leadership team

Ethan founded Carpe Diem in 2007, and took the helm of a merged Global Routes & Carpe Diem in 2023. He has personally led groups in India, Bali, Central America, New Zealand, and has developed programs in East Africa, Indonesia, South America, India, and Central America. Ethan speaks fairly fluent Spanish, although Swahili and basic Hindi were previously in his repertoire.

His passion for experiential education was inspired by his mother, who worked as a social worker in Cambodia. As a student, he became first in his class to take a gap year. On his gap year, he traveled to India, Nepal, Tibet, and Thailand. He trekked the Annapurna circuit, meditated for 10 days in noble silence, volunteered in a community kitchen, renewed his faith in humanity, lived in a thatched hut for a month during monsoon, and fell in love with travel. Ethan returned to Willamette University and quickly graduated in 2001 with a dual degree in English and Philosophy and a minor in Environmental Science.

Ethan has been a speaker at the City of Portland’s Tri-County Diversity Conference, the National Honor Society, the International Baccalaureate program for the state of Colorado, IECA & HECA, the International Partnership for Service-Learning, and many high schools and alternative education programs. He has led countless leadership training seminars, founded Carpe Mundi (Carpe Diem’s non-profit wing), and, in 2012, Ethan left Carpe Diem to found the Gap Year Association, the only membership-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing the gap year movement. He recently retired from GYA in January of 2022 and continues to co-chair the Standards and Accreditation Committee. Carpe Diem Education is part of the Global Routes family.

At 21, he set foot on the SS Universe Explorer and circumnavigated the world, cementing his passion for cross-cultural education. For 10 seasons, he led Global Routes students to Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, Mexico, the Grenadines, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. With more than 25 years under his belt as an educator, ranging from running summer camps, leading for Global Routes, teaching in the Boston Public Schools, and leading health and nutrition education programs across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, Adam is constantly pursuing his personal mission.

During those rare moments when he is not leading, directing, or developing programs, Adam acts as the Co-Founder of The Cookbook Project and is a Food Education Scholar and Certified Health Counselor. He is also a certified teacher in history, English, math, and ESL. Adam is a Propeller Accelerator Fellow and serves on the Board of Directors for Odanadi USA, and the Community Advisory Boards of the Tulane Prevention Research Center, the Healthy School Food Collaborative, Farm to School planning commission, and Tulane Young Alumni. Adam enjoys spending time connecting with his community in Hawai’i, exploring with his two dogs Hoogli and Dorje, rock climbing, yoga, wilderness backpacking, sailing, and adventures in the Himalayas.

Anne comes to her role as Director after spending two years working as the Director of Enrollment at Carpe Diem. Prior to joining the Carpe Diem HQ team, Anne worked in the admissions offices of two other experiential education organizations for four years. Born and raised in Oberlin, Ohio, Anne grew up in a small town and moved west to attend college at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Oregon. Anne majored in Sociology and Anthropology in school and spent much of her time exploring the Pacific Northwest, studying the Bassoon and playing in the college orchestra.

During her junior year, Anne participated in a Semester in India with the National Outdoor Leadership School which is where her love of international travel and experiential education began. After graduating from Lewis & Clark, she came upon Carpe Diem and had the opportunity to intern at HQ for six months where she became familiar with the ins and outs of program administration and what goes on behind the scenes of making transformative experiences possible for students. Since completing her internship in the Carpe Diem office, Anne has lived in Lander, Wyoming and Boulder, Colorado and is thrilled to be living back on the West Coast. While working in the administration of a similar international education organization, Anne had the opportunity to lead groups of students along the Silk Road from Beijing to Kashgar in China and throughout Myanmar.

In her role, Anne loves having the opportunity to connect with students and their families as they prepare for an international semester experience. She also works closely with the Operations Team to ensure that the behind the scenes operations continue running smoothly. When she’s not in the office, Anne can be found cooking, enjoying time with friends in Portland and beyond, attending bluegrass shows and spending time with her backyard chickens. Global Routes is part of the Carpe Diem Education family.

