Olivia Ahmadi, Residential Counselor
Olivia Ahmadi is going into her senior year at Wheaton College in Massachusetts and lives in the active Feminist House on campus. Olivia is also involved in Student Government as the Intercultural Board Senator. Olivia was a camper in 2005, returned as a residential counselor in 2009 and is back for her fourth GLI summer. Olivia is majoring in education and history in hopes of becoming a teacher after she graduates. Olivia grew up in Maryland and loves to exercise, travel outside the U.S. to study other cultures, and loves learning languages. She can speak Farsi and English fluently and has studied Moroccan Arabic, Chinese and Spanish. Olivia spent last semester abroad in Morocco and absolutely loved the learning Arabic and living with a Moroccan family. Some of her favorite TV shows are Pretty Little Liars, Glee, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Most of all Olivia loves being high energy and having fun. Olivia cannot wait to spend another wonderful summer with all the wonderful young women at GLI

Melanie Berg, Residential Counselor
Melanie Berg grew up in Brooklyn, NY and is a senior at Covenant College near Chattanooga, TN where she is majoring in psychology. At school, Melanie is involved with the Campus Stewardship Committee, Orientation Team and serves as the Executive Secretary on Student Senate. Melanie's favorite TV shows are Modern Family and Mad Men, and she loves to read in her spare time. Melanie loves thrift stores, cooking, coffee dates and exploring cities. She has a not-so-secret love of glitter and she loves dance parties. This is her first summer working with GLI and she is excited to learn and have fun with everyone.

Lindsey Buller, Teaching Counselor
Lindsey recently moved from New York City to California. She was formerly the Assistant Director of Education for The New Victory Theater on 42nd street where she was often found leading workshops on communication and goal setting for young people or leading the post show talkbacks with artists from places like China, New Zealand, and Denmark. She discovered her love of circus late in life and is now always willing to make a pyramid with a few willing volunteers. She has also worked with Summer Theatre Institute directing and creating shows with teenagers from around the world. She has a Masters degree from New York University where she studied ways to use theater for communication and learning. This is her first year with GLI and she looks forward daily game playing and being back on the East Coast for awhile.

Stephanie Bratnick, Teaching Counselor
Stephanie Bratnick is very excited to be spending her first summer teaching and playing at GLI. The rest of the year she spends acting, cooking, gardening, teaching, and running a theatre company. She began teaching acting in Chicago, where she also graduated with a BFA in Acting from DePaul University. Since moving back east seven years ago, she has taught at The Theatre Development Fund, The Abrons Art Center, Dalton School, and many, many public schools throughout the city. Her theatre company, Terra Firma, creates new work based on old things and works on farms all around New York state. When she has some down time, she can be found BBQing in her backyard garden in Brooklyn, with her younger sister (who lives upstairs) and her boyfriend.

Monica Carter, Teaching Counselor
Moncia Carter is an educator at The Hudson School in Hoboken, NJ where she teaches Philosophy of Aesthetics and Language Arts. As a teaching artist she has worked for the Mark Morris Dance Group, Columbia University, Project Health, and Teach for America. She holds a MA in Theatre and Dance Education and Outreach from the University of New Mexico where her research focused on how movement based arts such as dance and theatre can empower the emotional-social development of adolescent girls.  Her BA was in Theatre Arts from Virginia Tech.  Monica loves science-fiction, baking, and all things related to nature.

Traci Ceccherini, Head Residential Guidance Counselor
Her cats’ names are Pato and Guino, and she likes to dress them up on Halloween with rooster hats. Traci loves yoga, reading, biking, kayaking, and having spontaneous dance parties to very loud music. She enjoyed her undergraduate programs of Psychology and Spanish at Castleton State in Vermont, followed by pursuing graduate work at Northeastern University in Bean town. During the non-Summer months, she can found working as a School Psychologist in a middle school in New Hampshire, which is her home state. This will be Traci’s first year with GLI, and she is wicked excited to get her kickball game on!

