Our Board
Find out everything you need to know about the Global Leadership Adventures International Foundation
Rika Ayotte, President
Rika Ayotte holds a BA in History and American Indian Studies from the University of Washington and an MA in Museum Administration along with an MBA in non-profit management from John F. Kennedy University. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Discover Your Forest, an Oregon based non-profit who partners with US Forest Service to connect people to their Public Lands. Rika has previously worked in marketing and programs for GLA. In her free time she enjoys camping, travelling and spending time with her family outdoors.
Judy Calkins, Treasurer
Ariel Mortiz, Secretary
Ariel has over a decade of experience directing and designing immersive and educational programs. She is the Director of Program Operations for Atra where she oversees organizational strategy, partnerships, operations and development. Previously, she served as the Director of Jewish Learning at Congregation Beth El in San Diego and as the Director of International Programs for Global Leadership Adventures developing and directing international service learning programs for teenagers across four continents. Ariel is a JDC Jewish Service Corps alumna (she served in Izmir, Turkey) and began her career in Jewish social justice at American Jewish World Service. Ariel serves on the board of the Global Leadership Adventures International Foundation which she helped establish. Originally from Philadelphia, Ariel earned her BA summa cum laude in sociology and politics from New York University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She is Wilderness First Responder certified and has a Teaching Certificate from Gratz College.
Ariel has a deep passion for traveling and connecting with other cultures and her work has taken her throughout South America, Africa and Europe. In San Diego, she spends her time hiking and camping with her husband and son, singing, and training her dog, Tuxedo.
Chris Bradford
Chris holds a BA degree summa cum laude in Economics from Yale University and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University. Chris previously worked in brand management at The Procter and Gamble Company and as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. He has also consulted to the Broad Foundation, one of the leading educational foundations in the United States, and taught economics and physics at Oundle School, one of the leading coeducational boarding schools in England. Most recently, Chris co-founded the African Leadership Academy (ALA), a high school based in Johannesburg, South Africa that seeks to transform Africa by developing a network of ethical leaders and outstanding scholars.
Liz Butler Steyer
Liz Butler Steyer has been an advocate for marginalized children and youth in the Bay Area for over 25 years. She joined the Athletic Scholars Advancement Program (ASAP) in July 2010 as the Executive Director, and has led the growth of the organization in both the depth and breadth of their services, as well as in the number of students served in our year-round programming. Liz began her tenure at ASAP by transforming the organization from small volunteer effort to a full 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Also under her leadership, ASAP has doubled the staff size and over tripled budget, along with adding scholarships, an alumni mentoring program, and an ASAP advisory class at Mission High.
Prior to ASAP, Liz worked at Legal Services for Children (LSC) in San Francisco in a variety of legal and managerial roles, including serving as the Managing Attorney and the Acting Executive Director of the organization. Liz also serves on the Board of John Gardner Fellowship Association and the Board of the Giants Community Fund, the charitable arm of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. She holds a B.A. in Human Biology and also a J.D., both from Stanford University. Liz and her husband, Jim, are the proud parents of four children who range in age from 14 to 25.
Diego Ontaneda
Diego holds a BA degree magna cum laude & Phi Beta Kappa in Political Economy from Williams College, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He worked previously at McKinsey & Company and at African Leadership Academy (ALA).
He is now co-founder and CEO of Latin American Leadership Academy (LALA), a social enterprise that seeks to promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing a new generation of leaders. In five years, LALA has found, developed and connected 1900+ young leaders from 18 countries, who have already launched more than 100 social impact ventures impacting thousands in their communities.
Diego is an Echoing Green Fellow and his work was featured in HBR Press’s Frontiers in Social Innovation. He is originally from Lima, Peru, and now lives in Medellín, Colombia.
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