Heather first discovered Carpe Diem in 2008, when she was looking for a way to combine her passions for experiential education, travel, and outdoor adventure. She grew up in a small suburb of Chicago and didn’t know about Gap Years when she graduated high school. However, a semester in South America her sophomore year in college opened her eyes to the transformative power that the combination of travel, independence, and education can have.

She spent another semester abroad, this time interning as a cultural exchange teacher at a K-12 school in India, and knew she would continue to seek out experiences that pushed her comfort zone for a long time to come. After finishing her BA in International Affairs at the University of Colorado-Boulder, she moved to Costa Rica for a year and a half, where she worked at an Environmental Learning Center, facilitating workshops and service projects related to conservation and education and fine-tuning her Spanish.

She moved back to the US to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Environment, Education, and Community at the University of Washington, but was still searching for a way to incorporate international exchange into the mix. Carpe Diem was the perfect fit! Since starting with Carpe in 2008, Heather has had the amazing opportunity to lead programs in Central and South America, India, the South Pacific, and Southeast Asia. In addition to working for Carpe, she also completed a yoga teacher certification program in India and an MS in Leadership for Sustainability Education at Portland State University.

Since transitioning from the field to Carpe Diem’s Portland, Oregon office, she spent a year as a Latitudes Director, before taking on the role as Program Director for Carpe’s Latin America programs. She loves helping others find amazing opportunities abroad, and facilitating opportunities for joy, laughter, and adventure. Carpe Diem Education is part of the Global Routes family.

While growing up outside Chicago, Mara’s parents organized monthly trips to different neighborhoods to expose her family the vast variety of cultures within the city. After graduating from Emerson College in 2014, Mara went to Ireland on a Working Holiday Visa on what she expected to be a gap year. This time quickly spun her career plans around and turned into a lifelong pursuit to work internationally and connect with communities around the world.

In 2018, Mara entered the world of experiential education as a way to merge her passions for mentorship and travel. She has led over ten gap and summer programs for Carpe Diem Education and similar organizations across four continents, with highlights including hiking to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal, exploring the Galapagos Islands, and sharing her Greek culture with students. In 2021, she transitioned to supporting summer programs from the office-side of things.

Outside of work, she is often found hiking, singing and dancing (moderately off-beat), practicing Spanish, and journaling in various pockets of the world. She recently was living in Wellington, New Zealand, smitten with its golden hour hues and food rescue initiatives.

Mara is incredibly grateful to have found a home within the Carpe Diem/Global Routes community. She can’t wait to hear about all the discoveries and growth that happen on programs this summer and is looking forward to supporting the students, leaders, and fellow HQ staff!

After spending many summers camping and as a recipient of the Eagle Scout Award, Brian developed his passion for transformative travel by applying his leadership skills to understanding, communicating with, respect, and the value cultures of the world.

Brian developed his thirst for travel when he was 9 as his family spent 10 weeks traveling across the country together visiting national parks, historical sites, and amusement parks. He then dove into the world of overseas travel while spending a semester abroad in Japan during his junior year of High School. He continued to explore the world by visiting Mexico, Europe, Uganda, Tanzania, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. After co-leading the Fall 2009 semester in Southeast Asia, he moved to San Francisco for college, returning with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with minors in Business Administration and Japanese Language at the University of Oregon.

Brian moved to Portland where he has worked in coffee shops, as an Overseas Educator, and behind-the-scenes for Carpe Diem Education. When Brian is not traveling or working, he can often be found outside getting his hands dirty in the garden, becoming lost in the sights, smells, and sounds that surround him. He also enjoys spending time with family, cooking, riding his motorcycle, home construction, and spending as much time outdoors as possible. Education, service, and community have long been themes in his life and we’re proud and honored to have him working in the office with us! Carpe Diem Education is part of the Global Routes family.

Dave is co-founder and Executive Director of Cornerstone Safety Group. He is also the founder and President of Resilient Solutions, a risk management and emergency response consulting firm serving travel and experiential education organizations since 2011.

