of parents.
• Share some trauma-informed conflict management tools to handle both parents and campers in high distress.
• Discuss pre-camp strategies to help prepare families for the transition (including regulation strategies for parents!)
Plus, you’ll get lots of time for discussion to share strategies, and success stories.

Speakers: Katie Johnson - Chalmers Camp Insurance

What does a camper need to succeed at your camp? What minimum skills are required for them to thrive? How well do you communicate these to families? Essential Eligibility Criteria (EECs) are a powerful but often overlooked tool for defining the physical, social, and emotional skills necessary for success. Join us to explore EECs, review examples from other programs, and begin evaluating your own program to draft a customized set of EECs.

Speakers: Ryan Moore - Kaleidoscope, Inc

Most thriving camps have an actionable strategic plan that informs decisions and guides the programs. But what does it mean to have a strategic plan? And how can I create one for my camp? The words ‘strategy’ or ‘strategic planning’ are not magical. There are core best practices to follow in developing a strategic plan and in making strategic decisions. This workshop will explore the information inputs and the questions to ask in order to craft an actionable strategic plan for your organization.

Speakers: Shawn Moriarty - Mass Audubon, A Single Footstep

Camp can be an amazing place to help campers and staff connect to the natural world around us. And it can be done at a camp in the city, on the trail, or while waiting for an activity area to open.

This session will show how you can have a nature program on note cards. We will experience several activities that can be done almost anywhere with few or no additional props other than note cards or digital files.

Come and learn how you can have a nature program in your backpack.

Speakers: Chris Rehs-Dupin & Al Murray - TQAMP

While thinking about 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive practices one of the first questions camps ask us is, “What if parents/caregivers get angry?” What if we reframed this question to be, “How can we use our communications to ensure that caregivers understand our practices; allowing them to make an informed choice?” We will explore ways to be upfront about what 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion looks like at our camp and how to prepare for possible push back by understanding our response as an act of love and support.

Speakers: John Michael Spelman - Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center

Equipping your staff with cross-cultural competency is crucial for fostering an inclusive and supportive camp environment. This session will guide camp leaders on how to effectively teach their staff the essential components of cross-cultural competency during staff training. Participants will gain insights into developing cultural awareness, sensitivity, communication skills, adaptability, and empathy among their teams. Through engaging discussions and interactive activities, attendees will learn practical strategies to train their staff, navigate cultural differences, and create a welcoming atmosphere for all campers and staff members. Join us to learn how to empower your staff to embrace and celebrate cultural diversity.

Speakers: Nelson Strickland - So You Think You Can Camp

In this session, Nelson Strickland will share insights on creating a roundtable consultancy program designed to invest in camp staff’s professional development, both in and out of the camp setting. Attendees will explore strategies to provide year-round internship-like opportunities for seasonal staff, enhancing their skills in marketing, program development, and staffing. This session aims to empower camps to cultivate talent and ultimately build stronger teams.

Speakers: Rebecca Alford - Kingsley Pines Camp

A cabin’s nightly routine can be more than just showers and sweet dreams! Enhancing nightly programming can cultivate a positive cabin culture, deepen connections, and help manage interpersonal conflicts. In this session, you’ll learn to develop an engaging nightly routine for campers aged 8-16. Learn how to build an intentional program progression from getting to know each other through transition and goodbyes. You can participate in several activities that take you through the three benchmarks of embers or nightly programming: welcome, deepening connection, and transition—ultimately, leaving with a list of ideas and steps to implement this summer! These programs can also be adapted for Day Camps at the close of your day.

Speakers: Kris Ebner Martin

Creating staff training can be a daunting task! In this session we will look at how to put it all together to achieve your goals and get your staff ready for the summer! This inter-active session will help ensure your staff can tackle the fun as well as the challenges coming their way. We will also look at ways to engage both returning staff as well as the newbies coming your way. Bring your ideas to share!

Speakers: Lisa Drennan - MERGE Diverse Abilities Inclusion Consulting

Join us in this interactive roundtable session where camp professionals will collaborate to tackle common hurdles in creating an inclusive environment. Through group discussions, we’ll address challenges such as staffing buy-in, family engagement, and behavioral support, then brainstorm solutions together. This session is designed to foster a deeper understanding of how to create truly inclusive camp experiences by exchanging ideas and learning from each other’s expertise. Leave with actionable strategies to enhance your camp’s approach to inclusion and ensure all campers thrive.

Speakers: Tammy Fortune - Camp Wa-Klo

Come and hear about ACA’s ambitious federal agenda, and how you can support our advocacy efforts in DC. Current hot topics include protecting the Bridge USA J-1 visa programs, future federal support for the role camps play in MESH support for campers and staff, recognition of the workforce development value of working at camp, making sure camps can secure property insurance in a challenging market, the deductibility of overnight camp tuition, and other important federal matters. We will also discuss ACA’s Hill Days on May 8th – 10th, and how you and your camp community can participate!

Speakers: Brad Halsey

Managing camper behavior is essential to fostering a safe, enjoyable, and positive camp experience. This interactive session equips camp staff with proven tools and strategies to effectively address a wide range of camper behaviors. Through engaging activities such as role-playing, case studies, and group discussions, participants will gain the skills and confidence to navigate behavior challenges consistently and constructively.

Speakers: Stephan Lockney - Metrowest YMCA

The work frontline and admin staff put into the daily operation of day and residential camp is immense. It is important that the seasonal people making the magic of camp happen are thanked for everything that they do. What are you doing daily, weekly, and in the off-season to make sure those working at camp feel appreciated. This session will provide takeaways and shareables that camps can utilize in 2025. Come ready to share (bring examples if you have them) and learn all about cows, pups, stars, peace necklaces and bears, raffles, HWN, FFF, PPA, WIAAY, SIF, dive squad tees, staff games, Etsy ideas, and more.

Speakers: Terri Mulks - Camp Susan Curtis

Join us for an honest and hopeful discussion about providing transformative experiences to at-risk and underserved youth. This will be a no-agenda conversation to connect with one another and share resources around children experiencing trauma, facing economic hardship, and other challenges in the camp community.

Speakers: Ryan "Ryno" Novo & Amanda Griffith - The Granite YMCA

Join us for a round table session where we will have an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of camp innovation that keeps the fires burning. Bring your ideas that some might say are too big or unrealistic for your camp, and find new inspiration to change the narrative for the future of camping.

Speakers: Tim Prairie - Experiential Systems Inc

The Adventure Park / Ropes Course industry is an ever changing landscape of best practices, new technologies, regulations & industry standards. In this workshop we will explore all of those things and discuss how to operate a successful program/business while navigating all of these things.

Speakers: Rain Smallcomb - Mass Audubon

Engaging in mindfulness practices can have a deeply positive impact on people of all ages. Camp can often be chaotic, and learning how to intentionally create space for grounding and reconnection helps set up campers and staff for success.

This session will provide an overview of the basics of mindfulness, success stories and supporting data, as well as techniques to share with your camp community.

Participants will have the chance to engage with multiple modalities of mindfulness practices, such as visualization techniques, positive affirmations, and kinesthetic centered exercises.

We will use a train the trainer model to support participants in bringing this to their camp.

Speakers: Travis Allison - Go Camp Pro

Do you find that Parents are SO MUCH more work these days? If you are looking for one key change that you can make to reduce your frustration and save yourself so much time, join Travis for this session to examine proven ways to reduce the time and frustration of parent communications.

Engage, Inform, Inspire – Mastering Effective Communication with Camp Parents is a workshop designed to empower camp directors with the skills to craft compelling communications that parents will not only open but read, absorb, and act upon (ORAAS).

This session combines practical advice with proven strategies to transform your communication into a powerful tool for parent engagement and camp success.

Speakers: Laine Bradley - Vraiment Financial

With camp programming evolving, securing diverse funding streams is critical to sustaining camp operations and enhancing the camper experience. This session will guide camp professionals through the essentials of building grant readiness and creating strategic partnerships that align with their camp’s mission.

Speakers: Jim Cain - Teamwork & Teamplay

Learn how to explore a dozen powerful character traits through camp programs, activities, and games.

Speakers: Max Claman - VestEd Consulting

Now more than ever, camps are looking for ways to “fix” their staff. And while this new generation of counselors certainly poses some challenges for camps, perhaps it says more about us than it does about them. By adapting our orientation programs to better meet the needs of our staff, camps can more effectively prepare and teach (and retain!) their staff. This session will propose a paradigm shift for staff orientation, drawing from practical experience and feedback straight from the source itself: camp staff. Attendees should expect to share with one another during this interactive session, which will provide a model and script for orientation that camps can consider adopting right now.