Bethany Caputo, Teaching Counselor
Bethany Caputo is an actress who performs regionally across the country at such theatres as Arena Stage, The Goodman and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Ms. Caputo studied at the Moscow Art Theatre and is the Managing Director of the Michael Chekhov Acting Studio in New York City where she is also a happy member of the faculty. She participated in the Michael Chekhov Instructional DVDs produced by the Michael Chekhov Association and partially funded by the National Endowment of the Arts. Ms Caputo has performed with Chekhov based theatre companies The
Actors Ensemble, The Moving Dock Theatre Company, and Walking the Dog Theatre Company.

Lindsey Dedow, Teaching Counselor
Lindsey Dedow is a teaching counselor for GLI in Boulder, Colorado. She was born in England and thus loves all things Jane Austen, PBS, and damp rainy weather. Lindsey also loves doing anything outside, including skiing, hiking, camping, biking, and running and she is currently attempting to learn how to surf. When she's not outside, Lindsey can be found doing yoga, watching Glee and the Amazing Race (in which one day she will be a participant!), and always with her nose in a book. Lindsey grew up in Florida, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Florida where she established the campus volunteer program and wrote her honors thesis about a mentoring program she started with middle school students, and then earned her doctorate in psychology from the University of Denver. Lindsey is looking forward to playing Bop and Poop Deck and going on the summer expedition trip!

Blaine Edens, Residential Counselor
Blaine Edens just finished her second year at George Washington University, where she is majoring in Women’s Studies. In DC, she is a volunteer at Planned Parenthood and is active in the anti-street harassment and pro-choice groups on campus. She will be spending her next semester studying, biking, and eating in the Netherlands. Blaine is an avid NBA and Phoenix Suns fan. Bring up the Los Angeles Lakers in front of her and we may just have a problem. She grew up on a lake in Montana, and is convinced she is part fish because she loves everything water-related: swimming, rowing, wakeboarding, kayaking, and sailing. Blaine is a music junkie and stops to pet every single dog she sees on the street. She is known to break out into song and/or dance numbers in public. Often. She was a GLI camper in 2006 and is beyond excited to Whoosh it up this summer!

Carrie Ellman-Larsen, Teaching Counselor

Carrie is very excited to join the GLI team this summer! She is a theatre artist specializing in theatre for social change, literacy and curriculum connection through theatre and other art forms, forum theatre, process drama and theatre-in-education (TIE). She has been working as a teaching artist and applied theatre practitioner for over six years. Carrie has worked for Marquis Studios, LEAP, The Theater Development Fund, The Roundabout Theatre Company, Urban Stages and Step Up Women’s Network to name a few. She has also traveled to Zanzibar, Tanzania where she worked with teenagers using playwrighting and playbuilding to develop English literacy. She hopes to run her own NGO one day to change the world one theatre game at a time. Carrie has a Master's degree from the CUNY School of Professional Studies in Applied Theatre.

Liz Garcia, Summer Camp Office Manager
Liz attended UCLA where she was a member of the Student Alumni Association and worked for The Daily Bruin Advertising team. After graduation, she spent a year in Barcelona, Spain earning her TESOL certificate, teaching English, and traveling. She most recently served a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the American Red Cross Bay Area where she managed and executed several youth volunteer programs including the 2010 Leadership Development Center and the First Aid and Preparedness instructor program. Liz is passionate about empowering youth and is excited to support GLI's mission of inspiring girls to be true to themselves. She considers herself a “true” Californian, having lived in the southern, central, and northern parts of the state.

Angie Guerrero, Residential Counselor
Angie Guerrero is going into her fourth year at Bowdoin College. She is a Gender and Women’s major with a minor in Film Studies. Angie is interested in the ways media shapes people and ideas and can be used as a tool for social change. She hopes to attend film school one day. Angie is a member of the Bowdoin College Cable Network (BCN), and the Latin American Students Organization (LASO). She works in Bowdoin’s Theatre Department and enjoys building sets, making props and sewing costumes. Angie grew up in El Paso, Texas with her parents and two older brothers. She has a deep appreciation for her Mexican heritage, especially the food. She is fluent in Spanish and knows some Russian. Some of her favorite TV shows are Glee and American Idol. Angie loves to dance all types of music, even if she looks silly doing it. She also enjoys swimming, nice walks, cooking, avocados and laughing for no reason. This will be Angie’s first summer working with GLI and she is pumped about getting to know everyone.

