About Us

Josephine Baran

Training Academy Director

(She/Her)

“I immigrated to Canada in my teens and have been passionately engaged within the outdoor space for 30 years, both professionally and personally. It is a place that I have called home and have been welcomed into by many people and groups, and yet there are times when I have looked from the outside in and felt a deep sense of disconnect due to a lack of representation.

I joined the Training Academy because I am deeply passionate about creating pathways to access through inclusive programming, want to democratize knowledge so that we all have the skills to get outside, and I hope to build a place where everyone can have a home in the natural world.”

Vanessa Zeng

Operations Manager

(She/Her)

“The Training Academy merges my passion to provide programs for those in underserved communities with my love of the outdoors. For many reasons, the outdoors weren’t always accessible to me, so I never imagined how valuable such a space could be.

It’s exciting to be able to work on this type of program in hopes to spark the same love of the outdoors in others; whether it be for leisure or a pathway to an outdoor career, while also creating opportunities for those who have never envisioned themselves there in the first place.”

Fiona Hough

Curriculum Manager

(She/Her)

“At the beginning of my career, I often got the message that I was the ‘exception’—a woman who was both technically-skilled and had a strong passion for the social-emotional leadership skills that are so critical in outdoor leadership. 30 years later, I often still find myself as the only (or one of the very few) women in the ‘room’...

I joined the Training Academy because I know first-hand how important it is to create space in the outdoors for people who are underrepresented to see themselves. There is incredible power in that; it creates a pathway in the imagination that otherwise might have been invisible.”

37 + years of Outdoor Leadership experience.
Wilderness First Responder; Mental Health First Aid from Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC); Moving Water Canoe Advanced Instructor Trainer (Tandem & Solo); Coastal Canoe Instructor Trainer; Lake Water Canoe Intermediate Instructor Trainer; Camping Leadership Instructor Trainer from Paddle Canada; Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia Level 3 Guide; Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor Trainer; Canadian Avalanche Association Avalanche Skills Level 1. 

Urvil James Villaruel

Marketing Specialist

(He/Him)

“Working for the Training Academy allows me the opportunity to use my marketing skills for something meaningful that I believe in. To me, nothing is better than helping to support and be a positive change-agent for diversity and I believe that the impact that we’re all making here, to whatever degree that turns out to be, will at least help to move the needle in the right direction for future generations to come.

When faced with an infinite expanse of opportunities to help change things for the better, I’m reminded of the words of Jack Kornfield—just tend to the part of the garden that you can touch and the rest will follow.”

Talin Wright

Admissions Coordinator

(Xe/Xem/Xer)

“I came to OBC as a member of various marginalized groups that the Training Academy seeks to open doors to the outdoor industry for. Being a part of the Training Academy team merges my natural inclination for organizing systems with community-based work and tangible change.

I’ve never really had the opportunity to engage with the outdoors outside of city parks, community gardens and seeing the wildlife that makes those spaces their own. To know that there’s an organization committed to creating space for multiply-marginalized folks in historically white-cis male dominated spaces means the world to me, and I want to be a part of the team that sees this through.”