Meet the POW Team

As an accomplished filmmaker, entrepreneur, environmentalist and snowboarding pioneer, Jeremy Jones is widely regarded as one of the most legendary big mountain riders and explorers of all time. Named a 2013 National Geographic “Adventurer of the Year” and eleven times voted “Best Big Mountain Rider of the Year” by Snowboarder Magazine, Jeremy has starred in over fifty snowboard movies worldwide, including his highly acclaimed, foot-powered snowboarding trilogy Deeper, Further and Higher. He is the founder and CEO of award-winning Jones Snowboards, dedicated to the development of the highest quality backcountry snowboards and accessories. In 2007 Jeremy founded Protect Our Winters, a global cause uniting the winter sports community against climate change and was recognized in 2013 as a Champion of Change by President Barack Obama. Jeremy has appeared frequently in worldwide media including 60 Minutes Sports, ABC’s Nightline News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Outside Magazine and TV, Men’s Journal, Esquire, CNN, MTV, ESPN, Fox News, NBC and National Geographic.

An avid alpinist, snowboarder, mountain biker, guide, and life adventurer, Molina previously served as international director at The Climate Reality Project, where he designed the organization’s climate leadership trainings and oversaw its post-Paris Agreement international strategy. Prior to his work at Climate Reality, Molina led strategy and programs as deputy director at the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE).

Molina grew up in the highlands of Guatemala and has a deeply rooted respect and relationship with the mountains and outdoor culture. He has trained corporate leaders, government officials, NGO groups, athletes and activists, on climate change strategies, communications, and engagement. He has spoken widely on climate policy including for the World Bank, IBM, the Mexican Senate, the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, and various global stages. Mario now calls the Rockies home, where he lives with his wife and peak-bagging Australian Shepherd outside Nederland, Colorado.

With a passion for politics and the great outdoors, Lindsay joined Protect Our Winters in 2016 to advance the organization’s advocacy efforts. Prior to her (second) move to Colorado, Lindsay worked on conservation and recreation policy issues for the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Outdoor Industry Association, completed a Masters in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School, and coached skiing at Squaw Valley. When she’s not raising a ruckus on a policy issue or telling stories about her beloved home state of Maine, you can find Lindsay hiking, biking, running, or skiing deep in the mountains, typically wearing a significant amount of neon.

Torrey grew up in Carbondale, Colorado where he forged an early and lasting connection to the ski mountain and outdoors.

Torrey works closely with POW’s Executive Director to manage POW’s development strategy, including cultivation of industry partners, foundations, major donors, and execution of events. Additionally, Torrey oversees POWs finances and budget, bookkeeping, and compliance.

Before joining POW in 2016, Torrey worked for three years as a strategic advisor to Jim Collins, author of the international bestseller GOOD TO GREAT, and gained unique insight into the practices of building great organizations while diagnosing challenges and opportunities with Fortune 500 corporations, leading social sector enterprises, and executive teams.

Torrey is the descendent of a line of conservationists and adventurers. Torrey’s grandfather and great uncle, Morris and Stewart Udall, each played significant roles in conserving natural landscapes throughout the United States. Torrey’s maternal grandfather, Dick Emerson, was part of the first successful American expedition to Mount Everest in 1963.

Growing up in a small town in Vermont, Kerstin learned the character-building benefits of time spent in the wilderness from a young age—skiing, biking, sailing, and exploring all that the Green Mountains had to offer. She moved west to study journalism and advertising at the University of Colorado at Boulder and eventually found herself with a career (with enough time for morning surf sets) in San Francisco. An experienced brand builder and storyteller, Kerstin has worked on both the agency side at renowned advertising agencies and on the brand side, doing global marketing for Levi’s, where she set out to build authentic connections between the brand and its consumers around the world. After relocating to Truckee, California, she was able to devote more of her time to the activities she’s most passionate about: backcountry skiing, mountain biking, and exploring deep into the Sierra. Living through extreme droughts, devastating wildfires, coastal erosion, and warmer winters made Kerstin realize she wanted to use her experience to impact change in the world, which is what brought her to POW in 2019. At POW, it’s her goal to engage and equip the outdoor community to harness their collective passion to take action on climate change.