Speakers: Michael Garcia - Youth Development Pro

This session focuses on creating effective Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) and embedding them into the culture of your program. Key takeaways include strategies for assessing potential risks, tailoring EAPs to unique program settings, training staff to react instinctively through regular drills and scenario-based learning, and fostering a shared sense of responsibility among all team members. This session highlights real-world examples and practical tools for ensuring EAPs remain actionable and up to date, creating a seamless approach to crisis management.

Speakers: Tracey Gaslin - Alliance for Camp Health

As camps move beyond COVID, the desire is to navigate the summer experience with little interference from contagious conditions. However, in 2024, there was a significant resurgence in communicable conditions requiring due diligence in revisiting and adhering to effective prevention activities while having a plan to care for individuals who may be ill in our community-based programs. This session will outline the event since 2024 and provide guidance regarding considerations for communicable disease planning at camp.

Speakers: Aaron Proietti - Today's Innovator & Dave Ghidiu - SHOUT.camp

Explore the transformative potential of Generative AI in summer camps. This forward-thinking session will showcase strategic and creative ways to use AI to solve challenges, fuel innovation, and make data-driven decisions. Discover how AI can elevate your camp’s strategy, drive growth, and keep you ahead of the curve. Get ready to shape your camp’s future with cutting-edge AI solutions.

Speakers: Douglas Sutherland - Doug Sutherland Consulting

It is important to support yourself, those around you, and the goals of your organization in the camp industry. DEIB should not be a scary topic. It is around us everyday and at every moment. How we choose to address DEIB will dictate the role it plays in our lives. This session will provide information and ways to support addressing DEIB topics at your camp.

Speakers: Christopher Thurber - Exeter & Belknap

Every staff member you hire or re-hire shows enthusiasm before opening day. Then the long hours, high energy demands, and campers’ normative misbehaviors wear them down… sometimes to the point of quitting. To remedy the trends toward lower stamina and resilience, participants in this indispensable workshop will learn the keys to hiring and training staff who can go all the way to closing day.

Speakers: Jarod Wunneburger - Thrive Point Studio

Does your staff have an “us versus them” mentality? Are your leadership staff struggling with complexity and do your frontline staff feel powerless? Does it feel like every summer you end up having issues between your supervisor staff and everyone else? This illuminating session will dive into organizational and human dynamics that feel intensely personal and are often not. It will explore common ideas in almost any organization that prevent collaboration and pit management vs workers, customers vs organizations, and create unsustainable work for those caught in the middle. You’ll leave aware and ready to improve your organization immediately.

Speakers: Travis Allison - Go Camp Pro

Was your camper retention rate less than 65% last year?

Join Travis Allison for a dynamic session that will revolutionize your approach to camper retention. Led by a seasoned summer camp professional and consultant with a 30-year track record, this presentation will delve into proven strategies that consistently achieved an 80+% retention rate for almost 15 years.

We’ll also explore intentional communication techniques designed to boost retention, both during and after camp. This session is a must for camp directors and owners committed to elevating their camp’s registration retention numbers and creating systems to get campers to return year after year.

Don’t miss this opportunity to join the 65+% Club!

Speakers: Brad Halsey - Shiloh

Camp Culture is one of the hardest areas of a camp to quantify and it is often overlooked. However, it has the power to make or break the experience of both your campers and leaders. In this session we will talk through some ways you can take an unbiased look at your camp culture. Regardless of where you believe your camp culture is at, we will talk through some practical and realistic steps to evaluate where your culture is at for campers, leaders and the camp at large, and how it can be improved.

Speakers: Jen Hargrave

Roses are red, violets are green…without needing a green thumb, come craft some fabulous flowers out of a variety of materials. We will take fabric, scissors, paper, glue, yarn, forks, sticks, books and many more unique tools to create a bouquet of flowers. Participants will make several creations in the workshop, engage in a safe and fun crafting space where every creation and skill level is celebrated, and leave with ideas for many more.

Speakers: Kathleen Hilchey - Strong & Kind Conflict Specialists & JJ Jupp - Camp Wanakita

Not sure how to decrease conflict and bullying at your camp? Join Kathleen and JJ to learn how the games you are already playing can help teach your campers the skills they need to connect in a positive way. In this session you will:
• Learn which games develop social skills in your campers and staff.
• Learn about the Group Dynamics Theory and how to apply it. When used correctly, this process can allow complete strangers to form really positive communities.
• Play games, facilitated by Kathleen and JJ to receive hands-on learning and have good ‘ol camp fun! Playing is optional but encouraged.
• Learn how to debrief simple activities with your campers and staff so learning hits home and transfers beyond the game.
• Leave with a tried-and-true quick technique for ending bullying in a group setting.

Speakers: Donna Kuethe - ActivEnviro

In this interactive session we’ll address the effects of Climate Change in terms of Disaster Preparedness, response and recovery. This will include but not be limited to: asset inventory, long range planning, and training and practice for emergencies/disasters etc. In addition, we’ll explore climate adaptations that may be needed in terms of staff, schedules, participants, programs, maintenance, and facilities to adjust to increasing weather extremes.

Speakers: Aleta Maxwell - Uplifting Leadership

Effective communication is the foundation of leadership. This workshop focuses on building a culture of collaboration and accountability by teaching leaders how to create buy-in from their teams. Aleta will guide participants on preparing for and engaging in difficult conversations to uncover root causes, ensuring solutions are found and trust is built. By the end of the session, leaders will be equipped with the tools to foster open communication and drive lasting results.

Speakers: R. John Reidy - YMCA of Greater Springfield

An interactive presentation and discussion about how to best support, supervise, and communicate with the newest members of our workforce (labels are skibidi ohio but to put a word to it…Gen Z and very soon Gen Alpha.) We’ll explore the types of folks entering the workforce, the world they grew up in, and how that impacts the way they interact with jobs, technology, youth, and one another. We’ll discuss how to deliver feedback and instruction, and how to best cultivate these relationships to turn this information into the foundations for a healthy career.

Speakers: Stacey Smalley - Eli & Bessie Cohen Camps

With a boomerang mentality, as camp educators, we can provide the learning and growing space for our inquisitive, courageous, emerging leaders that works to meet our teens’ needs and creates a meaningful support system in the machine of camp. In turn, what our teens give to the spirit of camp, they receive right back in amazing ways.

Our teens are the foundation of the future leaders in our camps and beyond the camp bubble…..

Let’s toss that boomerang together and see how we can best support our teens at camp.

We’ll discuss: leadership and camper care curriculum, feedback touchpoints, life skills, certifications, and whistles and bells – adding camp spirit and value to your CIT/LIT program.

Speakers: Dan Weir - Day Camp Community & Immersive1st

Join this engaging session to revolutionize your day camp staff training. We’ll guide you through a step-by-step approach to build connections, cover essential training components, and equip your team to excel this summer. Attendees leave with a detailed training outline designed specifically for the fast-paced, unique environment of day camps.

Speakers: Soren Erwich - OUT Maine

This training will provide a foundational understanding for those who are new to working with LGBTQIA+ youth, as well as updated and in-depth information for those who are looking for a refresher. During this training, participants will review terminology and pronoun usage, risk and protective factors, supporting transgender and gender-expansive youth, and interpreting rights and laws. This training will dive into camp-specific information, such as creating inclusive and safe housing options, navigating privacy and confidentiality needs, and exploring how to make common summer camp activities such as ropes courses, swim tests, and dances accessible and safe for LGBTQIA+ participants.

Speakers: Michael Garcia - Youth Development Pro

Many programs rely on dialing 911 without considering the critical moments before help arrives. When EMS shows up, they often face unfamiliar settings, and staff may be unprepared to assist effectively.

To ensure safety, staff must not only know basic first aid but also understand EMS operations. Are your staff ready to take action while waiting for responders?

This session covers more than basic care, offering a comprehensive overview of EMS processes and how staff can support them. We’ll explore national EMS standards and provide guidance to tailor these practices to your program’s needs.

Prepare your team and keep everyone safe next summer!

Speakers: Emma Makdessi - Outright Vermont

Have you ever considered the concept of queering up camp culture and more specifically around how adultism shows up at camp? In this session, we’ll talk about youth-led change at camp, how we responded to a protest at camp, and the systems that we already had in place to support our campers.

