Staff Photos & Bios
Program Staff
International Director - Lisette Gachanja
Fourth year GLA Alumi Staff, Lisette loves travel and adventure and has always gravitated towards empowering youth through these fronts. She's been an adventure consultant and outdoor trainer for the past decade while using her Psychology degree to practice therapeutic adventure pursuits. She acquired her masters in Education and has been teaching soft skills and youth personal development programs online especially when she couldn't travel throughout the Covid restrictions. Lisette currently lives in Kenya, where she was born, and runs a small adventure company with her partner. This past Christmas they completed a month long backpacking trip through 7 countries from Kenya to South Africa and back. Lisette is excited to return to Ghana and continue the GLA work she has been part of in the past while introducing new groups of students to this amazing piece of Africa.
International Director - Mia Jeannot
Mia is originally from South Africa but moved to the UK when she was nine. She studied a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of York. She began her career in international development, living in Brazil, India, and Zambia before coming back to the UK and becoming a project manager for the British Government. Currently she is taking 12 month sabbatical and has spent the last five months working in South Africa. Mia is a passionate traveler with over 50 countries visited- and she can't wait to add Ghana to the list, especially with the GLA students!
Mentor - Alisson Bezuidenhout
Alisson grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe and attended the African Leadership College in Mauritius where she earned a BA (Hona) in Social Sciences in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University in the UK. During her undergraduate education, Alisson served as the Social Transformation Committee Head on the Student Representative Council. She is an inaugural emerging leader from the Leadership University’s Global Leadership Program in Silicon Valley which she participated in in 2022. Alisson is passionate about promoting diversity, equity, equality and inclusion in the spaces she serves. She is currently in Zimbabwe where she is working remotely with the United Nations Headquarters as a Program Management Intern. She is excited to be a part of GLA’s transformative program and share the adventure with the students this summer.
Mentor - Oliver Rowe
Oliver was born in London, UK. He started teaching English and travelling in 2012, and has lived in 6 countries since then. He speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese. He is an experienced traveler, and he is very excited to share this amazing experience with the GLA students this summer.
Mentor - Richard Wachira
Hi, My name is Richard Wachira (Ritchie), I hail from Kenya, and I am passionate about experiential learning and outdoor
adventure programs. I believe challenge, skills, learning and FUN can be integrated as essential tools to model personal development, leadership and growth. I enjoy hiking, mountaineering, canyoneering, kayaking, abseiling, caving, adventure ropes course, orienteering, and general water activities that provide the opportunity for me to use the skills and tools of my adventure practice to engage, interact, impact, challenge and inspire individuals and groups, to reflect on themselves and to want to be a form of positive impact in a dynamic and changing world- by whichever means they choose to express that. Experiencing that lightbulb moment when students “get it”- makes it worthwhile. What we do reminds me that we too are the authors of our greatness, and we go further when we go together.
GLA Staffing - Roles
GLA staff are native to the host country and international, usually from the US, Canada or Europe. All staff are highly qualified adults with college degrees. Most of our staff are educators and/or working professionals with higher degrees of education. All of our staff have extensive experience working with teenage students, international programs and/or a specific knowledge of the program country.
GLA staff consists of a local program director, someone from the host country with extensive experience working with international students and also an international program director, someone from the west with extensive global experience working with this age group, who together bridge any cultural differences. Mentors work with the students on a day to day basis. Staff ages usually range between 25 – 35 years old. In addition, we maintain a student to staff ratio of 8:1.
Local Program Director
Local Program Directors are responsible for co-managing the overall experience alongside International Program Directors. First and foremost, they protect the health and safety of students at all times, reinforcing standards of safety and community culture. The Local Program Director is also responsible for planning excursions, speakers, and community service projects
International Program Director
International Program Directors are responsible for co-managing the overall experience alongside Local Program Directors. Along with the Local Director, the International Program Director protects the health and safety of students at all times, reinforcing standards of safety and community culture. The International Program Director is also responsible for structuring a dynamic learning environment by developing curriculum, facilitating the implementation of GLA’s service-learning workshops through group-wide discussions
Mentor
Mentors are also responsible for structuring a dynamic learning environment by working as part of a team to implement GLA’s service-learning leadership curriculum; leading daily discussion, reflection or journaling sessions with small student groups; and helping Directors plan additional workshops and activities to engage students in their “free” time.
In-Country Program Coordinator
Our In-Country Program Coordinators are people with close ties to the local community. Their connections are what allow our groups to be welcomed as friends into a community, and their knowledge of the challenges facing local people allow our work to be a meaningful and valued contribution.
Country Administrator
Country Administrators are responsible for managing the overall experience of multiple programs in a certain country. Along with the Local Director, and International Program Directors, the Administrator protects the health and safety of students at all times, reinforcing standards of safety and community culture. The Country Administrator is also responsible for structuring a dynamic learning environment by developing curriculum, facilitating the implementation of GLA’s service-learning workshops through group-wide discussions.
Program Manager
Our Program Managers support the International and Local teams over the course of summer programming. The Program Managers have extensive training in risk management, cross cultural communication, student and group dynamics, mental health protocols, staff management and GLA policies and procedures. Program Managers posses and in-depth knowledge of each program site, partner, service activities, and excursion. The Program Managers communicate weekly with each team in the field and provide ongoing support during the summer to ensure safe and successful programs.