Sam believes fully in loving what you do. Having found a deep love of storytelling as well as the escape of the wild outdoors, Sam was determined to find a career that would allow her to combine those things. She was fortunate enough to piece together a rewarding marketing career in the outdoor industry, where she has spent the last two decades dedicating her energy to helping top brands tell their stories and build meaningful connections with their tribes.

Still, with a focus on loving what she does, Sam now heads up the comms program at Protect Our Winters with the goal of not only growing awareness of the POW mission but increasing the size and the involvement of the POW community to help make a meaningful impact on climate change.

When not talking climate to the POW community, Sam can be found (still talking climate) in the skin track or on long trail runs through the mountains with her husband Jason and beloved pup, Prusik.

Born and raised in the mountains of Colorado, Jake first joined Protect Our Winters (POW) as an Athlete Alliance member in 2012 during his career as a professional snowboarder. While traveling around chasing competitions and snow, Jake recognized the impacts of climate change everywhere he went and developed a strong desire to take action to slow and reverse the global greenhouse gas impacts. In the years following Jake worked as a writer and photographer on the subject of sustainability and climate in the snow industry. Now as the Program Manager at POW, Jake engages the community of CEO’s, athletes, ski resorts, and international chapters in systemic political solutions to the climate crisis.

Joe found his love for the outdoors in his home state of New Hampshire. After making the tough decision to leave the “Live Free or Die” state, he moved out to Colorado to attend Colorado State University. After graduating with a BA in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Joe continued to follow his passion for sustainability and the outdoors as an intern at POW.

Now our Membership Coordinator, he is responsible for communicating and strategically growing our membership base. Outside of work, he can be found snowboarding, hiking, or surfing when lucky enough to get back to the coast.

Before joining POW, Anja received her BA in environmental studies and creative writing from the University of Pittsburgh. She continued to follow her passion for environmental storytelling by receiving her MA in environmental journalism from the University of Colorado a few years later.

Her writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and one of her essays was featured as the opening story for a prominent environmental anthology in 2017.

She has worked as a taxidermist, farmer, librarian, freelance writer and marketing consultant before settling in with POW.

Anja is passionate about addressing climate change through creative storytelling and can often be found writing, reading and exploring the outdoors on two feet, two skis or two tires.

Justin’s lifetime of adventuring began at an early age camping and backpacking in the Appalachian Mountains with his father. His passion for outdoor sports continued as he got older, bringing him to whitewater kayaking in the southeast then to the mountains of Telluride, Colorado. While in Telluride, Justin worked as a river-guide, snowboard shop employee and played hard snowboarding in the San Juan mountains. He later joined the Army and was stationed in various places including Alaska and Afghanistan, working as a heavy weapons company team leader and in Operations and Intelligence before returning home to the Rocky Mountains to attend the University of Colorado Boulder.

Justin has witnessed the effects of climate change first-hand after living in ski towns and years spent snowboarding in the backcountry of Alaska and Colorado. Watching the winter change before his eyes drove him to pursue and complete his degree in geography and hydrology. POW’s work allows him to combine his love for snowboarding and passion for the environment. When he’s not blasting Slayer at the POW office, you can find Justin on the trails mountain biking or splitboarding around the Colorado backcountry.

Raised in Vail, Colorado, Lindsey grew up in the beautiful, snowy Gore Range. When she was not snowboarding, she was hiking with her black lab or biking through the valley.

As Lindsey got older, she began to see the effects of rising temperatures on her mountain community from disappearing snowpack to raging wildfires. Knowing that she needed to leave the valley to help protect it, Lindsey went for American University in Washington, DC where she earned her Bachelors in Communications, Legal Studies, Economics, and Government with a minor in Environmental Science. Additionally, she achieved certificates as a Politics, Policy, and Law Scholar and in Advanced Leadership Training. Lindsey spent time with The Climate Reality Project working on the I AM PRO SNOW program and managed the 100% Committed campaign. Joining the advocacy team in 2018, Lindsey is excited to help continue to organize in mountain communities and outdoor industry on strong climate action.

When Lindsey is not plugged in working on a campaign, you will find her in the mountains snowboarding or hiking and camping with her dog. She will probably have a chia tea or kombucha in one hand and a burrito in the other.

Hannah grew up on the shores of Lake Superior in a small northern Wisconsin town. Her love for the outdoors was formed at an early age from sailing in the Apostle Islands, canoeing in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area, to kayaking in Alaska.