Speakers: Colette Marquadt

Women in Camp was created to support and lift up women and nonbinary folks from across the world that work in the summer camp industry. We aim to create change in the workplace for all people while creating a community space that is welcoming, safe, and brave. We invite you to join us in Manchester for a special Pop Up event! Network with other women and nonbinary camp pros and have your voice heard about issues facing our community in the professional summer camp space. 

Speakers: Aaron Proietti - Today's Innovator & Dave Ghidiu - SHOUT.camp

Camps are built on community, and alumni are the backbone of this extended family. Join Aaron Proietti, founder of Today’s Innovator and co-chair of a successful alumni association, for an interactive discussion on harnessing the full potential of alumni networks. Share your experiences, insights and challenges, and learn from others as we explore strategies for cultivating vibrant, engaged alumni groups.

Speakers: Kenna Weber - Running Brook Camps & Nikki Turpin - Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall

Staff come to camp with a full heart; however, the reality is that many are not yet coming with a full brain. Let’s support staff who are across the developmental lifespan themselves, engage in the challenging conversations campers throw at them with. The prefrontal cortex does not develop until age 25; combine that gap in skill set with minimal job experience, and it is clear many counselors are not equipped to respond eloquently in these flustered moments. Campers ask questions and make statements that spark all types of emotions and conversations. We cannot train staff on how to respond to all of the ‘what ifs’ of camp, but we can proactively support how to respond with space and grace despite their level of experience or confidence.

Speakers: Conqueror Consulting Nesha Brown - Conquer Consulting Group DBA Conquer & Prosper eLearning

Grab your s’mores and get ready for a fun and interactive session on marketing tailored for camp leaders! In this lively talk, Nesha Brown reveals exciting, out-of-the-box strategies to ignite your camp’s brand and keep your registration spots full. From crafting irresistible social media content to creating engaging camp stories that resonate with parents and campers alike, you’ll learn how to market your camp with creativity, authenticity, and a little summer magic. Get ready to spark your marketing efforts and turn your camp into the hottest destination of the season!

Speakers: Jim Cain - Teamwork & Teamplay

Camp Activity Specialist Dr. Jim Cain shares his most playful camp activities.  Learn how to build connection, teamwork and spread joy through activities at your camp this summer.

Speakers: Lisa Carlin & Brittany Giroux - Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook

Is your camp curriculum feeling a little stale? Do you want to do more academic work during the camp season but don’t want to bore the campers or compromise on camp rituals and routines? This workshop will introduce you to the tenets of project based learning and use Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook Nature Day Camp as a case study. Understand the value and the challenges of project based learning in a 5 day program and how to best ingrate it in your camp community.

Speakers: Max Claman - VestEd Consulting

Working at camp is HARD. And now more than ever, staff are looking to us for ways that we can make it easier for them (sometimes to our chagrin!). It often feels like staff are looking for a “cheat code” that will make their job as simple as possible. So what if we just… gave it to them? Join Max for a walkthrough of a mock orientation session that camps can implement THIS SUMMER to help staff better understand what they can expect, and what tangible expectations we have for them.

Speakers: Julie Horton - The Bromfield School

Summer camp is such an integral part of our campers’ lives and development, but they are typically only with us for a few weeks or months each year. From September to June, they are at school. While both schools and camps have common goals in growing middle/high schoolers into adults, camps are uniquely suited to helping kids to become their best selves. Yet, campers don’t come to camp in a vacuum; they come to camp from a year at school and leave us headed to another school year. Better understanding how campers’ school and camp experiences interconnect and inform their lives year-round leads to more successful, engaging, and camper-centered programming, resulting in campers who are their best, most authentic selves year-round.

Speakers: Brenda McBride - Camp Laurel South/Mental Health Training Institute

With the recent increase in mental health challenges at camp, it is essential that camp leadership has the ability to recognize early signs of mental health struggles, provide immediate support, and refer individuals to appropriate resources. This session will explore common mental health challenges seen at camps (anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, etc.), red flags, and share real life examples. We will also provide steps to take when a mental health crisis occurs and how to initiate compassionate discussions, followed by how to empower and support staff. Finally, we will offer guidance on the limitations of camp for handling mental health issues.

Speakers: Terri Mulks - Camp Susan Curtis & Sarah Cunningham - YMCA Camp Takodah

Decision Fatigue is real and can create a variety of challenges for Camp Professionals. Join us as we share information about recognizing decision fatigue and then build strategies that will help to identify levels of decisions, manage availability, and strengthen self-care. This session is open to everyone and will be geared toward those that are newer to the profession.

Speakers: Kathleen Stowell - Lake Sunapee Protective Association & Marijean Parry - Retired Camp Professional

Many camps are fortunate to be located in beautiful places with forests and wetlands, while other camps are in urban parks or suburban school yards. Some campers are very comfortable and learn a lot about nature wherever they are. For others, it may take some intentional programming to help them build an awareness and appreciation of the amazing world around them. Join us for this fun, highly interactive dip into nature activities that focus on wildlife, forest, and wetlands. No matter where your camp is, you’ll leave with great activities that you can be comfortable and confident leading – even if you’re not an expert nature person. Being an expert is not required to help campers develop a love for the natural world!

Speakers: Chris Wiley - The Story School Camp FABLE

At camp, we are youth developers and it is not easy. Fear, social pressure, and self-doubt stand in the way. We want our campers to be confident, to be kind, to be honorable. In short, to aim to be a hero. But they are often their own worst enemies. Wouldn’t you like a tool that removes all those blocks, motivates them to try harder and do better, and gives them the courage of a hero?

We’ll talk Batman, LARP, play some D&D, and dig into the science of avatar-based therapy (aka fake it, til you make it). We’ll show how you can distance campers from their failures and aim for greater success. Discover how to use immersion, play, imagination, and the camp setting to level up campers to be heroes. Let’s build some character(s) together.

Organization: Kingsley Pines

Rebecca Alford, LMSW-CC, MSW, is the Camp Experience Director at Kingsley Pines, whose primary role is to support the social-emotional wellness and behavioral needs of campers and staff throughout the summer. After spending ten years in residential and community-based programs in the Carolinas, she’s excited to be back in camping. Her clinical and outreach-education perspective supports the advancement of both a strength-based and empowered Kingsley Pines community. Rebecca believes there is a special kind of magic at camp because camp is one of those rare places where campers, staff, and the whole community can grow and become the best versions of themselves.

Organization: Go Camp Pro

Travis Allison hates mushy fruit but loves jam. It’s not just fruit that Travis thinks about in great detail. His creative and conscientious persona has made him a keynote speaker at conferences across the US and Canada. Travis ­is ­an­ award-winning Camp Professional ­who ­is the Executive Producer of the seven Go­ Camp­ Pro podcasts. He created the world’s largest Facebook Group for Camp Pros and has helped clients bring hundreds­ of campers ­to great camps worldwide. Check out TED.com­ for his TEDx­ talk­ about how his camp­ counsellor­ changed the course of his life. Travis believes it’s his job to inspire summer camp leaders worldwide to be so GREAT­ that ­parents realize that their children must have a summer camp experience.

Organization: Camp Becket YMCA

Dan Berg, a 30-year veteran of Camp Becket, began his journey as a camper and later worked as summer staff before becoming Camp Director. His leadership has driven the camp’s growth, particularly in integrating Mental, Emotional, and Social Health (MESH) into everyday camp life. With a background in architecture, Dan focuses on details of facilities, program development, and community building. Dan’s approach fosters connection and growth, and he is passionate about creating an inclusive, supportive environment for both campers and staff.

Organization: Camp Scheduling Pro

Jon Biedermann is the founder of Camp Scheduling Pro, a software scheduling tool which saves you time and enhances your camp programming. Jon has been involved with organized camping since starting as a counselor in 1991 with North Star Camp for Boys, becoming a senior staff leader and ACA Standards Visitor. In 1995, he developed the first version of Camp Scheduling Pro. In 2001 Jon created DonorPerfect Online, one of the worlds largest fundraising software platforms, raising more than $100 billion in donations. With Camp Scheduling Pro, Jon helps camps save time, “future proof” camp programming, and develop happy campers.
Jon is a current ACA Standards Visitor, and still works part-time at his old camp every summer.

Organization: Vraiment Financial

Laine Bradley is a seasoned federal grant consultant, entrepreneur, and nonprofit leader with over a decade of experience in securing grants and building financial strategies for community-based organizations, local governments, and educational institutions. As the founder of Vraiment Financial, Laine has helped her clients secure over $27 million in grant funding and contracts. She specializes in creating inclusive, equity-driven funding strategies that empower organizations to thrive.

