Outdoor Outreach Staff
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Christopher Rutgers is the founder and executive director
of Outdoor Outreach. As a competitive skier, whitewater river
guide, expedition rock climber and avid surfer, Chris has
spent most of his life developing a passion for the outdoors. It was this passion that helped Chris overcome his own at-risk
childhood. In 1999, he founded Outdoor Outreach as a means to
give at-risk and underprivileged youth the same life-changing
opportunities. Drawing from his own personal experiences,
Chris developed the Outdoor Outreach philosophies that have
proven to be so successful working with at-risk and
underprivileged youth.
As founder of Outdoor Outreach, Chris has been nationally
recognized as an expert on programming for youth at-risk. He is frequently asked to speak at national conferences and
symposiums, and to consult with government agencies, academic
institutions and other nonprofit organizations. Chris has
served as an advisor to the California Governor's Office,
California State Parks and the National Park Service on
developing programs for at-risk youth. In addition, Chris
has won numerous local and national awards for his programs'
successes. He is a past recipient of San Diego's KGTV Channel
10 Leadership Award and Newsweek magazine's "America's Best." |
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Rachel spent several years working with youth
development programs serving at-risk youth and
underserved communities in New York City before
joining Outdoor Outreach in 2005. She has
counseled families and children in crisis,
performed research in Latin America and
initiated NYC Surfrider Foundation's Respect the
Beach Program. Rachel has traveled through
Asia and Latin America, exploring different
cultures, surf breaks, mountain peaks, big
cities and small villages. These powerful
experiences have led Rachel to dedicate her
career to helping underserved youth explore
their world. At Outdoor Outreach, Rachel
oversees the day-to-day operations of our
programs and partnerships. She holds a BA
in cultural anthropology from the University of
Colorado at Boulder and an MA from Columbia
University's School of Social Work. |
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Teri spent several years at the San Diego
Chapter of the American Red Cross in their
Development and Communications department before
joining Outdoor Outreach in early 2008 as the
Development/Administrative Manager. Teri
is an active outdoor enthusiast who loves to
share her passion for adventure and adrenaline
with others. During her free time she can
be found on the local adventure race circuit
combining her love of kayaking, mountain biking,
trail running and getting dirty. She hold
a BA in Environmental Science from the
University of West Florida and a Master's degree
in Public Administration from Old Dominion
University. |
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Gavin joined Outdoor Outreach in 2007 through
the Americorps*VISTA program. Originally
from New Jersey, Gavin worked as an ocean
lifeguard for eight summers and gained much
experience working with youth on the beach.
After graduating from the University of Miami
with political science and broadcast journalism
degrees, he joined Outdoor Outreach to continue
his work with youth development as the program
associate in sunny San Diego. |
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Erin joined Outdoor Outreach in 2007 through
the Americorps*VISTA program. She
graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, GA,
where she attained a BA in Sociology and
English. While in school, she interned at
the Partnership Against Domestic Violence and
Georgians for Choice, and is excited about
continuing her work in the nonprofit sector here
at Outdoor Outreach as the volunteer
coordinator. |
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Justin joined Outdoor Outreach in 2008
through the Americorps*VISTA program. Hailing
from Northern Virginia, he graduated from
Virginia Tech with a degree in Consumer Studies.
In school, he developed a strong service ethic
with various volunteer organizations, including
Habitat for Humanity. Because of this, he is
excited to continue his adventure in Southern
California by serving the underprivileged youth
of San Diego as the development associate at
Outdoor Outreach. |
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Field
Staff |
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Yeti Sfreddo
Senior Instructor
Yannick 'Yeti' Sfreddo has joined
Outdoor Outreach in 2007 as a senior instructor. Yeti
was born in Tahiti and raised in France where he
studied English and Geography. In addition to
working with Outdoor Outreach, he is a skilled
carpenter and volunteer with the San Diego
Mountain Rescue Team. His parents gave him
the traveling bug at an early age, and since
then he has traveled many places around the
world building a strong background in
backpacking. When not working hard, Yeti
is playing hard, whether it be rock climbing,
surfing, hiking, learning new languages or
developing his passion for tree-houses. He
loves sharing his passion for adventure and the
outdoors with the kids he works with at Outdoor
Outreach. |
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Steve Ferrang
Senior Instructor
Steve Ferrang joined Outdoor
Outreach in 2007 as a senior instructor. He
attained a bachelors of science and a masters in
occupational therapy from D'Youville College in
Buffalo, NY. In addition to his role here at
Outdoor Outreach, he currently works as an
occupational therapist for San Diego City
Schools. In his spare time he enjoys rock
climbing, surfing, and traveling to foreign
countries. |
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Sean Cahill
Senior Instructor
Sean Cahill joined Outdoor
Outreach in the spring of 2008 as a senior
instructor. He was born in Texas, raised in
Hawaii and attended High School in Chicago.
