Vida Verde Staff

Adriana Aboitiz she/her/hers instructor adriana@vveducaiton.org

Raised in the Philippines, Adriana grew up exploring tide pools, biking around her neighborhood, and passing time after school in the school’s playground or in her mom’s classroom. Being exposed to teacher responsibilities at a young age sparked her desire to become a teacher at an early age. Growing up she was always encouraged to be outdoors or to read a book rather than watch TV. Spending so much time outside fostered a love for the earth and its plants and animals at a young age, which she continues to carry with her into adulthood wherever she goes.

It wasn’t until she went to Colorado for university that she was introduced to the world of environmental education. This exciting duo captured her interest and it further developed after experiencing the impact getting outside had on kids. Since then, she has worked at summer camps and school programs that focus on learning in the outdoors. She is excited to bring her love of learning and nature to Vida Verde and share her passions with the youth.

In her free time, you can find Adriana dipping her toes in the ocean, reading a book, being crafty on a picnic blanket, taking pictures of flowers or baking gingersnap cookies.

paula alves she/her/hers
BUSINESS AND OFFICE MANAGER
PAULA@VVEDUCATION.ORG

Paula Alves grew up in Modesto, CA after her family emigrated from the Açores Islands in 1980. (As you may have guessed, Açores is the Portuguese spelling of Azores!) Paula loved helping her father take care of the baby calves at the dairy where he worked for over 30 years, and they always had a vegetable garden at home. Being Portuguese always meant big family gatherings!

Paula and her husband have lived in Half Moon Bay since 1995 and they are raising their five children on a working ranch. Her family is very involved in Half Moon Bay 4-H and Half Moon Bay FFA, and her children have raised many animals including pigs, cattle, goats, chickens, lambs, and rabbits to show at the San Mateo County Fair.  Paula is active in her community, especially in the Portuguese Culture Center and IDES Portuguese hall.

Paula likes to travel and she and her husband love to explore the United States, always discovering hidden treasures everywhere they go. She especially likes visiting the missions throughout California, and of course, visiting family in the Açores Islands is always amazing.  

Paula has a background in finance and as an administrative assistant, and she is excited to work at Vida Verde.  She loves how Vida Verde educates children about nature and how the land provides us with great healthy food.

ARTURO CERVANTES
HE/HIS/HIM CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
ARTURO@VVEDUCATION.ORG

Arturo was born in Mexico City and grew up in East Palo Alto after migrating with his mom when he was five. As a teenager, Arturo was invited on a white water rafting trip that opened his eyes to the magic of nature. Since then, he has worked as a rafting guide for inner city youth, a conservation lobbyist in DC, a Search and Rescue first responder, and has held a variety of leadership positions at Bay Area schools such as Business Manager, Dean of School Operations, and AP of Business Operations. Arturo’s passion for the outdoors and personal mission of getting kids of color to the outdoors led him to his new home at Vida Verde, where he incorporates his professional education and operations experience with his own pathway to nature as a youth.

Arturo loves dancing, riding his motorcycle, spending time with his loved ones, and camping any chance he gets. 

ROMY COLOMBATTO SHE/HER/HERS DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT ROMY@VVEDUCATION.ORG

Raised in Southern California, Romy spent summers at camp exploring the Angeles National Forest. During college in Tucson, she was amazed by the abundance of life in the desert and as an adult spent weekends backpacking in the Sierras. Growing up, Romy had family in organic farming, who taught her the importance of knowing how to grow food and inspired her first career with family-owned wineries and distilleries. Working for brands in North and South America and Europe, she eagerly studied viticulture, fermentation, and distillation, in addition to managing marketing and communications.

Romy’s most recent career in non-profit development has focused on supporting programs for students from historically marginalized communities in the Bay Area. That work became crucial during the pandemic, funding distance-learning support in East Palo Alto and student social-emotional health through community gardens and nature programs for those without access.

Romy is delighted to continue her work with Vida Verde, providing awe-inspiring experiences in nature for youth who would not otherwise have the opportunity. Seeing the look of wonder in a child’s eyes as they discover something magical about the world around them is the driving force behind Romy’s work. When she’s not at VV, Romy is getting outside with her very own little one and her partner, exploring the mountains and beaches of their hometown of Santa Cruz.

jOE “groot” eDMONDSON
he/his/him INSTRUCTOR
JOE@vveducation.org

Joe grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He spent his childhood either inside drawing, listening to music, playing video games, or was outside hanging out with friends and spending lots of time asking questions about how the world worked. There wasn't much exploring in the outdoors other than the suburban wooded areas. However, he did yearn to explore a much more wild world. As a child and into young adulthood Joe had many interests but didn't know how to explore them.