Organization: Maine Boys to Men

Sarah is deeply committed to supporting young people to recognize their power, discover their passions, and build the relationships needed to work together to create change. She served as the U.S. Programs Manager and Camp Director of Seeds of Peace for 8 years. She also joined the YES! Jam community in 2015 and is an organizing member and facilitator of both the North America Leadership Jam and Northeast Changemakers Jam. Sarah strives to lead a life of deep curiosity, joy, and authentic presence, finding strength in her beloved communities and continuously working to deepen her understanding of the complex systems around her.

Organization: Camp Susan Curtis

Brandon is a long-time staff member at Camp Susan Curtis, serving Maine children facing economic hardship. As a former camper his unique perspective on the benefits of a camp experience provide valuable insights as he creates interesting and interactive daily programs that build a sense of belonging and teamwork. Brandon has a degree in Recreation & Leisure Studies with a concentration in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Southern Maine and works as a full-time firefighter/paramedic for the City of Westbrook, Maine.

Organization: Camp Susan Curtis

Dakota has been involved with Camp Susan Curtis for 21 years, seven of those years as a camper. As a camper Dakota knew that she wanted to be a lifeguard and worked hard to earn multiple waterfront related certifications, including LGI and WSI. Dakota worked in a leadership role at the waterfront for seven summers creating a safe environment, building programming, adapting teachings for the at-risk youth population, and mentoring and training staff to be successful. In addition to being a professional at the waterfront, Dakota has begun to work as an Occupational Therapist at Camp Susan Curtis.

Organization: Butterfly Benefits LLC

Jacob N. S. Brier, MBA, PHR (they/them) is an experienced HR professional with a passion for community building. Jacob earned their MBA in organizational leadership from Johnson & Wales University, from which they also earned a BS in Marketing and an AS in Advertising Communications.
Jacob is a certified Professional in Human Resources, licensed insurance broker, former elected official, and the Founder & Principal of Butterfly Benefits, a consulting agency that empowers businesses to improve relationships with their people. Butterfly Benefits is an LGBT Business Enterprise.
Jacob’s connection to summer camp is as a former camper, counselor, Leader in Training coordinator, fundraiser, and they are a current parent of an overnight camper.

Organization: Conqueror Consulting Group DBA Conquer & Prosper eLearning

Nesha Brown is a renowned Founder and Idea Strategist celebrated for her innovative approach to driving success and inspiring change. With a strong track record in business development, creative work, grant writing, and project management, she empowers entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and social enterprises to develop strategies for sustainable growth. As the founder of Conquer & Prosper eLearning and Conqueror Consulting Group, Nesha has secured substantial grants and partnerships aimed at community advancement.

Organization: High 5 Adventure Learning Center

Phil, originally from England, joined the High 5 Adventure training team in May 2014, brings high energy and devotion to the Adventure field and has presented at many national and international conferences.
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 providing advice for adventure educators.

Organization: Teamwork & Teamplay

Teambuilding Guru Dr. Jim Cain has been working and playing with groups for more than fifty years. His work has taken him to all fifty states, eight Canadian provinces and thirty-seven countries to date. He is the author of thirty-one well-loved books filled with team and community building activities from around the world, including such classics as Teamwork & Teamplay, A Teachable Moment, The Book of Raccoon Circles and Find Something to Do. His real-world in-person train-the-trainer events are legendary in the adventure-based learning community and his virtual activities are used around the world. Jim’s most recent books include: Extraordinary Facilitation, The Teambuilders Toolbox, The Adventure Trail, and Print & Play.

Organization: Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook

Lisa has been the camp director at Broad Meadow Brook for 19 summers. Lisa works year round as an education coordinator. Respecting nature, our camp, other campers and our counselors is the foundation of my philosophy for camp. Lisa lives in Central Mass with her husband, son and 2 cats.

Organization: VestEd Consulting

A former camp director and administrator, Max has worked in the experiential education field for close to two decades. Having previously held Director roles at both day and residential camps, for both private and nonprofit organizations, Max now serves as a consultant, speaker, trainer, and author, presenting and facilitating workshops across the country. Max has helped support dozens of camps throughout North America and has engaged with thousands of camp professionals and seasonal staff since 2008. His workshops have ranged in size from one-on-one coaching sessions to large-scale programs with over 1,000 participants.

Organization: Strength Perspective

Jen “Dusty” Clitheroe is the Principal Consultant for Strength Perspective, a consulting firm that works with organizational leaders and their communities, empowering individuals to create more inclusive organizations, environments, and teams. She holds a BA in Psychology and an MS in Organizational Leadership. She has also served on several non-profit boards (including the Farm & Wilderness Foundation and Summer Camps) working to support sustainability, providing consultation for Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging strategic planning, leadership development, workshop facilitation, and organizational change management. She also serves on the Board of ACA New England.

Organization: YMCA Camp Takodah

Sarah Cunningham (she/her) serves as the Camping Services Director of YMCA Camp Takodah. When Sarah was 10 years old, she spent her first week there. Since then, she has held many camp positions, from camper to Camp Director. Most recently, Sarah worked as the Assistant Director for Advancement at Fleur de Lis Camp. She is an active member and volunteer for the American Camp Association as both an accreditation visitor and New England Camp Conference committee co-chair. Sarah has her bachelor’s in Child and Family Studies. In her downtime, you can usually find her enjoying a dip in the lake with her dog, Howie.

Organization: Camp CenterStage

With 30 years’ experience as camp director, theater director, and educator, Alexis shares firsthand experiences directly applied to the challenges of camp leadership. With a MS in Camp Administration and Leadership, she moved to Maine in 2018 to fulfill her lifelong dream of building a camp where leadership skills are combined with performing arts. She has directed residential and day camps from Maine to Maui and currently serves as the Dean of Students and District Title IX Coordinator in Winthrop, ME. As a guest presenter at Rotary International conventions, STEM conferences, and many ACA conferences, she strongly believes in the power of camp and that having an “attitude of gratitude” is always the best way to live!

Organization: Maxady/Bay Path University

Colleen DelVecchio is the founder and chief maximizer at Maxady where she transforms individuals and businesses to prevent burnout, foster strengths-based leadership, increase belonging, and manage organizational change. Colleen is also an Adjunct Professor in the Masters in Nonprofit Management program at Bay Path University. As a certified Gallup CliftonStrengths Coach and engaging speaker, Colleen increases teams’ potential, elevating impact and job satisfaction.

Colleen is the co-host of the Embrace the Squiggle podcast, championing the authentic career stories of professional women. She holds a BA in Psychology from Boston University and an MS in Nonprofit Management from Bay Path University.

Organization: MERGE Inclusion Consulting

Lisa’s career is marked by a deep commitment to fostering inclusion for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Starting at New England Village, she rose from a direct support role to designing the Sollar Wellness Center, a unique facility offering programs tailored to persons with disabilities. In 2014, Lisa became the South Shore YMCA’s Director of Inclusion, where she developed innovative programs and led staff training. In 2018, she founded MERGE Inclusion Consulting, extending her expertise to consult on inclusion practices across communities. Her national recognition highlights her impact and dedication to creating inclusive environments.

Organization: Ebner Camps, Inc.

Kris Ebner Martin is a third-generation camp owner. She grew up at camp as a camper, CIT, counselor, waterfront director, program director, and director. She is now the President and CEO of Ebner Camps, Inc., which operates two residential camps and two day camps, as well as a wedding/banquet facility in NW Connecticut. Kris as worked at a private school in the Boston area and as an ED of a YMCA camp in Florida, before returning to her roots in CT. Kris has served as chair of the ACANE conference, a standards visitor and instructor, and as an aquatics instructor trainer for more years than she cares to count! She has three boys, two daughters in law, and two grandchildren!

Organization: Songadeewin of Keewaydin

Carmen Epstein is a Health educator living in Lancaster, PA. Whether through the organizations she partners with (Wellness Works in Schools, Advoz or Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania) or her own organization (Basic Wellbeing) Carmen’s mission is to help deliver the information and skills to kids and communities to best care for themselves and others.

Organization: OUT Maine

Soren graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2022 with a degree in Anthropology and Educational Studies and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Diversity Leadership from the University of St. Thomas. His passion for LGBTQIA+ advocacy is deeply rooted in his lived experience as a Dutch Indonesian queer person and his dedication to creating spaces where LGBTQIA+ youth feel supported and valued. Throughout his career, Soren has contributed to his communities’ LGBTQIA+ advocacy efforts by connecting student needs with school administrators, hosting inclusive events, and fostering queer-focused spaces. Outside of work, he enjoys mountain biking, cyclocross, pottery, alpine skiing, singing, and exploring the world with his partner.