Hannah has a BFA in Arts Administration and Theatre with an emphasis in Stage Management. She moved to Colorado where she worked in live event production and programming at the Colorado Chautauqua Association. Hannah values the important role humanities and culture play in the battle to protect our climate and our relationship with the environment.

At POW, Hannah works closely with POW’s Executive Director and Director, Development & Operations to assist with logistical planning projects, financial operations, and administrative management.

When not at the desk, she can be found exploring the trails, mountains, reading, and seeking out every body of water in Colorado.

Eliza spent her childhood searching for berries and fall lines throughout the rugged terrain and cold waters of the White Mountains in her home state of New Hampshire, often trailing behind her mother, an environment and policy journalist.

Before joining POW in 2019, Eliza earned her B.A. at St. Lawrence University and then worked on ski and snowboard industry issues for Congresswoman Annie Kuster in Washington, D.C. where she met with local business leaders and environmental groups who expressed the devastating impacts of climate change on her home community of New Hampshire.

At POW, Eliza works alongside Programs Manager Jake Black to provide fun and insightful events.

Originally from rural Connecticut, Holly fostered a love for the outdoors through exploring New England with her family while hiking, skiing and paddling.

Before joining POW, Holly earned her BS from the University of Connecticut and planned on starting a career in the healthcare tech industry. But after working seasonally for the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Alta Ski Area post-college, she realized her desire to transition and apply her skills and enthusiasm toward conservation and environmental policy issues.

Outside of work, Holly can be found skiing and hiking in the Whites and trying to find the best pizza in the world.

Known in some circles as the cookie monster, Avery can be found trolling for butt scratches or running through the underbrush pretending to be a wild dog. She may have a little gray on her chin but you would not know she is getting up there from her contagious puppy grin and great fear of whiteboards. Interests: wading in mountain creeks, taking over the whole bed, porpoising through snow, and excelling as a foot warmer.

Votes for Peanut Butter. Once a bull tamer in Kansas, Pemi was pleased to be adopted in Colorado where there are big mountains and deep snow to trot daintily around in. Interests: bandanas, biting ski boots mid-turn, belly rubs, chasing mountain bikes and lobster.

A crusty outdoor industry veteran, Prusik, has been salty with just about everyone, from his dog-colleagues at Outdoor Research and Rab to his human-subordinates at SCARPA and now Protect Our Winters.

Prusik might be a grump, but he loves good treats and especially loves people who use their passion for the outdoors to advocate for solutions to climate change.

Does he love you? Well, that all depends on your commitment to climate advocacy. And what kinds of treats you have to offer.

Rob is the Vice President of Revenue and Growth at Tonal. His previous experience Chief Operating Officer at Liftopia, the largest seller of lift tickets online and the largest e-commerce technology provider for the ski industry globally, introduced him to POW, where he now loves banging on doors in DC on POW’s behalf. 

Rob holds a B.A. in Government & English from Colby College in Waterville, Maine and a JD and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Rob is a passionate & lifelong skier, snowboarder and mountain biker and loves getting into the mountains with his wife Amy and two sons, Will and Ned.

Auden is the Vice President of Sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company. Previously a research associate in corporate sustainability at Rocky Mountain Institute, Auden has been a trailer insulator, burger flipper, ambulance medic, Outward Bound instructor, high school math and English teacher, freelance writer, and Forest Service goose nest island builder. An avid outdoorsman, Auden has climbed Denali, North America’s highest peak, and kayaked the Grand Canyon in winter. His writing has been published in Harvard Business Review, the L.A. Times, Scientific American and Salon.com, among other publications, and his work has been covered in Businessweek, Fast Company, Travel and Leisure, Outside, and other media. Auden was named a global warming innovator by TIME magazine in 2006 and in 2007 he testified to Congress on the impact of climate change on public lands. He lives in Basalt, Colorado with his wife Ellen and their children Willa and Elias.

Micah Ragland is the Director of Corporate Communications for DTE Energy in Detroit, Michigan. Before joining DTE in 2019, he worked as a Director of Global Communications at Walmart, Inc. in Bentonville, Arkansas. Previously, he headed up the Office of Public Engagement at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC and also served as former President Barack Obama’s Northeast Political Director during the 2012 election cycle.

