Jackie has spent most of her summers at camp, most likely to be found in a canoe, building campfires, or telling stories while tumping wannigans. Her years at camp have sparked her passion for connecting with people and nature. Jackie now enjoys watching campers grow up to realize their unique strengths. Her biggest takeaway is the strength of feeling acceptance, belonging and connection that a camp community provides. Jackie believes that this makes a camp culture positive and is transformative for young people. Throughout her career, Jackie has enjoyed various leadership roles and has been fortunate to work in extraordinary schools, camps and communities throughout Canada and internationally. Currently Jackie lives in Creemore, Ontario with her partner Steve, and has two daughters who are exploring the world.

Dale’s first summer at Kandalore was 2008, and it’s been her favourite place in the world ever since. She’s been a camper, Explorer, LIT and as a staff member a Counsellor, Program Manager, Communications Director and LIT Director. Her years at Kandalore allow her to fully understand the camp experience and connect with the community. She believes in the transformative power of camps and the outdoors to help kids build a strong sense of self, resilience and grit. Dale’s degree in philosophy guides her work, as she is always considering the values we learn as young people and how they shape us. She is driven by the desire to pass on what she’s learned, one camper at a time.

James likes to take the road less travelled. James spent a lot of his youth travelling across North America, camping, and enjoying the protected parks with his family. This sparked a lifelong interest in the outdoors. Most days James can be found doing some sort of outdoor adventure, paddling, hiking, or camping with his partner and dogs. In 2023 alone he has racked up 165 days of tripping, 90 of them canoe tripping.

James is passionate about outdoor education, conservation, and providing transformative experiences for people through wilderness tripping. James believes that experiential outdoor education aids in personal growth, resilience, emotional well-being and instills environmental stewardship. James has experience working in a variety of outdoor related fields including natural resource management, adventure tourism, wilderness therapy, and wildlife research.

After landing at Kandalore in 2021 and leading 3 Explorer and many core canoe trips across the summers, Josh is excited to be leading the OEC team as the Program Director. Josh first caught the “outdoors bug” on a canoe trip through Algonquin in 2017 and he since hasn’t looked back. That canoe trip led him to attend Fleming College for Outdoor Adventure and Education, and subsequently to Kandalore. Alongside those summers, Josh has spent a handful of the other seasons facilitating outdoor education programs and guiding trips in various locations. Josh hopes to continue to build on the great program Kandalore currently offers.