Organization: Camp Wa-Klo

Tammy earned her Bachelors in Sociology and a Masters in Education. She has been in camping for 30 years. Even during the five years she was a classroom teaching, she would spend her summer at camp. She started as a camper at Camp Wa-Klo and now is the director and owner. She has participated on a few boards and is currently on the New Hampshire Camp Directors Association and is a part of their Legislative Committee. She is also on the National Government Relations Committee for ACA and participated in the past two ACA Hill Days in Washington, D.C.

Organization: The Browne Center for Innovative Learning

Jeff Frigon is the Director of Youth & Student Programs for UNH’s Browne Center for Innovative Learning and is an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Recreation, Policy, & Management. Jeff got his start in the adventure world at Camp Nashoba North and has been in the field of experiential and adventure education for 30 years.
In his current role, he designs and delivers adventure-based & experiential programming & training to youth and adults, focusing on building healthy communities through empathy and connection.

Jeff lives and surfs in Rye, NH with his wife, Steph, Australian Shepherd, Salty, and Parakeet, Key Lime Pi. When not surfing, they spend inordinate amounts of time travelling for skiing & MTB adventures in their van, Becky.

Organization: OAAARS

Simone Gamble is the founder of OAAARS – a community of consultants of color that offer social justice centered training to create safe(r) & inclusive workplaces with the hopes to cultivate agents of change in the workplace and beyond. OAAARS has a database of over 90 consultants who also identify as organizers, activists, artists, and advocates ready to support countless organizations with this necessary work

Simone has been active in the camping world since she was a child when her mother first enrolled her in day camp at 10 years old. At 18, she was hired as a counselor at the Fiver Children’s Foundation where she spent over 10 years of her camping career ranging in roles from counselor to Assistant Camp Director.

Simone has been active in the camping world for over 10 years, ranging in roles from counselor to Assistant Camp Director. They have seen all levels of camp and this has guided their lens when consulting on creating safer and inclusive spaces for all campers. Lastly, They are the founder of OAAARS – a community of consultants of color that offer social justice centered training to create saf(er) & inclusive workplaces with the hopes to cultivate agents of change in the workplace and beyond.”

Organization: Youth Development Pro

Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Humans Services from Springfield College (MA). Michael has been working in Youth Development for 3 decades mostly in camping, after school, teens, and aquatics-based programming. He has run small city camps up to large outdoor day camps and overnight camps.

He volunteers with the American Camp Association (ACA) as a visitor and instructor.

Michael also is a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and exterior firefighter with his local Fire Department.

Organization: Alliance for Camp Health

Dr. Gaslin completed her PhD in Educational and Organizational Leadership and taught for 10 years, specializing in pediatric development, service leadership, and research on gratitude. Dr. Gaslin publishes the majority of her work in the areas of pediatrics, camp nursing, behavioral health, and service leadership and has co-authored several texts.
She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the Alliance for Camp Health where she travels and trains individuals regarding health services and well-being of youth and young adults. She continues to be an active speaker, writer, and publisher representing the Leading Voice in Camp Health to promote hope and healing in youth serving programs across the US and Canada.

Organization: SHOUT.camp

Dave has been involved with resident camping since 1994. He grew up working at YMCA Camp Cory in the heart of the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. After twenty years of seasonal and full-time jobs at camps, Dave pivoted to higher education. Currently he is a professor of computer science and director for the Center for Teaching and Learning at a college in upstate New York (though he still is actively involved in camping as a contributor and consultant).

His work in camping is through the lenses of program elevation, cognitive science, SEL, and employee empowerment.

His work in camping is through the lenses of program elevation, cognitive science, SEL, and employee empowerment.

Organization: Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook

Brittany served as a Woo Labs Fellow at our camp for the first time this summer focusing on our 9 – 11 year old campers. She is a high school teacher living and working in Central Mass.

Organization: Help My Spreadsheets

Marcie Glad had her first camp experience at age 12 and she hated it! Luckily, she got over the homesickness and embraced 15 years as a camp professional. She started a spreadsheet consulting business (Help My Spreadsheets) to help camps, schools, and small businesses make the most of their time. Marcie earned her MBA from Boston University and has a PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. Her superpower is knowing the exact size of Tupperware to use for leftovers.

Organization: Bright Moose LLC

Emily’s sessions get called “tremendously helpful,” and “not to be missed–a reason to come to the conference!” Following retirement from a 15-yr role as Executive Director at Camp Starfish, Emily founded Bright Moose, LLC (www.brightmoosetraining.com) to provide training, consultation, and PD for camps, schools and youth orgs nationwide. Emily holds a BS (Health Psych), MS (Camp Admin/Leadership), and a recently completed Higher Ed Teaching Certificate from Harvard. She is currently VP for NHCamps, an ACANE visitor/NCDW faculty/committee member, a Special Ed Advocate, MHFA Instructor, and honored recipient of the Peter Kerns Award for Advancement of Professional Development. Fair warning: she is an avid collector of terribly awesome puns.

Organization: The Granite YMCA

Amanda comes with 12 years of camp experience including overnight camps, day camps, and outdoor education. She has served as an ACA Visitor for the last 7 years and is currently an Operations Director at the Granite YMCA. She is a big YMCA buff and is always willing to drop a trivia question (and potentially offer a prize for right answers!)

Organization: Maine Boys to Men

Michael Griswold is a seasoned leader who shares diverse experiences working in nonprofit leadership, municipalities, public schools, and outdoor and camping administration. Michael was first introduced to Maine Boys to Men in 2016 and immediately became involved with the organization, attending various adult workshops. He is currently a trained facilitator for the RSVP® program. Michael is always seeking new ways to broaden the reach and spread awareness of Maine Boys to Men within the communities he serves.

As a husband and a father to three children, Michael hopes to lead people in all walks of life in courageously engaging with and helping to change the narrative of masculine culture in today’s society.  Michael currently resides in Winthrop, Maine.

Organization: Shiloh

Brad has spent over 15 years working with kids, teens and young adults both in the inner city and at camps across two provinces in Canada. He has spent the last 7 years developing programming, training and young leaders over two organizations in Alberta, Canada. Brad currently oversees an organization that runs year-round programming, including a summer camp. The organization focuses on programming for low-income families, as well as children in the foster care and the group home system.

Organization: Alliance for Camp Health

John is a strategic leader in the camp and out-of-school time (OST) space. He currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer for the Alliance for Camp Health. John has a deep understanding of mental, emotional, and social health (MESH +) of youth and national program expansion. Prior to ACH he served as the national director for Camp HOPE America. John has an MA in Leadership and Cultural Justice, is the cofounder of the Outdoor Wellbeing Lab, and is a former executive director of a camp near Lake Tahoe.

Organization: currently unaffiliated

Jen is a life-long crafter, main hobbies being scrapbooking and knitting. During her 10 years at Girl Scout camp, she was the craft specialist and mentor for several years. Jen is an environmentalist whose passion is taking small steps toward reducing plastic pollution, so you’ll usually find upcycling or recycling a part of her workshops. Since GS camp she has done crafts with kids and families at many different Outdoor Education centers and camps across the country. Jen has offered over a dozen workshops at the ACA New England conference, as well as several at Tri-State and at local outdoor educator’s conferences.

Organization: Twenty-One Senses

Danielle Heaton is the Co-Founder & Director of Twenty-One Senses, a nonprofit focused on advancing inclusion for individuals with invisible disabilities. With over two decades of marketing and project management experience focused on educating others, Danielle’s greatest strength is understanding complicated concepts and translating it into an easy to understand format. She has over 25 years of lived experience navigating the medical, educational and social systems for herself and her family. Danielle brings her personal and professional experience to every endeavor and is passionate about creating an empathic and inclusive community. Danielle enjoys being with her husband and two kids or actively volunteering in the community.

Organization: Maine Teen Camp

A camping professional with 10 years of Maine summer camp experience, Ajay has a Masters degree in Vocal Pedagogy and 12 years experience in teaching voice.
First time ACA conference speaker originally from Nottingham, United Kingdom now living in Maine, Ajay is very passionate about inclusion and diversity within any work space but particularly in the camp and music world. His Masters project was dedicated to looking at how voice lessons can be more inclusive for all people but in particular Transgender and Non-Binary people. As an ACA New England DEIB Committee member he is committed to providing a safe space for people to explore and understand how their voice works and provide techniques that can be used in nearly every aspect of camp.