In 2017 Joe luckily found his answers at a summer camp called Hidden Villa as a camp counselor. Here he got his first taste of the West Coast and fresh organic fruit! He was able to fully get to explore his curiosity of the natural world and have a greater understanding of food and how it gets to the grocery store and then to our plates. 

Being a summer camp alum, Environmental Education Intern and a Community Programs Intern at Hidden Villa pushed him to use these tools to share information with youth that changed his life. These are the experiences that he wished he had growing up.  Joe enjoys cooking, drawing, plants, music, learning new things, and making people laugh.

Joshua Hodorff He/His/Him instructor Joshua@vveducation.org

I grew up surrounded by ponderosa pine trees in a small town in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Fewer people meant that I had to get creative in finding things to do and that often meant going outside.  I was fortunate to have a family who encouraged it.  My first job after high school was working on a wildland fire crew where I ate lunch outside everyday.  This was where I discovered work could also be an opportunity to explore nature.  It hasn’t stopped.  

Several years later through some chance encounters and a bit of good timing, I discovered outdoor education.  During one of my first teaching jobs in Northern Minnesota I finished a long, tiring day with a group of middle schoolers.  In addition to other activities we had hiked up to a view point where we could see the waters of Lake Superior stretching beyond the horizon. The excitement and pride of the students upon reaching this place was obvious.   At the end of the day, I returned home mentally and physically exhausted.  I was also incredibly happy!  From there I began taking jobs teaching outside wherever I could.  I have worked in both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, the Rocky Mountains and the Desert Southwest. Each place has been an opportunity to learn about new ecosystems while getting to share those places with kids and people of all ages.  It hasn’t stopped.  I’m so excited to learn and play at Vida Verde!

Raffelina “Sprout” Grano she/her/hers Co-Head of Program raffelinA@vveducation.org

Raffelina laughs loudly, smiles easily, and is always eager to learn something new. Though originally from San Diego, she calls many places home and has worked in many roles around the world including barista, summer camp director, backpacking trip leader, community event organizer, animal caretaker, and teacher. In her free time, Raffelina loves to swim in the ocean, craft, read, write, hike, bike, travel, pet cats, spend quality time with family and friends, dance/sing badly, and daydream about the future.

Growing up in a city, Raffelina didn’t play outside much and thought the coolest place to be was loitering around the food court at the shopping mall. It wasn’t until she went to college at UC Santa Cruz, enchanted by the redwoods, that her world was opened to the magic of the outdoors. She began spending more time outside and experienced firsthand the transformative effect it had on her relationships: with herself, her peers, and the earth. She is excited and honored to help facilitate these transformative experiences for young people at Vida Verde.

HARMONY MA SHE/HER/HERS DIRECTOR OF EVENTS and ADMINISTRATION HARMONY@VVEDUCATION.ORG

Harmony was raised in the East Bay, growing up in urban areas with little access to or interest in getting outside. It was unique to have known anyone that regularly camped in her community.

Harmony found her way in nature with slow introductions by generous and patient friends, through easy camping, playing in ocean waves, and chasing creeks and waterfalls walking in the forest. As an adult, she feels immensely fortunate to now be able to regularly play on bikes in the redwoods, surf in the Pacific and climb big rocks!

Harmony hopes to use her professional background and lived experiences to continue to build community and increase access to spaces in nature for healing and joy, and enjoy the magic of being outside.

Devin “El Camino” PEyton
he/him/his TEEN AND FAMILY PROGRAMS director
devin@vveducation.org

Greetings, my people! I hail from San Jose, CA and find myself always coming back to the bay area. It’s good here!
As a child my mom wouldn’t let me go out and play until I said “my purpose in life is to seek truth and practice compassion.” Those words, and my predilection for all things out of doors, have guided me to Vida Verde.

As a VV instructor I witnessed childhood at its finest; full of wonderment and excited to push comfort zones in a safe way. Now working for our summer leadership program, I am honored to facilitate experiences of community and connection to nature for teens. They have untold reserves of hope for the future.

I live for; meaningful human connection, riding bikes, cooking with friends, eating peach pies, bird watching, staring at campfires, and listening to other perspectives.

daniel “Flow” Rodriguez
he/him/his co-head of program
daniel@VVEDUCATION.ORG

My Name is Daniel Giovanny Rodriguez. My parents came to the US from Mexico, specifically the states of Nayarit and Zacatecas (tropical and desert). I grew up in Santa Ana, California in low-income neighborhoods where the duality of gang violence/struggle of poverty mixed with Latinx groups trying to uplift their communities coexisted. I was the weirdo who was too nerdy to join a gang (thank you to my obsession with Pokémon cards and math homework). I was an oblivious, happy-go-lucky kid that ate junk food and watched TV for most of my time as my parents were slaves to the systems of labor that require the sacrifice of family connection in order to stay materialistically afloat (paying rent and bills). I had no connection with nature nor with family, and I forged my own path. As a teenager, I was just going through the motions of school, friends, and living with the anxiety of the future and death. I studied philosophy and literature in college and began a trajectory of self-discovery after I went camping for the first time in my early 20’s. Nature planted a seed. 

