Grinding kava in Vanuatu. Life skills.

I am a 3x founder/CEO, board chair, and advisor with a deep background in travel, sustainability and education industries. I’ve grown and exited businesses, and now consult with a wide range of executives, founders, and investors. I love working on tricky problems and figuring out innovative solutions. I have a strong background in marketing, technology, sales, and strategy, and am literate in finance and analytics.

An award-winning former journalist turned travel entrepreneur, I co-founded, grew, and eventually partially exited Context Travel, a category-defining experiential travel company that connects curious travelers with local experts for in-depth learning experiences. A certified B Corp, Context was several times on the INC list of fastest growing companies and won a Changemakers award for its sustainability strategy. I sit on the board of Context where I continue to guide strategy and advise on critical matters.

I am currently founding a startup in the education space called Cicero, which helps middle-school and high-school students find private teachers for one-on-one, remote learning engagements. Cicero is a public benefit corporation.

In 2019 I joined the board of Sustainable Travel International (STI), a social venture that helps communities in fragile landscapes manage their exposure to climate change and overtourism. In 2020 I became chair of STI, ran our three-year strategic planning process, and began a re-founding of that company that I continue to oversee as executive chair. STI is a major player in climate advisory services and carbon offsets for the travel industry.

I also sit on the board of Modern Adventure, a VC-backed travel startup that builds travel experiences with leading chefs, scientists, athletes and others as experiential marketing products for top brands.

I currently mentor and advise a number of companies, including The Bach, Pack Up + Go, and Renegade Songs. I am also an angel investor in a few startups, a member of an angel syndicate, and serve as a mentor in the Plug and Play end plastic waste accelerator and MassChallenge travel accelerator.

Outside of all this, I work as a consultant and advisor for companies across a wide spectrum of industries, size, and problem sets. Drawing on my years of building sales teams, solving customer acquisition and digital marketing challenges, shepherding transformations (digital and non digital), and building and managing org structures, I’ve developed a versatile framework derived from hands-on operational experience with tackling and solving myriad business challenges. I love digging into the details with founders, leaders, and boards. I hold certifications in analytics, OKRs, and FMV&A, did my financial training at Wharton and coursework in disruptive strategy at Harvard.

Prior to founding Context, I was a journalist for National Geographic, Wired, and a variety of other publications where I earned several awards, including a Best American Science Writing accolade and a Lowell Thomas Travel Writing Award. I have written five books on landscape and design and have an essay in the recently published Visualizing Nature (Princeton Architectural Press, June 2021).

In my career I’ve spent a lot of time with investors on both sides of the table: as an entrepreneur looking for funding and as an investor looking for opportunity. Each side has taught me valuable lessons about growth and value.

I am a perpetual traveler and currently live on a sailboat with my family. When I’m not helping founders, executives, and boards sort out strategy or build growth, I spend my time freediving, surfing, and repairing marine diesels.