Erin Hopkins, Residential Counselor
Erin Hopkins is a proud Smith College student who loves traveling and meeting new people. She spent last semester in Switzerland studying French and nonverbal body language for when her French failed. Her love of cheese, chocolate, and espresso grew exponentially while studying abroad. She studies psychology and women and gender studies. She spent last summer working with female adolescents in crisis and developed an even greater appreciation for our ability to be resilient. She loves dancing, particularly ballet and modern, and making people laugh. She also enjoys staying up late to talk about silly things, especially if chessey bread is involved. She worked at an all girls' camp two summers ago and can't wait to return to camp life, especially with all the fabulous females of GLI!

Anneka Fagundes, Teaching Counselor
Anneka Fagundes is a New York City-based teaching artist / facilitator / educator. She recently earned her Master’s degree in Applied Theatre from CUNY School of Professional Studies, and also holds a BA in Drama from Vassar College. For the last six years, Anneka has facilitated drama-based curriculum in schools and communities all over NYC with organizations including The Creative Arts Team, The Story Pirates, Making Books Sing, The Leadership Program, and the All Stars Project. In her work she uses drama to address issues and themes ranging from anti-bullying strategies to literacy and creative writing to violence prevention to social citizenship and leadership. Anneka’s passion for travel has found her hiking volcanoes and performing in the Vagina Monologues in Guatemala, playing drama games with her brother’s English classes in South Korea, and facilitating Theatre-in-Education and Playbuilding workshops with university drama students in Rwanda. Anneka is super stoked to spend her summer in Northampton with the awesome women and girls of GLI!

Lilly Jay, Residential Counselor
Lilly Jay is a sophomore at Amherst College where she plans to double major in Psychology and Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought. Alternatively, she may just major in The Art of Procrastination. Lilly is a psychology lab assistant, the photography editor of the school newspaper, a tutor and member of the Women of Amherst. Lilly attended GLI the summer before her eighth grade and, although she needs to brush up on her WHOOSH skills, is so excited to be back! She does not play any sports but has been told she is a very fast walker.

Emily Jefferies, Residential Counselor
Emily Jefferies grew up in northeastern Kansas in a small town called Tonganoxie. She loves skipping down the yellow brick road...just kidding! Next fall she will be a sophomore at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD where she is studying Business Management and Spanish. In high school Emily participated in debate and forensics and even won a few state titles. At Goucher she is an active member of Students for Worker Justice, a campus group that works with United Workers, a Baltimore based organization fighting to secure worker's rights in Baltimore and beyond. Her main goals right now include becoming fluent in Spanish, reading all six of Jane Austen's novels, and perfecting her skills in baking vegan treats. A vegan, Emily is very passionate about nutrition, cooking, and baking (she actually wants to go to culinary school after she finishes at Goucher). Her other favorite activities include reading, doing yoga, ellipticizing, creating amazing pandora stations (currently "Jaymay" is at the top of that list), traveling, window shopping, taking afternoon naps, and spending time with her mom. Emily was a camper in 2006 and is super excited to return to GLI for another amazing summer of fun, games, learning, and friendships!

Nicole Kuchyt, Health Director
Nicole Kuchyt is a registered nurse originally from Western Massachusetts, currently living in New Haven, Connecticut. She attended Smith College where she loved to study all things science. Nicole loves to watch movies, except for scary ones, and hang out at cool coffee shops. Her favorite foods are bread and cheese, especially when they are combined. This is Nicole’s first summer at GLI camp and she is very excited to meet everyone and learn what Whoosh, Bop and Olympiad are all about!

