Dr. Christian Itin, MSW is currently a professor and director of the graduate program in social work at Humboldt State University. He is the current president of the Association for Experiential Education and a past chair of the Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group. He is an internationally respected author and presenter in the areas of experiential education and adventure therapy. He has been an active member of the International Adventure Therapy Community
Julia Ratti has spent much of her professional life working to improve the lives of young people. She started at Partners in Education helping bring the community into the school district to improve education. Next she served as Executive Director of the Gang Alternatives Partnership (GAP) where she worked to reduce the number of teens who make the choice to participate in gang activity. In her free time Julia has been a mentor, lead a Girl Scout troop and been a volunteer for Sparks Pop Warner. Since 2000 Julia’s business, Strategic Management Services (SMS), has provided services to nonprofit organizations. She currently serves on the City Council of Sparks, Nevada and is Executive Director of Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada.
Hunter Merrit is a facilitator, team leader, adventure guide, and educator. A current co-chair of the west region of the Association for Experiential Education, he served for eight years as the program director of Peak Adventures, an adventure program associated with California State University, Sacramento. In addition to his experiential education credentials, Hunter is a skilled river guide who has worked at all levels in the whitewater industry originally in West Virginia, and more recently in California.