Field Team
PROGRAM DIRECTOR (KA’U)
Martha Bouchard, MS
Email: martha@pacificquest.org
After working as a member of the field staff at Pacific Quest for 2 years, Martha Bouchard, MS, embarked on a course of graduate study that allowed her to travel four different bioregions in an intentional learning community, developing and implementing localized, experiential and contemplative curriculum models. Martha returned to Pacific Quest in late 2009 to bring her passion for Rites of Passage work, solos, yoga, farming, community development, experiential education and self-discovery to the Pacific Quest ohana. Martha is proud to bring more than a decade of experience working with youth and their mentors to the forefront of guiding an amazingly dynamic, dedicated and talented field department. Martha enjoys playing in the ocean, reading, writing and creating art in her hammock in the jungle.
STAFF SUPERVISOR
Kelly Egan, MA
Email: kelly@pacificquest.org
Kelly received her BA in Sociology at University of Montana and completed her MA at Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies in Minnesota. She is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, as well as a certified backcountry trip leader through National Outdoor Leadership School. Kelly also has several years of professional experience with outdoor therapeutic programming and work with young people. Through her passion for adventure, she has traveled and hiked to many beautiful and sacred spots, studying indigenous healing through ceremony and land. She believes the experience Pacific Quest offers young people is the best combination of personal growth and powerful transformation. When Kelly isn’t swimming with dolphins, she may be found enjoying the silence of a quiet secluded Hawaiian mountaintop.
FIELD SUPERVISOR
Roxy Cafaro, BS
Email: roxy@pacificquest.org
After earning a BS in Business Administration and living abroad, Roxy discovered her desire for serving others. She was able to make this a reality, working at a wilderness therapy program in North Carolina, and now at Pacific Quest. Roxy grew up on an off-the-grid organic farm, and she brings to Pacific Quest her knowledge of sustainability and gardening, as well as her passion for working with youth. Roxy can often be found hiking, camping and learning to surf.
FIELD SUPERVISOR
Carl Denton, BA
Email: carl@pacificquest.org
Carl grew up on a farm in Mississippi, where he gained a working knowledge of sustainable agriculture. He earned his degree from the University of Mississippi where he majored in Psychology with a minor in park and recreation management. Before coming to work at Pacific Quest, Carl had a year-and-a-half of Wilderness Therapy experience, leading groups and working with at-risk youth focusing on behavioral outcomes. He believes in the power of wilderness therapy and the need for young adults to become self-reliant through opportunities of personal growth and accountability.
FIELD SUPERVISOR
Grant Helmus
Email: grant@pacificquest.org
Grant graduated from Colorado State University with a BS in Parks andProtected Area Management and a Minor in Environmental Interpretation.Before coming to Pacific Quest, Grant spent 5 years working for aWilderness Therapy Program in Utah, spent two years doing lawenforcement for the national park service in Rocky Mountain NationalPark in Colorado and most recently worked as the staff development andtraining coordinator for 8 yrs. at an organization that serveddevelopmentally disabled individuals. Grant returned to this line ofwork because of his deep desire to work with youth in the wilderness.He believes that wilderness is a magical element that helps healindividuals and he wanted to be involved with that transformationagain. When Grant is not working, he enjoys hiking, camping,photography, and learning to surf.
FIELD SUPERVISOR
Tom De Trolio, MA
Email: tom@pacificquest.org
Tom De Trolio comes to us from North Eastern New Jersey. He earned his BA in History at Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2008, and his MA in Education in 2009. He is TEFL certified and brings experience as a carpenter, researcher, a coach and a teacher. Tom joined PQ in October 2010 as a field staff, and became a Field Supervisor in September 2011. Tom feels he has found a place where he can help others just by being himself. During his spare time, Tom enjoys watching football, a little mindful nothingness, and talking to his brothers and sister about funny things happening back home.