Julia Loonin,  Associate Camp Director
Julia moved to the Bay Area from Boston, Massachusetts where she was the Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Wellesley College. Prior to coaching at Wellesley, Julia was a program assistant for Tenacity Inc., a youth development organization whose mission is to build resiliency and life-skills in inner city youth. Julia grew up in New York City and graduated from Bowdoin College. A former basketball player at Bowdoin, Julia’s team graduated with a winning record of 112-9. During her four years, the team won 4 NESCAC championships and made 4 NCAA elite 8 appearances. She was elected tri-captain and graduated ranked 5th for all time leading 3pt scorer.  Upon graduation Julia received the President Award and was a Sarah and James Bowdoin scholar.

Julia can't wait for the GLI Olympiad and water fight! ah woo GLI!

Simone Marean, Executive Director
Simone is the co-founder of the Girls Leadership Institute and the Director of the Summer Camp. A native of New England, she is wicked excited to go back east for her eighth GLI summer. The water gun and dog are already packed. Her favorite parts of camp are playing morning games, spontaneous singing, spontaneous dancing, love notes and Slip ‘N Slide.  After a non-athletic youth Simone has found her competitive side when it comes to screaming for her team. She’ll let Rachel and Julia worry about the score. When Simone isn’t strategizing for a water fight she is teaching GLI workshops and thinking about lunch at GLI headquarters. Her hobbies include hanging with her dog, doing yoga, running, and searching for the perfect almond croissant or chocolate chip cookie.

Ashley Pullen, Head Residential Guidance Counselor
Ashley Pullen works as a school counselor at a junior high in Maine, teaching students important skills like how to resolve conflicts and coexist with people who are different from you.  She also has worked for a community coalition and has done two years of national service with AmeriCorps*VISTA.  Her hobbies include hiking, reading, cycling, cheering for the Patriots, and minimizing her carbon footprint.  She is psyched to be spending her first summer at GLI and is already stocking up on water guns (OK, not really...but she is looking forward to a summer of playing and helping girls realize how much they rock!)

Jess Rigel, Head Residential Counselor
Jess Rigel is a fun loving educator, baker, and life celebrator with a secondary teaching degree and a B.A. in English and Religion from Virginia's Mary Washington College. Upon her graduation in 2007 she spent her first summer at GLI as the OI (Original Intern) where she became well versed in the joys of WHOOSH and Boppity Bop Bop Bop. Following GLI, Jess spent some time traveling and working in fair trade and sustainable agriculture before moving to Arizona to work on land stewardship projects through the Presbyterian Church USA's Young Adult Volunteer program. When not occupied teaching or fulfilling her Master Gardener requirements, Jess can usually be found laughing (her favorite pastime) or reading. She particularly loves Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Lamott, and Judy Blume, but her favorite book of all time is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand . She also is quite the cinephile, and could talk all day about a good film. Jess lives in a community known as "the rattlesnake" with her partner Robert, their dog Scout, 7 goats and 11 chickens, her favorite of which is called Buffo the Zombie Assassin based on the bird's abundance of sass.

Rachel Simmons, Director of Program Development
Rachel Simmons is the co-founder of the Girls Leadership Institute and pretty much lives to dork out and be silly. She is extremely competitive and looks forward to destroying you at Bop, water gun fights, line races, Simon Says and pretty much anything involving winning. Even though Julia thinks she can beat Rachel at stuff, she is wrong and the world will soon understand what Rachel means about this. Rachel writes books about girls but more importantly does a sick imitation of Peter from Family Guy. Her hobbies are cycling, eating cheese, watching Glee, and trolling for the next amazing indie bands.

Mia Salamone, Residential Counselor
Mia Salamone is from Chicago, and proud of it. But right now she's getting to know the wonderful St. Louis as she enters her junior year studying art and psychology at Washington University. At school, she has a radio show where she plays some rockin jams once a week, is vice president of the club running team, and will be an RA next year! Other favorite things? Reading, pumpkin pie, adventures, board games. And a good dance party. She's looking forward to the next big adventure in her life -- working at GLI this summer!

