September 2026 Board Report
NOLS Employee Association (NEA)
September 2026 Board Report
Anna Santoleri, NEA President, Rocky Mountain Program Supervisor, and Field Instructor
Sanjana Govind, NEA Vice President and Field Instructor
About the NEA
Mission: The mission of the NOLS Employee Association is to communicate and advocate for employee views and to work with the NOLS community to promote the school’s mission and values.
Who We Represent: We represent the interests of all NOLS employees below the “Senior Leadership Group” level. This includes Location Staff, HQ Employees, Wilderness Medicine Faculty, and Field Instructors. We give voice to employees who are working every day to bag rations, repair gear, enroll students, process payments, and teach around the world in our outdoor and indoor classrooms.
Number of Dues-Paying Members: 352
Introducing Our New Board
After our last board report, Anna and Sanjana were joined by eight new NEA board members. We introduced ourselves in a letter to the NOLS community. Below is the pertinent excerpt.
“When Anna Santoleri (president) and Sanjana Govind (vice president) put together this board, their goal was for it to be more representative of the NOLS employee community. Our board includes international and U.S.-based employees, those involved with the school for less than five years and for over ten years, instructors and non-instructors, and employees from Wilderness Medicine, Headquarters, branches, and Expeditions. We first convened on May 28, 2026, and have met monthly since. Our board members are [the following]. You can also find our bios on our website (with some forthcoming because these folks are in the field).”
Anna Santoleri (anna_santoleri@nols.edu) NEA President, Rocky Mountain Program Supervisor and Field Instructor (Lander-based)
Sanjana Govind (sanjana_govind@nols.edu) NEA Vice President, Field Instructor working out of the RM and Tanzania branches (India-based)
Aila Brennan (aila_brennan@nols.edu) former in-town staff at Teton Valley branch, Rocky Mountain branch, and headquarters, and NOLS Expedition and Wilderness Medicine alum (Lander-based)
Bryan Sarg (bryan_sarg@nols.edu) Field Instructor and Rocky Mountain Bus Driver and Evacuation Coordinator (Lander-based)
David Valenzuela (david_valenzuela@nols.edu) Patagonia & Rocky Mountain Program Supervisor, Field Instructor (Patagonia and Lander-based)
Elie Rabinowitz (elie_rabinowitz@nols.edu) Field Instructor working out of the NE, RM, TVB, and AK branches (Northeast-based)
Griffin Leemon (griffin_leemon@nols.edu) Field Instructor working out of the AK, RM, and TVB branches (PNW-based)
Lily Zino (lily_zino@nols.edu) Custom Education Client Service Manager (Lander-based)
Micah Rarick (micah_rarick@nols.edu) Field Instructor working out of the AK, RM, and NE branches (PNW-based)
Trisha Domenie (trisha_cloutier@nols.edu) Wilderness Medicine Instructor (Northeast-based)
Our Present Initiatives
Workforce Stability
In July of this year, after the announcement of Jen Sallwick’s resignation, we wrote a letter to the Executive Team and NOLS Board Members advocating to prioritize workforce stability. After Sandy referenced this letter in a Community Forum, we published it to the NOLS community. Workforce stability remains a priority for us this fall; we are working with employees and leadership to define what it means for employees in this moment.
Strengthening Relationships with School Leadership
Our letter led to the Executive Team and our board mutually identifying a need for more transparency and communication. To achieve this:
We are now meeting with the Executive Team quarterly, with our first meeting happening September 23rd.
A member of the Executive Team will join each of our future monthly board meetings to hear from us and share about their work.
The NEA is resuming presentations at NOLS board meetings, starting in October.
After receiving our letter, Sandy Colhoun sought us out for a meeting when he was in Lander for the Expeditions/ET working group. Our next steps from this meeting were to organize and facilitate listening sessions between Expeditions employees and Sandy. Due to changes in his schedule, Sandy was not able to meet with employees this summer; however, we are hoping to find time for him to meet with employees this fall.
Supporting Employee Initiatives: Program Supervisor and Evacuation Coordinator Retention
In hearing our desire to increase workforce stability, employees have sought out our collaboration on their initiatives to do the same. In particular, we have partnered with Caio Poletti, NOLS Alaska Program Manager, on a proposal to increase retention for those in Program Supervisor and Evacuation Coordinator positions. It states, “Program Supervisors and Evacuation Coordinators are responsible for the training and oversight of our staff in town and in the field. As such, they are our first line of support to ensure strong staff performance, excellent risk management, and transformative student outcomes. However, we currently pay them less than the instructors they oversee, and lose ~40% of them each year. This proposal provides structural solutions to this problem that are phaseable, easily-implemented, and, in part, self-funding.” While this proposal directly influences the job descriptions of only about 35 staff at the school, it significantly impacts the training and performance of the 600+ instructors they work with, as well as the experiences and safety of the thousands of students who come through our branches. Therefore, the NEA urges NOLS leadership, including the NOLS board, to consider the structures outlined in this proposal. We look forward to working with leadership to find collaborative solutions to problems like these that impact not just workforce stability, but ultimately our ability to realize our mission.
Gratitudes
We would like to thank Sandy Colhoun for reaching out to meet with us in person while in Lander, and for expressing a strong desire to work with us.
We would like to thank Jayme Blackburn for all of her support in connecting us to the Executive Team, and for her reliable and clear communication.
We would like to thank Anna Haegel for consulting our opinions before the Expeditions working group meeting this past July.
We would like to thank Andy Blair, Josh McNary, Kellsie Forbes, and Jeremy Cronon for taking the time to connect with our board members about supporting NOLS employees.
We would like to appreciate Christopher Barnes for gaining further insight into his position by attending a student and instructor debrief. We respect his desire to learn about NOLS processes from those working on the ground.
