Community Based Work
I work with businesses and non-governmental organizations led by rural and indigenous people in Latin America who are looking to strengthen their community tourism projects through knowledge sharing, capacity building and strategizing from the bottom up. I have both spearheaded new initiatives and joined established projects looking for revitalization. I have helped organizations write grants, work with federal and international agencies, and organized conferences in person and online.
I also work locally in the US with environmental and social organizations. I have worked with several non-profits and as a government contractor for both research and network building.
Current Projects
Sendero Pacifico (Costa Rica)
The Sendero Pacifico Trail is located in Northwest Costa rica, It is a 60km trail between the cloud forest in Monteverde and the mangrove ecosystems in the gulf of Nicoya. The trail connects hikers through 10 different landscapes and 5 different rural communities. I have been involved in this project since July 2025. My role has been to restructure the operating system of the trail, map out key stakeholders, create agreements between groups involved, and facilitate decision-making discussions. I am currently working with community leaders to create a new business plan for the trail that acknowledges the cultural, environmental, and economic value of the project.
Past Projects
Alianza Latinoamericana de Turismo Sostenible (ALTUS, Latin America)
ALTUS is a network of community based rural tourism projects in Latin-America. The network spans across 12 countries with 36+ grassroots organizations involved. I was one of the co-founding members of ALTUS, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when organizations where looking for support from each other during the global crisis. The goal of ALTUS was to strengthen it’s members by sharing experiences and knowledge with each other while creating a capacity building platform from the ground up. I was involved with ALTUS first as an intern at the Inter-American Foundation, then as a contractor and finally I served as coordinator of ALTUS for 2 years. During my time in ALTUS we were able to have the first Latin-American community tourism conference in Panama, had weekly and monthly meetings regarding governance and structure of the network, hosted virtual workshops for our members, and won a grant for further developing the project.
Caño Palma Biological Station (Costa Rica)
I lived and worked at the Caño Palma Biological station in Tortuguero, Costa Rica right after graduating from college. I started out as a community outreach intern and was promoted to coordinator. During my time in Caño Palma, I led the community outreach program which was focused on environmental education for the local children. I created lesson plans for environmental education in the local school as well as for the extra-curricular activities we ran in the community. In addition to fully creating and running the community program, I had an important role as a staff member. My role in the station was to keep the station functioning, which meant keeping volunteers accountable for their responsibilities and also checking in with them about their experience at the station. During COVID I created virtual lesson plans for interns at the station.