Molly Sauvain, Residential Counselor
Molly Sauvain hails from Rochester, NY but has since made a new home in Northampton, MA, "where the coffee is strong and so are the women." At Smith College she majored in the Study of Women and Gender, learned to use words like "hegemony," and discovered the joy of impromptu dance parties. Molly has worked for a number of food justice and agricultural organizations, and loves nothing more than to get covered from head to toe in dirt. She thinks that cooking and listening to the radio are a great combination, and has been known to produce swoon-inducing baked goods. She enjoys film photography, talking to her houseplants, exploring the wilds of Western Mass, reading in bed, going to farmers' markets, and being unapologetically silly.

Maddie Taterka, Residential Counselor
Maddie Taterka is finishing up her first year at Vassar College, where she's majoring in Geography with minors in (probably) Women's Studies and English.  Before starting at Vassar, Maddie spent a year traveling in Ecuador, Peru, and India, where she taught English and helped run a program to teach vocational skills to young women at the Sirjana Institute.  At Vassar, Maddie is a CARES peer counselor, a Big Sister, and works with the College Committee on Sustainability.  In between, she hikes, bikes, plays guitar, and dabbles in vegan baking.  Her goals for 2011 are to learn to hula-hoop and walk on her hands (maybe simultaneously!?!).  Maddie is new to GLI and can't wait for this summer!!!

Anna Toner, Residential Counselor
Anna is a recent graduate of Emerson College in Boston, MA where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and a minor in Sociology. While she loved living in Boston for four years, Anna is a country girl at heart. Her perfect day would include a relaxing morning kayak, afternoon hike and evening ATV ride in the backwoods of her hometown in central Maine. Other loves include reading books, Tiramisu, and taking pictures of the beloved family cat and chickens. A huge fan of friendly competition, Anna loves to learn and play new games and spend time laughing and having fun with family and friends. She is super excited to join the staff for her first summer at GLI and can’t wait for the inevitable dance parties that are bound to occur!!!

Marsha Philitas, Head Residential Counselor
Marsha Philitas is an educator, workshop facilitator and dorky dancer extraordinaire.Raised in Queens, NY, she moved out to the Berkshires in Western MA after taking one whiff of the fresh mountain air. She got her B.A in Biology from Harvard College and can weave tall tales about how DNA does its magic, but would probably rather watch Glee and explain why Finn and Rachel belong together forever. She mostrecently worked at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. At Kripalu, she coordinated admissions  for the Schools of Yoga and Ayurveda, and developed a passion for applying yoga philosophy to everyday life. In that vein, she created workshops on the yogic approach to romantic relationships, body image and conscious communication. She’s excited tostart to her first summer at GLI!

Johanna Walker, Teaching Counselor
Johanna Walker can balance a glass of water on her forehead and drink it without touching it with her hands. So there. She loves making rules and breaking them, spelling words backwards, standing on her head in public places, and riding no-handed on her bike with a water bottle balanced on her head. (It's true. I like balancing things on my head) She is the wrestling champion of her family, and her great skill of scaring her opponent with hanging drool and slurping it up just before it hits her opponent's face has earned her great recognition. She luuuuuuvs improvisational dance and will dance with you anywhere you want to dance--in the woods, in the kitchen, on streetcorners, or in grocery stores. She can't wait to play Woosh, Bop and Olympiad, too!

Teana White Residential Counselor
Teana White has lived in four of the five boroughs of New York City, all except (yes, you’ve probably guessed it) Staten Island. A proud graduate of Amherst College where she double majored in English and Theater and Dance, Teana is in the process of starting a performing arts education program at her high school. Dancing is her passion, and when she’s not dancing, you can probably find her reading, creative writing, traveling, or making someone laugh. She is a huge fan of anything outdoorsy, and finds herself so busy that she doesn’t have much time to watch TV. She does, however, enjoy watching great movies (ones with great plots, good acting, and engaging but not overly convoluted cinematography). Currently her favorite TV series is Columbo, a 1970’s detective crime fiction series which she adores watching because she gets a kick out of figuring out how Columbo nails the criminal before he does. Teana looks forward to having the time of her life this summer working with GLI. A woo!