 After graduating, I worked with kids with autism and that ignited a flame that nature ignited before. Both kids and nature acted like a sacred mirror that induced introspection and notions of self-growth. I then got into outdoor education, and I had both kids and nature to put me in my place and served me as life’s perfect compass. They have made me a better person and I am eternally grateful as I have met countless of magnificent individuals (both kids and adults) that have inspired me and shown me different paths as we all are on different paths that lead to the same destination. I am very much who I am because of my experiences with nature and of the youth. I love extreme hiking, breathwork, music, art, flow, the sky and trees, stars, and moon, sunsets and sunrises, comedy, barefoot hiking in the snow, cold exposure/ice baths, fire spinning, and cheese.

Izabella Rodriguez she/her/hers instructor izabella@vvedcucation.org

I spent most of my time growing up commuting split between the redwoods here in La Honda and in the suburbs of San Jose where I was born. My parents had a firm philosophy that I would not get into trouble if I was never bored and kept me occupied and outside in every extracurricular imaginable. From theater, to hockey, to painting, to camping; I was always on the go! Out of the extensive list, my current favorite pastimes to stay busy are taking my rambunctious pack of dogs on trail runs, learning how to fix my truck, and finding the best spring rolls on the peninsula.

The seed that planted my passion for education was when I started working in the Belle Haven and East Palo Alto community for the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. There I learned valuable tools and made positive, lasting relationships as an educator. During my time at Belle Haven Elementary, I developed my belief that all youth should be empowered to have equitable access to social and academic opportunities so that they may thrive. I look forward to growing my love of trying and learning new things and passing those passions to students that come to Vida Verde.

AUBREY ROMERO  SHE/HER/HERS EVENTS AND ADMINISTRATION COORDINATOR AUBREY@VVEDUCATION.ORG

Raised in Southern California, Aubrey did not spend much time going outside. Although once going to college in the Pacific Northwest, her eyes were completely opened to the adventures and healing available in nature!

Working with Adventures Without Limits was her first experience in outdoor education and ever since she started on this journey, her passion has only grown further. She has held many roles, as a Raft Guide, Program Coordinator, Outdoor Instructor, and Garden and Farm Specialist. She calls many places home, and whenever she has a free weekend you can find her navigating rivers and rapids, skiing, hiking, or playing in the waves attempting to surf. She is incredibly excited to bring her skill set to the Vida Verde team and be a part of sharing nature and creating educational equity!

shawn sears                        he/him/his                 CO-FOUNDER and executive director and program coach SHAWN@VVEDUCATION.ORG

I like to cheer for people. It started when I cheered for kids I was on baseball teams with, and for those who I was on swim teams with. Later, when seeing people ride their bikes to LA to combat AIDS I cheered and was humbled & overwhelmed, and now there are 3 awesome groups that I get to witness and cheer for on the daily:

·      the students who come to Vida Verde and who are challenging themselves        deeply,
·      donors & volunteers who are digging in and taking a stand, and
·      the staff members who I have the pleasure of working side by side with.

Cheering and watching people give what they have brings me to tears. It touches me. When you see someone in an authentic moment, trying hard, they are making themselves vulnerable and it is true beauty and very real. When this is possible, I say “go get it!”  This is why I like to cheer.

(I also hold myself and others to a high standard, because I have seen what each of us is capable of. I know how much potential each of us has!)

Life is short and it can get me down. However, there are magic moments that give me shivers and overwhelm me with joy, emotion & clarity. For this body and mind that I have and the way that I experience the world, I find those magic moments most often when there is music, when we are outside – because “Nature Never Disappoints”, when I am in the water, and when I exercise.

I hope that I get to cheer for you, …and that we get to be together, outside, sharing music, plunging in the cold water, running or biking, or walking.

Luis “Abuelita” Orozco Sanchez (Summer Director), Antonio “Water Dawg” Acosta (Counselor), RaSean “All Terrain” Williams (Counselor), Devin “El Camino” Peyton (Director), Bree “Tohbi” Salazar (Facilitator), Wendy “The Boss” Guerrero (Counselor).