Sam
Managing Director

Sam is based in Portland, Oregon and manages AEA. Before starting AEA, he lived in Asia for ten years. He returns annually just to eat. A great day starts with a Vietnamese coffee and hugs from his two boys.

Languages: Rusty Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Lao and Thai

Memorable travel moment: Having just graduated college, I moved to Japan to teach on the JET program. With the help of an old-fashioned dictionary, I made a life-long friendship with a family on the train to Osaka.

Dreaming of visiting: Bhutan, Ethiopia

Catherine
Head of Operations

Catherine is based in the Hudson Valley region of New York. She has lived in France and Namibia, traveled throughout South Africa, Mexico, and South Korea, and spent four months on a ship, exploring ports at all ends of the Atlantic. When home, Catherine can typically be found spending time outside with her family and St. Bernard. She cannot wait to continue exploring the world and loves nothing more than experiencing it through her two little boys’ eyes.

Languages: Conversational French and eager to learn Spanish

Memorable travel moment: Meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town and swimming with pink river dolphins in the Amazon

Dreaming of visiting: East Africa and anywhere to go scuba diving

Amara
Program Manager

Amara is based in the Northeast and has lived in and traveled extensively in Africa and India. Part-time farmer, full-time foodie and environmentalist, Amara has an interest in how things came to be, a drive to make them better, and a belief that it is from points of struggle that we grow the most.

Languages: Conversational French, a smattering of Spanish, Swahili, and Hindi

Memorable travel moment: Stumbling upon a hatch of sea turtles making their way to the ocean in Lamu, Kenya

Dreaming of visiting: Cuba, New Zealand

LAUREN
Program Manager

Lauren is based in Vancouver, Washington. She has traveled around Australia, island hopped in the Pacific and vacationed in places like Thailand, Spain and NYC. While her list of places continues to grow, she enjoys hiking, hanging out with her family and showing her love through food.

Languages: Enough to not go hungry!

Memorable travel moment: Paragliding off Haleakala in Maui and camping in the outback of Australia

Dreaming of visiting: Costa Rica, Germany and going on safari in Africa

Jessica
international partnerships

As a young refugee, Jessica had always dreamed of traveling the world. Through a career in diplomacy and military cooperation she has lived and traveled all over Asia and parts of Europe while working on global issues with leaders and organizations. She currently resides near Lake Tahoe. 

Languages: Khmer, Thai, conversant Japanese and Spanish

Memorable Travel Moment: Traveling with a nomadic, yak herding Tibetan family and seeking shelter at a remote monastery during a storm.

Dreaming of visiting: The northern lights while sleeping in a glass igloo and swimming off the patio of a Maldivian stilted bungalow.

Jamie
Head of Program Development

Jamie is based in Portland, Maine, and heads up our program development team. She’s lived in Europe, traveled extensively in Latin America and enjoys taking her little guy and gal traveling.

Languages: Spanish, enough Italian to chat with grandmothers on the train

Memorable travel moment: Swimming with sea lion pups in the Galapagos Islands

Dreaming of visiting: Zanzibar, Japan, Patagonia

HANNA
Program Manager

Hanna is based in Portland, Maine. She has lived in New Zealand and Germany and has traveled throughout much of Europe. When not daydreaming about traveling to the many places on her bucket list, Hanna enjoys running and spending time in the great outdoors with her husband and two daughters.

Languages: Basic German, a smidgen of Spanish

Memorable travel moment: Morning run around Lake Bohinj, Slovenia, trying not to trip over myself while gaping at the majestic Alps

Dreaming of visiting: Romania, Chile

AVERILL
Program Manager

Averill’s love of travel began when her high school Spanish teacher took a group of students to Italy. She has lived in the UK and traveled throughout Europe. When not daydreaming about how to make her next adventure happen, she enjoys spending time in the woods and on the beaches of her beautiful home state of Maine, playing with her niece and nephew, and drinking tea. Or you might just find her in the UK.

Languages: Airlinese

Memorable travel moment: Watching the sun rise from the rim of a crater in Iceland and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

Dreaming of visiting: Ghana

Andrea
Program Manager

Andrea moved back home to Medellin, Colombia, after spending a decade living in the United States. She has visited Mexico, Canada, and most recently Mysore, India, where she immersed herself in the practice of Ashtanga Yoga. Beyond her travels, Andrea is a part-time yoga teacher, an Ayurveda enthusiast, and a skilled sourdough maker.

Languages:  Spanish and English

Memorable travel moment: Gliding through bioluminescent plankton in the Caribbean Ocean under the starry night sky.

Dreaming of visiting: Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Morocco, Italy.

EMILY
Program COORDINATOR

Emily is currently based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Originally from North Carolina, she is spending the year studying Mandarin at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages. She has also lived in Japan and South Korea and has traveled throughout Asia and Europe.  She is a strong believer in the power of travel and is passionate about increasing access and equity in study abroad.

Languages: Mandarin, a bit of Japanese

Memorable travel moment: Learning how to row a gondola through the canals of Venice!

Dreaming of visiting: Vietnam