FIELD SUPERVISOR
Justin Larkin, BA
Email: justin@pacificquest.org
Justin graduated from Flagler College in Saint Augustine, FL where he majored in Psychology with an emphasis on childhood development. Following graduation Justin moved to Denver where he worked for two years as a mental health instructor focusing on life skills at a residential treatment facility. He spent a year with Pacific Quest as a field instructor before moving on as a supervisor. Justin was called to this line of work with the desire to be a positive role model that our youth of today crave, and to inspire an appetite for sustainable growth. Justin truly believes in Pacific Quest’s emphasis on the balance between mind, body, and emotion, and spends his time off working hard to achieve the very balance that we preach. Justin can be found working hard in his own gardens, hiking to isolated beaches, and wandering through the jungle looking for mangoes.
LOGISTICS SUPERVISOR
Nikki Fontanilla
Email: nikki@pacificquest.org
Nikki Fontanilla was born and raised on the island of Hawai’i and plays a key role in organizing community youth projects and programs. She is the founder and head female boxing coach for the Ocean View Boxing Club. Nikki brings her passion, and her years’ of experience working with youth, to Pacific Quest, where she juggles a multitude of logistical systems that help the program function effectively. Her dream is to build a community youth center that will provide a place for young people to hang out and be safe.
LOGISTICS COORDINATOR
Davida Kuahiwinui
Email: davida@pacificquest.org
Davida Kuahiwinui is a lifelong resident of the Ka’u district of the Big Island of Hawai’i and attended school in Kona. She grew up in a family with a strong fishing tradition and she continues to fish and hunt in her spare time. Her biggest catch was an impressive 220 pound ahi, landed with the help of her dad. When she isn’t hard at work with the logistics crew at Pacific Quest, Davida can be found spending time with her two children, often playing sports on the weekends.
LAND SUPERVISOR
Travis Slagle, B.A. B.S.
Email: travis@pacificquest.org
Travis began working for Pacific Quest in 2006 where he remained a lead field staff for over two years and helped students plant some of the first trees that are now bearing fruit in the PQ gardens. As a member of the Hawaiian Organic Farmers Association and the American Horticultural Therapy Association, Travis is focused on developing curriculum and staff trainings that bring intention and productivity to the land work experience. In 2008, Travis relocated to Oregon where he supervised and trained staff at a commercial greenhouse, and managed a culinary garden for an award winning restaurant. Meanwhile, Travis has maintained his commitment to working with adolescents, most recently as a life-skills instructor for an alternative high school, and case manager for young adults transitioning out of the foster care system. With over ten years of experience working with youth in wilderness, residential, and horticultural programs, Travis brings a dynamic approach that generates excitement for both staff and students. In his free time, Travis enjoys chopping down racks of bananas, swimming in the ocean, and most of all spending time with his wife and baby.
FIELD OFFICE MANAGER (KA’U)
Suzanne Waldman
Email: swaldman@pacificquest.org
Suzanne brings a mixture of experience to the Pacific Quest Ka’u field office. From computer field service engineer in the San Francisco bay area, to resort management in high desert Moab, Utah, to grocery store manager in Naaleu, Hawaii. Throughout her work experience she has maintained an emphasis on customer service and attention to detail.She lives on a farm in Ka’u where the focus matches that of Pacific Quest – sustainable living through organic farming.
HR MANAGER
Raylene Moses
Email: raylene@pacificquest.org
A native of Ka’u, a wife, and a mother of four, Raylene received her BA in Sociology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. For the last five years she managed a federally funded program helping at-risk youth in Ka’u acquire academic, employment and life skills. Rooted deep in her love and commitment to the land and people of Ka’u, Raylene is a board of director for Bay Clinic, Inc., O Ka’u Kakou, Inc. the Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka’u, and an early-morning seminary teacher for the LDS Church Ka’u Ward. She was also recently appointed and confirmed a commissioner for the Hawaii County Planning Commission.