Moving a lot as a child and young adult gave
Sean the passion for traveling. After extensive
traveling in Central and South America to fly
fish and ski, Sean settled down in Wyoming where
he taught Telemark and Alpine skiing to young
children in Jackson Hole. There he sharpened his
passion for all things to do with the outdoors.
Fly fishing, mountain biking, climbing,
backpacking, soccer, golf and any snow related
sports kept Sean busy under the Tetons of
northern Wyoming. |
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Josh Jackson has fervor for both outdoor
recreation and teaching, and he has spent over a
decade trying to marry his passions. Josh
has worked as a climbing, river and mountain
guide throughout the West and Alaska. He
has his BA in adventure education
and wilderness leadership from Prescott College
and an MA in outdoor experiential education
from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Josh is a Wilderness EMT who has been active in
search and rescue. In addition to working as
an Outward Bound instructor, climbing-gym
manager, wilderness therapy facilitator, field
program manager, and a Wilderness Medical
Associates' instructor, he has served as adjunct
faculty at colleges and universities, teaching
such courses as expeditionary sea kayaking,
white water rafting, rock climbing, back country
skiing, ice climbing, surfing, map & compass,
winter camping, wilderness leadership and
wilderness first responder. |
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Minette OzakiSenior
Instructor
Minette has been with Outdoor Outreach for several years,
first as a dedicated volunteer and now serving as one of our
trip leaders. After graduating from UCSD with a Biology degree,
she spent 10 years working as a research scientist. Minette has
also worked as an adventure travel guide and massage
therapist. Her life path has allowed her to pursue the outdoor activities
she loves. If she is not out mountain biking, snowboarding,
surfing, kayaking, hiking, diving or traveling to do any of the
above, you can find her relaxing at home in Del Mar with her two
dogs. Minette came to Outdoor Outreach for the opportunity to
share her passion for staying active and healthy in the great
outdoors.
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Juan HerreraJunior
Instructor
Juan has filled almost every role at Outdoor Outreach. During
the past four years, he has been a participant
and a member of our
leadership program, and currently Juan is employed as one of
our all-star trip leaders. Juan has become a recognized speaker
on issues of youth violence. He was recently selected by The
Outdoor Industry Foundation as an Outdoor Idol, where he serves
as an ambassador to the outdoor industry. Juan
graduated from City College where he obtained a degree in Chicano Studies.
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Angel CadenaJr.
Instructor
Angel has been involved with Outdoor Outreach
since his senior year at Gompers High School.
As a participant in the Gompers Adventure Club,
he caught the "stoke" and was instantly hooked
on rock climbing, snowboarding and surfing.
His natural leadership abilities and strong work
ethic made him an excellent candidate for the
leadership development program, LEAD, and he has
been an active participant in that since January
2007. He currently works part-time as an
instructor for Outdoor Outreach and is a full-time student at San Diego City College, pursuing
a degree in Computer Engineering. Angel also works
as a mentor in an after-school program at
Lincoln High School, where he inspires up-and-coming teens to dream big and work hard to
achieve their goals.
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Latisha ParkerJr.
Instructor
Latisha was originally a member of the
Gompers High School Adventure Club. She
has a contagious positive energy that really
made her stand out as a candidate for the LEAD
program and now she loves the fact that she can
call surfing, snowboarding and rock climbing
work! She is consistently pushing herself
to grow in her facilitation and leadership
abilities and brings so much sunshine onto
Outdoor Outreach trips. Latisha is fluent
in ASL (American Sign Language) and is currently
taking classes at San Diego City College on top
of her part-time career as an Outdoor Outreach
instructor.
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Cody MarshallJr.
Instructor
Cody first participated in Outdoor Outreach
trips through the Toussaint Teen Center almost
five
years ago. Throughout that time, he has
developed a huge passion for outdoor activities
and loves being able to share that enthusiasm
with new participants. These
characteristics made him a great match for the
LEAD program and he has been involved with
Outdoor Outreach in this capacity since January
2007. He loves snowboarding almost as much
as the Chargers and is continuing to fine-tune
his abilities as an instructor on all types of
Outdoor Outreach trips. He is currently a
senior at Lincoln High School and is working
hard toward his goal of attending a four-year
university next fall.
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Special
Forces |
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RamseySecurity Manager
Ramsey joins us with three years' experience as an urban search-and-rescue dog. Retired at the young age of
four, he now presides
over the golden hill neighborhood. Ramsey
has had the award for "Most Loyal Friend"
bestowed upon him by the local chapter of Tots-Zero
to Five,
where he is actively pursuing his BA in bilingual childcare.
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