Organization: Strong & Kind Conflict Specialists

Kathleen Hilchey spent 10 summers working in camping and outdoor-education and then over 10 years teaching in the secondary public system. She is now a conflict specialist in Ontario, Canada. She works primarily with camp staff to help them find the tools needed to meet our campers’ mental health and relationship challenges. Kathleen also works directly with clients and trains professionals (including camp staff!) on her trauma-informed conflict management strategies for complex conflict. She has an M.Ed. in Peacebuilding Techniques from Brock University and is a Qualified Mediator.

Organization: The Bromfield School

Julie Horton is a high school assistant principal, who has spent the previous 20 years as a high school math teacher, the last 3 summers as the codirector of the Counselor in Training program at Fleur de Lis Camp, and the last 9 summers as a Camp OAtKa mom. She is passionate about helping kids grow up to be their best, most authentic selves. Her favorite place at camp is anywhere crafts are happening and she only goes in the lake when it is absolutely necessary.

Organization: Planetchris Consulting

Chris Hudson has a lifelong passion for improving outcomes for children, families, and those who work with them. At age 8, he set up a counseling practice for kindergarteners, beginning a 30-year commitment to creating spaces where young people feel a sense of belonging.

As a social worker, Chris advocated for children facing mental health challenges and those in the court system. He champions racial, ethnic, and queer diversity and inclusion, believing everyone deserves access to life-changing opportunities.

Chris co-founded Camp Highlight, a community for LGBTQ families, and authored a curriculum focused on communication and inclusivity. Now, through Planetchris Consulting, he helps summer camps create equitable environments for all.

Organization: Chalmers Camp Insurance

Katie Johnson has spent 25+ years as youth development professional working with both overnight & day camp programs, including 8 years with the American Camp Association, as well as 8 years with The Redwoods Group as a Risk Consultant. In 2024, Katie joined the Chalmers Insurance Team, where she is sharing her professional experiences to help camps and youth serving organizations provide safe environments and programs for children and families.

Organization: AMSkier

Jeff Jubelirer is an AMSkier Partner specializing in public relations and media support. Along with being a former camper and camp counselor, Jeff comes to AMSkier with nearly three decades of professional experience in issue management and crisis communications. Jeff serves as a camp public relations expert to help directors and senior staff with the media, parents and virtually any kind of communications support needed.

Organization: Camp Wanakita

JJ has been a Director at Ontario, Canada Summer Camps and Outdoor Education Centres for 30 years. With a degree in Outdoor and Experiential Education, JJ also worked as a teacher in the public education system for specialized high school outdoor leadership programs over a 15-year period. One of JJ’s favorite things in life is facilitating experiences designed to increase group cohesiveness, resilience, and kindness. As a professional facilitator, JJ has been a diversity trainer for the City of York (Toronto, Ontario) and has guided workplace culture transformation in varied corporate and non-profit settings. She has had the privilege of presenting many times at camping and education conferences including the International Camping Congress in Tarragona, Spain in 2023.

Organization: Maine Boys to Men

Bruce is an activist, advocate, and public speaker who has covered a host of issues around the state and nationally. A Mexican-American with an array of lived experience, Bruce has worked in various capacities serving vulnerable populations and communities. He currently serves on the board of Maine Equal Justice and is a commissioner on Maine’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations. Prior to joining Maine Boys to Men, Bruce was the Co-Executive Director of Maine Inside Out, an organization that uses theatre for social change in schools, prisons, and in the community.

Organization: ActivEnviro

Donna Kuethe was the Recreation Director for Moultonborough, NH for 41 years, retiring in 2020. She managed three summer day camps and two lake waterfronts, and estimates she spent 52 summers involved in either resident or day camps. She is the initiator of, and serves as, the Project Manager for Operation Resiliency Response for the national non-profit, ActivEnviro. She is the lead author of the ORR Manual – Preparedness for Natural Disasters in your Community: A Guide for Parks and Recreation Agencies. As a Recreation Professional Donna continues involvement in the profession, has written articles for multiple state and national publications, and is a regular presenter at regional, state and national conferences.

Organization: Camp Susan Curtis

Megan has worked at Camp Susan Curtis for 9 summers, helping serve Maine children facing economic hardship. At CSC, she works to ready high school aged campers for the workforce, whether in the camp environment or in the real world, while also supporting newer staff members. This work also influences her work as a middle school teacher, where a portion of her students are also CSC campers. Megan has a degree in Elementary Education, with a minor in Special Education, from the University of Maine at Farmington and works in the Oxford Hills School District in Maine.

Organization: MGH Aspire

Taylor serves as co-camp director for Aspire’s summer adventure camp and adventure camp junior where she trains and mentors staff while supporting camper needs on-site and communicating with families. She takes special pride in sharing the Aspire summer camp model with others and presents regularly at local conferences and college classrooms. Prior to working at Aspire, Taylor developed and implemented a social skills curriculum for transition-age youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities and participated in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) fellowship program at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Organization: MGH Aspire

Jack manages the Aspire works internship program and works directly with neurodiverse adults seeking to develop their job skills through short-term work experience. As a career coach, Jack provides thoughtful support and individualized strategies in helping adults to achieve their professional goals. Jack also works and collaborates with Aspire’s employer partners to facilitate DEI training initiatives focused on neurodiversity.

Organization: MetroWest YMCA

Stephan is a Master level Community Social Psychologist and 30 year YMCA Camping professional working in both the residential and day camp fields. He developed an inclusive day camp model in the 90s that was recognized and funded by the state of Massachusetts. He furthered that work coming out of COVID by getting a National YMCA grant to build all gender housing at Camp Frank A. Day. He is a L.E.A.D certified Summer Camp Mental Health and Transplaining LGBTQIA2s+ Inclusion at Summer Camp Trainer. Stephan loves leading camp programming as he believes it is one of the best social emotional learning centers for children and young adults.

Organization: Outright Vermont

Emma oversees the vision and implementation of Outright’s youth and family programming. They also direct Camp Outright and Camp BranchOUT – both of which are summer camps with a queer twist. Working with youth is a constant in their life, and they have been running excursion, virtual, day, and residential summer camps for more than 15 years.

Emma is always on the lookout for opportunities to connect more youth, adults, and organizations to Outright through symbiotic relationships with community leaders and partner organizations – because everyone knows someone who could benefit from the magic of queer joy.

Organization:

Speaker info coming soon!

Organization: American Camp Association, Illinois

Colette is the CEO of ACA Illinois and is a movement builder and innovative leader in the camp community. With a deep rooted history as a camp director, Colette has served in various volunteer and staff leader roles in ACA and ACA Illinois prior to becoming CEO. As an award recipient of several awards centered on her leadership and innovation, Colette continues to be active in the professional association space including ASAE and Association Forum.

Organization: Uplifting Leadership

Aleta Maxwell is a certified executive coach, author, and leadership development content creator, as well as CEO & Founder of Uplifting Leadership. Aleta has held multiple senior-level leadership roles over the past 25 years in the hospitality industry and non-profit companies. While partnering with leaders at all levels of management, Aleta utilizes techniques like curiosity, compassion, and courage to help clients become more aligned with their purpose and values. Using these techniques, Aleta collaborates with her clients to uplift their specific leadership skill set and hone the tools needed to develop brand ambassadors in their employees.

Organization: Camp Laurel South/Mental Health Training Institute

Dr. McBride is a pediatrician with over 20 years of experience, including eight years as the camp physician at Laurel South in Maine. She has developed a deep understanding of the unique mental health stressors found in summer camps. Her firsthand experience in camp settings has given her valuable insight into the increasing emotional and psychological challenges faced by both campers and staff.

As the founder of The Mental Health Training Institute, Dr. McBride specializes in training camp leadership to identify and address mental health issues within their teams. She provides practical solutions that foster resilience and empower leadership to create supportive environments where both counselors and campers can thrive.

Organization: Kaleidoscope, Inc

Ryan is a consultant with KALEIDOSCOPE, inc. He has served at camps in SC, MT, TX, and TN. His career has been marked by moving multiple organizations through change and seasons of tremendous growth. He has great skill in strategic leadership and analysis, working well with groups to gain clarity in purpose and vision of potential models for the future. He is an engaging speaker that blends wisdom and wit to communicate complex ideas in a simple, straightforward way.