Ragland, 42, is a native of Flint, Michigan and received his bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College and his law degree from North Carolina Central University. Micah and his wife, Ryane LeCesne, currently reside in the Detroit area with their daughter, Ryane Lucille. 

Naomi Oreskes is a Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University as well as an internationally renowned historian of science and author.  Her research focuses on consensus and dissent in science: How do scientists decide when a fact is “established?” How do they judge how much evidence is sufficient to deem something scientifically demonstrated? And what happens when scientists can’t agree? Her 2004 essay, “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” (Science 306: 1686), has been widely cited in the mass media throughout the world, including in the Royal Society’s publication, “A Guide to Facts and Fictions about Climate Change,” in the Academy-award winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, and in Ian McEwan’s novel, Solar.  Her opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Nature, Science, The New Statesman, and elsewhere.  Her latest work, Merchants of Doubt, How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco to Global Warming, with co-author Erik M. Conway, was shortlisted for the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and has recently been released in paperback.

Jamie McJunkin is a founder and general partner at Madrone Capital Partners, a private investment firm that invests on behalf of members of the Walton Family. Jamie leads Madrone’s efforts in sustainability and alternative energy, and is currently an active investor or board member at Achates Power, Bloom Energy, eHarmony, Enphase, Strava, Sunrun, and Wasserman Media Group.   He is a member of the advisory board of several investment management firms, including Rockport Capital Partners and The Global Environment Fund.   An avid pilot, Jamie also serves on the Board of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum.   Jamie earned an A.B. degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Truckee, CA and is a passionate cyclist and skier.

Chris Davenport, of Aspen, Colorado, is widely regarded as one of the premier big mountain skiers in the world today. Among his many skiing achievements, in 2007 Chris became the first person to ski all fifty-four of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks in less than one year. A two-time World Champion, he has numerous first descents of peaks around the globe under his belt, and recently guided and skied on Mt. Everest. Chris has been featured in more than thirty ski films. He is also a TV commentator for ESPN, ABC Sports, and Outside Television, and is an Olympic and World Cup announcer for ski racing events. Chris is also the author of two beautiful coffee-table books that celebrate North America’s mountains, Ski The 14ers and Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America.

Donna met Burton’s founder, Jake Burton Carpenter in a Southern Vermont bar on New Year’s Eve 1981. Ever since, she’s been a driving force at the world’s leading snowboard company. Her first job included dipping snowboards in polyurethane and answering the customer service line that rang in the bedroom. In the mid 1980s, Donna expanded Burton’s business to Europe and ran the company’s first international office in Innsbruck, Austria. In 2003, Jake asked Donna to make Burton a brand of choice and employer of choice for women. Thanks to Donna’s leadership, Burton now has progressive parent policies, mentoring programs and a diverse leadership team. In 2010, Donna stepped up to the role of President and then went on to become Burton’s first female CEO in 2016. Donna now shares the CEO role with John Lacy, who she has run the business with since 2016. Beginning in 2019, Donna will be based in Zurich where she will once again immerse herself in Burton’s European business. While in Europe, Donna will continue to be deeply involved in the women’s market, customer insights and purpose-led marketing as well as initiatives surrounding Burton’s impact on the sport, the industry and the planet. Deemed a ‘Super Woman’ by Refinery29 and ‘The Snowboard Ambassador’ by The New York Times, Donna’s leadership is an inspiration to her company, her industry and beyond.

Winston Binch is the chief brand and experience officer at Gale Partners, a global agency specializing in data, technology, CRM and addressable content. Prior to Gale, Binch held top posts at Deutsch as well as Crispin, Porter +Bogusky, where his efforts helped the agency win Interactive Agency of the Year at Cannes three times over a five-year span.

Winston’s work has been recognized by international award shows and publications such as Cannes Cyber Lions, Andys, One Show, Clios, London International Awards, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, AdAge, Adweek, Creativity, Travel + Leisure, Ski Magazine, and Communication Arts.

Conrad Anker is the leader of The North Face climbing team and a legend in the climbing and mountaineering community, where he is renowned for tackling challenging routes throughout the Americas, Himalayas and Antarctica, including multiple first ascents. Conrad lives in Bozeman, Mont., and sits on the board of the Conservation Alliance and the Leadership Institute of Montana State University. Conrad is also vice president of the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation.

