Letter From The Board

Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions creates outdoor learning adventures for youth from all backgrounds that foster personal growth, strengthen community, and inspire stewardship of the natural world.

Our Board of Trustees

Marjorie Kittle, Chair

Scott Pierce III, Vice-Chair

Stephen Sedam, Treasurer

Laurie Hooper, Secretary

Carrie House

Alice Kodama

Bill Mendelsohn

Shawn Morris

Jamie Munsey

Fred Peter

Austin Troy

Stephanie Vicenti

Our Staff

Jordan Stone Executive Director

Tim Crofton Program Director

Naina Panthaki Director of Education

Andrew Pearson Director of Operations

Cass Landrum- Director of Summer Programs

Olivia Marín Enrollment/Communications Manager

Orlando Romero Office Manager

Donna White Food Coordinator

Brad Jeffrey Development Coordinator

Clara Bewley Lead SIWI Field Educator

Tanner Johnson Lead SIWI Field Educator

Marissa Bluestein Lead SIWI Field Educator

Iris Flechsenhaar Bachechi Caretaker

To contact the Gulch: www.cottonwoodgulch.org

From mid-August through May: 9223 4th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87114 (505)-248-0563

From June to mid-August: 659 HWY 612 Thoreau, New Mexico 87323 (505)-862-7503

At the Gulch, we build intertwined connections to the natural world and to our human communities. You could say that connection is our ‘why’ and that experiential learning is the ‘how’. The experiences of hands-on environmental restoration, shared meals and songs, sunrise hikes, adapting to challenge, and making new friends all work to build connection and community. We become better stewards of places and more aware of our place in the world.

Our new Quartz Trek seeks to create space to build connections for youth who may not always find the community they need. I am proud of the Gulch for creating more opportunities for people to foster independence, confidence, curiosity, and teamwork. Our new Blue Corn Trek builds connection through shared interests. There is an extraordinary freedom and power in finding “your people” and uninhibitedly diving in to a topic. Food is a unique intersection of natural and cultural history – and a fantastic platform for building community.

Our Spring board meeting gave us time to discuss how our programs and facilities can continue to support our strategic plan with its pillars of strengthening learning and inclusion, and of modeling environmental stewardship. We evaluated which areas do the most to fulfill our mission, and which ones have the greatest potential for growth. The good news is that we that have lots of strong programs and lots of room to grow! Our Basecamp buildings are a mix of new and old – some serve our purposes better than other. It was empowering to look at what we have and to think of new ways to ensure Basecamp is attractive to people seeing it for the first time.

There will be a role for the community in envisioning our future programs and facilities, and in providing financial support. Planned gifts that become a part of our endowment will have a long-lasting impact. See more in this newsletter about the Red Rocks Society, a group for people who are planning to leave legacy gifts to the Gulch.

The depth and breadth of our community shows in the tributes on page 16 and 17. I am honored to be connected to them. I know there are others who have been touched by the Gulch and who have inspired countless others; I hope that their families know that they will always be a part of us.

Marjorie Kittle, Board Chair

A Gulch Farewell,