Organization: Mass Audubon/A Single Footstep

Shawn has spent his whole career since 1983 working with summer camps and outdoor education programs. In 1988 he began working in the ropes course industry with running ropes course programs, and teaching others how to run and build them. Shawn also worked and lived in Japan, teaching English, and in Thailand working with a corporate teambuilding program. Shawn has worked at 8 camps in 6 states and directed 3 of those camps. Shawn got his undergraduate degree in Asian American Relations from UCONN, and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Education from Prescott College. Shawn is a published author with 2 books to his name. And, he is currently the Education and Camp Director at Mass Audubon’s Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.

Organization: Camp Susan Curtis

Terri Mulks has 25+ years of experience with underserved youth in non-profit camps. With a Bachelor of Social Work from Southern Connecticut State University, she has been able to incorporate a trauma informed approach to intentional camp curriculum and collaborative behavior management while strengthening staff, programs, and operations. She is currently the Director at Camp Susan Curtis in Maine after a YMCA career in Connecticut, Boston, Providence, and Alabama. Terri is an ACA Visitor and serves on the Executive Committee for Maine Summer Camps. She and her husband, Jay, live in Maine with their rescued pets and are closing in on their personal lifetime mission to explore all of the National Parks.

Organization: TQAMP

Al (they/them) began their career as a camp professional 21 years ago and has since worked at multiple YMCA and Girl Scouts associations, 2SLGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations and advocacy groups across the South. They have served at senior levels in youth programming, LGBTQ advocacy, and Organizational Development. Al currently serves as Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of TQAMP. The only things they love more than pizza are their adorable wife Rebecca and twin toddlers Sam and Starr.

Organization: The Granite YMCA

Ryno has been in the YMCA day camp and teen programs industry for 25 years. Now with the Granite Y in New Hampshire, they serve in a leadership role supporting 10 day camps, as well as Youth & Government and Leaders Club programs. They serve on the Leaders’ School staff team at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in North Carolina, including teaching Character Development classes and Mindfulness clinics. They are certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid and are an ACA visitor. Ryno was born in Tampa, FL and has been married for 18 years. They have 2 fur babies, Tanner and Wonder.

Organization: Camp Glen Brook

Marijean “MJ” Legnard Parry currently directs the summer camp and Gap Semester Program for 18–21-year-olds for Camp Glen Brook in Marlborough, NH. MJ fell in love with camp as a 10-year-old at Girl Scout camp, launching her life’s work in camping. She received her degree from Springfield College in Recreation Management and has directed girls and coed resident camps and outdoor education programs for her entire career. She has been an active volunteer with ACANE serving on a variety of committees, the ACANE Board, an Accreditation Visitor, and has presented at ACANE and ACA Inc conferences. MJ currently serves on the Executive Committee and Board of NH Camps, ACANE Board Stewardship committee, and as faculty for New Camp Directors Training.

Organization: The Paul Firm PLLC

Founder of the Paul Firm PLLC, Rena Paul, Esq. is a former federal and state sex crimes prosecutor with more than 18 years of private and public sector experience investigating sexual misconduct, and workplace and child safety matters. A long-time camper, CIT, and counselor, Rena advises camps on compliance, safety planning and incident response, and trains camp administrators and staff. Rena created SummerSafe, a trauma-informed process that supports camp leaders preparing to respond to sensitive situations during the camp season.

Organization: YWCA Vermont Camp Hochelaga

Christine is the current Director of Camp Hochelaga after having been a camper, and staff member for over 20 years. They received their B.S. in Psychology from NYU with a focus in Child Development. Christine has mentored children and youth ages 8 months through 18 years old through positions in schools, psychological treatment centers, recreational programming, and – of course – summer camps. Through their experience, Christine has had the chance to work with children experiencing depression, anxiety, eating disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, selective mutism, ADHD, autism, learning difficulties, and more. They’re passionate about creating safe and joy-filled spaces that everyone can enjoy.

Organization: Experiential Systems Inc

Tim has been a professional in the Ropes Course industry since 1997. Starting his career as a wilderness trip / adventure education facilitator he quickly realized that, as the great Karkl Rohnke said, the ropes course is the Swiss Army knife of the adventure education world. He started building ropes courses in 1999 and has since been involved in virtually every aspect of the industry. Today, Tim is the East Coast Regional Director for Experiential Systems, a large ropes course / adventure park company based in Illinois. Tim also serves in several leadership roles with the Association for Challenge Course Technologies (ACCT).

Organization: Today's Innovator

Aaron Proietti is the current board chair for YMCA Camp Cory and a professional consultant who challenges nonprofits and summer camps to think differently. As the founder of Today’s Innovator and through the Shout.Camp consulting program, Aaron helps organizations and camps build the skills needed for strategic growth and programming excellence. He is also the published author of several books on innovation.

Organization: TQAMP

Chris Rehs-Dupin is the Founder of Transplaining for Camps, and Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of TQAMP. In the past 4 years Chris has become one of the most established subject matter experts in the area of 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion at camp. In addition to inclusion work, Chris supports camps in addressing angry stakeholders, facilitating activities for belonging, and training staff in responding to probable (and improbable) scenarios. He brings 21 years of camp experience and has trained thousands of leaders to support campers- with compassion and joy. Chris- who is convinced he may be part Hobbit- also loves gardening, women’s basketball, and spontaneous dance parties with his wife, Amy and their 2 children, Hayden and Milo.

Organization: YMCA of Greater Springfield

R. John has been with the YMCA Movement since 2017 and came up through the Camping/Outdoor Education world. With a passion for corporate teaming he completed a Master’s Degree in Organizational Psychology from Springfield College. Since then he has enjoyed working in the People Operations space helping cultivate, improve, and make the best jobs for his people as he can.

Organization: YWCA Vermont Camp Hochelaga

Chelsea Irys Rendlen is a spiritual activist, author, and summer camp professional. She holds a M.A. in Spirituality Mind Body, Psychology in Education, from Columbia University. She is the Executive Director of the YWCA Vermont Camp Hochelaga, where she creates socially and spiritually conscious spaces. Her work in camping and spirituality has been featured at conferences around the world including Harvard Divinity School’s Conference for the Evolution of Spirituality, and she is the Secular Spirituality Subject Matter Expert for the American Camp Association and Alliance for Camp Health’s CampWell Training.

Organization: Clearview Life Coaching and Consulting/Wyonegonic Camps

Whit Ryan has more than 35 years of experience in camping. She has served as Director of Staff Recruitment and Leadership Training at Wyonegonic Camps in Maine. Previously, Whit was a senior staff member at Alford Lake Camp, ME and director of Waukeela Camp, NH. As a career educator and founder and owner of Clearview Life Coaching, Whit focuses on working with schools and individuals to build stronger citizens and communities. She has extensive experience in building leadership training programs that will produce lasting benefits for camps. Whit has presented at both ACA National and New England conferences.

Organization: Kamp Kohut

Evan Saltman has been involved in summer camping as a camper, counselor, and programming staff leader at Kamp Kohut in Maine for more than 10 years. He was the Director of Scheduling at Kamp Kohut from 2022-2023, and served as a Programming Consultant in 2024.

Evan graduated from Bates College and is currently completing his Master of Science degree – MS, Earth, and Environmental Science at Boston College.

Besides camping and the outdoors, Evan has a passion for Rowing and worked at Phillips Exeter Academy, coaching the boys and girls 3rd boats.

Organization: SRS Events

Sarah Schechter has over twenty years of experience planning and producing events ranging from small scale private functions to large, multi-day experiences. Highlights include a 600-person camp reunion on the side of a mountain, a 400-person dinner in Grand Central Station, a curated dinner for thirty in an abandoned subway station, and a remote Maine sporting camp excursion accessible only by sea-plane.

Sarah creates events with the attendee in mind, ensuring a memorable experience from the moment they receive the invitation to their last goodbye. Based in Portland, Maine, Sarah works independently and directly with each of her clients.

Since 2015 Sarah has established herself as the expert in camp reunion planning in New England.

Organization: Mass Audubon

Rain Smallcomb (they/them) is a psychologist, educator, caregiver, and fun-haver. Rain obtained their B.S. in Psychological Sciences from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a focus on mental health, education, and stigma studies. Rain has 3 years of professional experience in the camp world and strives to create connection with campers and staff through shared experience. Their professional teaching background includes internal Mass Audubon staff trainings, external audiences at professional development opportunities, and guest lectures at their alma mater (WPI). Rain endeavors to inspire healthy relationships to ourselves, our community, and our natural world. Peace and love!