Sustainability expert and outdoor-industry veteran, Laura Schaffer uses her passion for the outdoors to lead environmental and social sustainability initiatives at POWDR. Her experience in protecting playgrounds and empowering communities has set her up to oversee the development and implementation of a sustainability strategy across the POWDR brand family, meaning that the resorts where you ski are focused on protecting skiing for generations to come.

Schaffer holds a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University and an MBA in Sustainable Global Enterprise from Cornell University. Before joining the POWDR team in 2016, she served as sustainability director and brand manager at equipment and apparel brand Mountain Hardwear as well as the public relations director for Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort in Utah. While at Snowbird, she was named one of the ski industry’s “Top 15 Under 30” by Ski Area Management Magazine. Schaffer started her career at with the Salt Lake Olympic Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

In addition to serving as member of the board of directors of Protect Our Winters, Schaffer also serves on the Backcountry Women’s Leadership Coalition.

Luis Benitez is the Vice President for government affairs and global impact at the VF Corporation, a $23 billion holding company that includes some of the outdoor industry’s most iconic brands.

Prior to joining the VF Corporation, Mr. Benitez was appointed by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to lead the newly established Outdoor Recreation Industry Office in 2015. In that role, he transformed the outdoor industry into a powerful force for economic development, conservation and stewardship, education and workforce training, and public health and wellness. Under his watch, the state’s outdoor economy ballooned from $28 billion to $65 billion.

Mr. Benitez spent a decade managing the well-established leadership development school, Outward Bound Professional in Colorado at the start of his career. He also served as the COO and Director of Operations for Adventure Consultants, a New Zealand-based global expedition firm with a long and storied
history of leading trips on Mount Everest that was featured both in the book Into Thin Air and in the movie Everest.

Mr. Benitez helped create the nonprofit Trekking for Kids, which focuses on service-based expeditions allowing participants to climb and trek while teaching them about local issues like housing and healthcare for disadvantaged youth around the world. He was also a founding partner for Warriors to Summits, a nonprofit focusing on serving veterans by connecting them with the outdoors.

He has also served as an adjunct professor in Ecuador and Chile for the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Benitez studied Political Science at the University of Missouri – Saint Louis
and holds an Executive MBA from the University of Denver with an emphasis certification on behavioral sciences and public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

As a digital strategist, online marketing specialist, and social/multi-channel storyteller, Ryan's passion has been grounded in making the world a better place - from engaging low-income high school students to improve academic performance and community volunteerism with AmeriCorps, to saving over 282,000 dogs and cats through the ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge. For the past seven years, Ryan has headed the digital, creative, and communication work at Vice President Gore's The Climate Reality Project and had his team's work recognized by the Short Awards, MAXI's and the Non-profit Technology Enterprise Network DoGooder Video Awards. In his down time, Ryan can be found hiking, kayaking, and falling on his x-country skis in the back country of Colorado and Nevada.

An avid skier, Joel Simkins brings over 20 years of financial services and hospitality industry relationships to Protect our Winters. 

Skiing is an integral part of the Simkins family lifestyle and after years of donating passively to the cause, he decided to play a more active role in helping to insure that winter sports are around to be enjoyed for future generations. Joel joined the advisory board in 2018 and has been actively collaborating with the POW team to deliver its message to CEO’s across the hospitality industry, as well as explore strategic partnerships with other stakeholders. 

Simkins has been the Head of Gaming & Leisure Investment Banking for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey since April 2016. Before coming to SunTrust, Simkins spent 15 years as an equity research analyst covering the gaming, lodging, & leisure sectors (including the ski industry) at Credit Suisse, Macquarie Capital, Prudential Financial, and Deutsche Bank. In 2009, he was named as the Best Up & Coming Gaming & Lodging Analyst on Wall Street by Institutional Investor Magazine. 

Simkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and received his BBA in Banking & Finance from Hofstra University where he graduated with Highest Honors in 1998. Joel and his wife, JoAnn, along with their two children Josh and Juli reside in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Ben Pruess is President of Retail North America for Tommy Hilfiger. In this role, he is responsible for oversight of the merchandising, strategic planning and allocation of product, and retail store operations for 242 Tommy Hilfiger stores in the United States and Canada, as well as its e-commerce business. Additionally, he oversees the retail field organization and specialty retail in combination with e-commerce for a DTC (multichannel) strategy.