He has a risk management master’s degree from Norwich University, has spent the past 27 years in domestic and international travel operations, and has advised over 60 organizations in risk management practices and training. Dave is also the Secretary of the Gap Year Association’s Standards and Accreditation Committee and has spent time as an ambassador with the Responder Alliance focusing on emotional well-being and the stress continuum.
Before starting Cornerstone, Dave was the Vice President of Health, Safety and Risk Management at some of the largest organizations in the travel and experiential education industries.

Dr. Dubansky is the co-founder and Medical Director of Cornerstone Safety Group. He is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician with special expertise in Wilderness Medicine. Dr. Dubansky is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine and serves as Medical Director for the Northstar California ski clinic, three national forests and several outdoor adventure companies.

Dr. Dubansky received his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2010, then trained in Emergency Medicine at UCSF-Fresno where he created and completed an area of concentration in Wilderness Medicine Education in 2014. Dr. Dubansky’s experience includes designing and implementing EMS field scenarios and mass casualty drills, lecturing extensively to medical students, EMTs, nurses, physicians, and National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service Rangers. He has also developed National Park Service EMS protocols as part of UCSF-Fresno’s ParkMedic and Wilderness Medicine Programs.

Dr. Dubansky is also a co-founder of Tahoe Wilderness Medicine, where he still leads outdoor adventure trips. He has taught for or helped run numerous outdoor programs, including NOLS, Cal Adventures at U.C. Berkeley, Cornell University Outdoor Education, California Canoe and Kayak, ARTA River Trips and Healing Waters San Francisco. Dr. Dubansky volunteers as a National Ski Patrol physician and is a diplomate of the Wilderness Medical Society’s Diploma in Mountain Medicine program.

Maureen MacConnell, PMHNP-BC, PSY-M, is a board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner providing mental health consultation and training in over 60 countries globally. She has advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Education in Human and Organizational Learning. Maureen joins Cornerstone with fifteen years experience as a mental health clinician both domestically and internationally. She believes in providing continuous, adaptive support for travelers and is passionate about navigating the complexities of international healthcare.

Mike has worked for experiential learning and adventure companies around the world for 30+ years. Beginning as an outdoor educator in Oregon, Idaho, and California with the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School (now NWOBS), he later served in senior leadership. He went on to work as an Instructor for Outward Bound Australia in 1995-96 and as the Head of Operations for Outward Bound Hong Kong from 2018-2022. Currently in a role at the American Red Cross as the Disaster Program Manager for Western North Carolina and as the Risk Management Consultant for Outward Bound International, Mike also travels the world to consult on risk management in outdoor adventure businesses and regularly presents at conferences on cultural risk tolerance and risk management. He is also a member of numerous boards, including Risk Management Committees in the USA, Hong Kong, China and Outward Bound International. His expertise resides in operations, logistics, safety and risk management and team building. An avid mountaineering and rock climbing guide, sea kayak guide and white-water rafting guide, he has personally climbed and paddled all over the world. A personal accomplishment of his, Mike has mastered 50 first ascents in the US and a first ski descent in the Fairweather Range of Alaska. Mike moved from Hong Kong to Asheville, North Carolina in 2022. In his spare time he loves spending time with his family, exploring the crags of North Carolina, traveling, riding his bike, staring at maps and reading books on safety and risk management.

Katz has always been driven by two core passions: making a positive impact and exploring the wonders of the world. For years, she has dedicated herself to giving back, volunteering with children and youth, sharing her faith, and nurturing creativity through music, arts, and language. Whether she’s on a volunteer mission or participating in local outreach programs, her goal is always to leave a lasting, positive impact.

Her adventurous nature led her to immerse herself in the rich culture and cuisine of Bali for several months (who could resist!). Living and working in Singapore and exploring nearby countries only deepened her appreciation for diverse cultures and experiences.

Today, Katz continues her adventures with her family, discovering the beauty of their birthplace, the Philippines, and sharing their love for the beach, nature, and water sports. Her dedication to making a difference inspires her to seek out new opportunities wherever she goes.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a major in Business Economics and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree. She brings years of experience in executive support and over a decade of expertise in global and local management, focusing on operations and customer service.

Beyond her professional roles, she finds joy in tutoring ESL students and expressing her creativity as a visual designer.