Organization: Eli & Bessie Cohen Camps

As Director of Kadima, a Counselor-In-Training and leadership internship program, it is an honor to connect with teens & be a part of their journey as they build their strong foundation of character. This experience, along with 30 years of teaching in the classroom, has helped to shape my understanding to grow positive, responsible, action-oriented leaders. I deeply believe that teens (and people!) need a strong balance of everyday routines, digging deeply, and active reflection. Now more than ever, we need balance to sustain ourselves. Besides listening to music, chilling with friends, reading, and doodling, I enjoy biking with my family and jumping into the kitchen to create tasty treats!

Organization: The Granite YMCA

Katie Soule is the Director of Social and Emotional Wellbeing at the Granite YMCA. Katie has been working in the land of youth development since 2007. In her current role, she supports staff, youth, and the community in a variety of ways, including social-emotional consultation, program and curriculum development, training, and resource navigation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Additionally, Katie is a Certified Human Behavior Consultant, ACEs Master Trainer, Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and serves on several local, statewide, and national mental health coalitions.

Organization: Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center

As both a youth development professional and non-profit manager, John Michael SpeAs both a youth development professional and non-profit executive, John Michael Spelman’s mission is to provide a space for young people to develop into creative and compassionate leaders. John Michael is the Executive Director of Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center, a ministry of the United Methodist Church of New England. In addition to his work at Aldersgate, John is a member of the national United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministries leadership team for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. John also serves as the President of the Rhode Island Association of Camps (RIAC) and is responsible for organizing state-wide professional development opportunities and tracking legislation that affects summer camps in Rhode Island.lman’s mission is to provide a space for young people to develop into creative and compassionate leaders. John Michael is the Executive Director of Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center, a ministry of the United Methodist Church of New England. In addition to his work at Aldersgate, John is a member of the national United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministries leadership team for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. John also serves as the Vice President of the Rhode Island Association of Camps (RIAC) and is responsible for organizing state-wide professional development opportunities and tracking legislation that affects summer camps in Rhode Island.

Organization: Lake Sunapee Protective Association

Kathleen Stowell has been the Education Director for the Lake Sunapee Protective Association for over 30 years. She is responsible for planning and leading environmental education programs for thousands of school children, families, adults, and educators annually; all participants walk away with a deeper knowledge and appreciation for the outdoors thanks to her “hands-on” and fun approach to teaching. Her career began in Girl Scout camps as a camper, counselor and administrator and she has worked as a naturalist in a variety of settings.

Organization: So You Think You Can Camp

Nelson Strickland is a dedicated camp advocate and consultant committed to fostering inclusive camp environments. As the founder of Camp Inno and
So You Think You Can Camp, he promotes access and representation for BIPOC communities. A speaker at various ACA conferences, Nelson emphasizes staff training, digital media, and diversity in camping. He has previously served as Executive Director of Camp Birkett (YMCA) and Operations Director for Camp Stomping Ground and TIC Technology Day Camp. Currently residing in Upstate NY, he is the Information Technology Lead for Girl Scouts – Heart of the Hudson.

Organization: Doug Sutherland Consulting

Doug Sutherland has been facilitating team building and group development programs in the camp field for over 20 years. He has worked in for-profit and not-for-profit camps in the New England area as counselor up through executive director. He believes training and guiding future camp leaders is essential to promoting the advantages of camp. He is looking forward to watching his young daughter develop with the help of the camp industry.

Organization: Camp Becket YMCA

Julie is a seasoned camp and school leader dedicated to the social-emotional learning of youth and the adults who support them. An alumna of Clark and Simmons Universities, she is currently pursuing her doctorate in School Psychology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. With over 20 years of experience, Julie is passionate about fostering responsive learning environments and developing informal and formal support to promote belonging and well-being.

Organization: Fairwinds Camp Consulting

Dr. Nick Teich is a former longtime camp director and is now an executive coach for camp directors, helping them with their camp’s unique needs and goals. Nick also trains and coaches camp staff during the summers. He is a 2024 recipient of ACA New England’s Peter Kerns Award for the Advancement of Professional Development at camps. Nick is a trained social worker and holds a doctorate in social policy. Nick lives in the Boston area with his wife and two kids.

Organization: Exeter & Belknap

Dr. Christopher Thurber has dedicated his professional life to promoting the social and emotional adjustment of adventurous youth and intrepid adults. A graduate of Harvard and UCLA, Chris has served as a psychologist and teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy since 1999. A lifelong entrepreneur, Chris created Prep4Camp.com and Prep4School.com to ensure young people thrive away from home. Following the success of his best-selling “Summer Camp Handbook,” Chris’s newest book is “The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure.” Learn more about homesickness prevention, staff training, and process consultation at DrChrisThurber.com and Reach.Cloud.

Organization: Bethany Hill Place

James Tresner, though now leading a housing and education nonprofit outside of Boston, spent 7 years as the Executive Director of a summer camp and retreat center in the Lakes Region of NH. Prior to becoming an Executive Director, James worked in fundraising, marketing, and outreach for a large national non-profit. In addition, he has experience teaching at a Saudi school on the Arabian Gulf, leading an after-school program, and working in higher education. James is a graduate of Middlebury College (VT).

Organization: Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall

Currently the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Chapel Hill- Chauncy Hall in Waltham, MA, and a former teacher at Nashoba Brooks School in Concord, MA. She sits on multiple Inclusivity and Diversity Boards and is the president of Robbins House in Concord. She has long held a passion for African-American history and recently presented at the Association of African American Museums, discussing the importance of telling the full stories of African-American female suffragists. She has presented and run Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion workshops for numerous communities and constituencies. Nikki has worked in public, private, and independent education for over a decade.

Organization: Project Adventure

Greg (he/him), joined the Project Adventure team in May 2014. He gets excited about organization, the power of play, and music and how it connects to the adventure field. He has presented at numerous conferences on challenge course standards, utilizing music in the adventure field, and using virtual platforms for adventure over Zoom. He has spent the last ten years thinking about how to engage all participants on the challenge course and training educators, camp staff, and adventure professionals alike on how to utilize their challenge course to the fullest.

Organization: Running Brook Camps

I am currently the Director of Running Brook Camps in Waltham MA. I joined this community in 2013 and love being part of a system that fosters so much growth for campers and counselors alike. Prior to this role, I received my Bachelor’s of Science and Master’s in Human Development and Family Studies, and then received my License in Marriage and Family Therapy. I then spent 15 years working in various school settings, residential programs, and outpatient settings, providing clinical support to individuals and families. The heart of my work is connecting with others and helping them enjoy the strengths they have while challenging themselves to grow at the same time.

Organization: Day Camp Community & Immersive1st

Having visited over 30 camps in Summer 2024, Dan Weir is obsessed with leaders’ influence at summer camps. He is the Senior Consultant for Immersive1st as well as a former Camp Director and proud camper parent. Dan is also the co-founder of Day Camp Community, a support structure for YMCA Day Camps. With a Master’s Degree specializing in youth development, Dan’s work has been recognized for program and research excellence.

Organization: The Story School Camp FABLE

Chris Wiley is a nerd, father, actor, game designer, and camp professional. He honed his skills in education and entertainment, graduating with degrees in Theater and English. Moving to Boston in 2008, Chris worked as a special education teacher, actor, and eventually camp counselor at Wizards & Warriors Camp.

Over 16 summers, Chris worked as a counselor, program director, and camp director. He helped transition the programs into a nonprofit, The Story School, in 2013. Three kids and one pandemic later, he is now Executive Director, launching the new Camp FABLE and Camp Grimoire. These programs transform neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, and nerdy campers into heroes through story-based, immersive, and educational adventures.

Organization: MGH Aspire

As a neurodivergent individual herself, Elise applies her extensive experience and unique perspective in collaboration with neurodiverse individuals, caregivers, and providers to customize tools and strategies that enhance success across various life domains including home, school, and work. Elise has written curricula to promote healthy self-awareness, disclosure, transition planning, and executive functioning. As an international speaker, Elise supports organizations and corporations to implement practical and sustainable inclusion. She has specific expertise in the neurodiversity framework, special education, universal design, social-emotional learning, tools to build independence, and strategies for executive functioning.

Organization: Thrive Point Studio

Jarod Wunneburger (goes by “W”) is the Director of Camps at the Farm and Wilderness Foundation in Plymouth, VT. He’s been with TL since 2007 and is TL’s first BIPOC mixed-race director. He previously worked for the Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ suicide prevention & crisis intervention), taught special education and middle school math, and was a school administrator in the Bronx and Manhattan. He has a MA in School Leadership from Harvard and a MA in Special Education from St Johns. He’s passionate about using the best teacher tools to coach staff and support campers. He sits on the board of an independent school in Vermont and is currently training a Samoyed named Atlas to become a therapy dog.