Prior to this position at Tommy Hilfiger, Ben worked as the Global Vice President at Adidas Originals for 6 years from 2004 to 2010, overseeing all areas of design, marketing, merchandising, and GTM – a period of unprecedented growth for the brand. Subsequently, he joined the Under Armour team as Senior Vice President of Sportswear and was promoted to President of Sport Fashion in 2016. Ben is also an active angel investor in the tech and non-competitive consumer goods space.

Before joining Adidas and Under Armour, he served as Brand Manager for Bonfire Snowboard and as Snowboard sports marketing manager with Salomon.

Preceding his corporate career, Ben was a professional snowboarder and photographer.

Sarah is an Executive Producer and Content Partnerships Lead at YouTube and in the past decade has become a leader in empowering creators, underrepresented voices and non-profits in the immersive media space.

Sarah grew up between Switzerland and New Mexico. With a passion for adventure films, she is an avid climber and alpinist and is constantly seeking adventures off the beaten path, anywhere from Pakistan to Madagascar.

Charlotte Tracy is an Educator for the Bay Area Teacher Training Institute.  She is a trail runner, a skier, and a mom of three teenagers who also love to ski and play in the outdoors.  

She has been an active volunteer in her community and has served on several boards and fundraising committees for various non-profits, including The Millbrook School, Marin Country Day School, The Parks Conservancy, Youth Speaks, and Children of Shelters.  She regularly tutors underserved students through the organizations Reading Partners and 826 Valencia. Additionally, she and her two sisters co-operate The Chrysopolae Foundation. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and her dog, Jackson.

Luke Haynes has been Executive Director of the David Rockefeller Fund in New York since 2015. He oversees all operations and grantmaking programs for criminal justice reform, climate change solutions, and art for social impact. Luke served on the Protect Our Winters Board of Directors, offering strategic and governance advice and advocating that POW explore the creation of a 501(c)(4) with a complementary mission. He resigned from the board to recommend one of the POW Action Fund’s first grants and remains an informal POWAF advisor.

Prior to joining the DR Fund, Luke was vice president of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation; New York Director of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and Fellow of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University.

Luke also serves as a trustee of Lulu’s Fund, providing need-based financial aid to preschool families in Montclair, NJ; director of the Clara Lionel Foundation and advisor to the Center for Climate and Security in Washington D.C.

Gretchen is a 2-time Olympian and Olympic Silver medalist, World Superpipe Champion and 4-time X Games gold medalist, and has been inducted into The Sportswomen of Colorado Hall of Fame and The Action Sports Hall of Fame. She is the winner of the ESPY award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. She has done modeling, sports commentary, and has been featured in everything from prime time talk shows and national commercials to hundreds of publications worldwide.

Seeing the effects of climate change around the world pushes Gretchen to lobby on Capitol Hill, work with brands to design sustainable products, speak at events like the United Nations Climate Conference (COP21) in Paris, and serve on the board of Protect Our Winters and Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. As a leading female athlete, Gretchen also sits on the board for espnW in order to support their efforts in elevating women in sports. Since transitioning from snowboard competition in 2014, Gretchen is now creating a larger movement; inspiring the art of living extraordinary. She’s spearheading this through a company called ALEX that she co-founded with her husband, Chris Hotell. ALEX stands for Always Live Extraordinary and is designed to shift habits and consciousness for a healthy and sustainable world.

Gretchen served on the Protect Our Winters Board of Directors from 2011-2016.

Penn was born in the Midwest but spent time out of the country and on the East coast before settling in Colorado in 1989. A graduate of Brown University with degrees in Business and Political Science, Penn spent a handful of years in finance as a municipal bond trader in Manhattan before his move out west. The ski bum lifestyle, working as a snow maker, race crew on Aspen Mountain, and seasonal whitewater, climbing and backcountry ski guide stints led to a job at Climbing Magazine in 1992.

In 1997, Penn co-founded Backbone Media, a leading active lifestyle marketing agency that represents over 80 brands in the snowsports, outdoor, hunt, fish, travel, tourism and beverage markets. Penn co-authored 50 Classic Ski Descents in North America with Chris Davenport and Art Burrows, and has written for multiple outlets including Alpinist, Climbing, Rock & Ice, Outside and Powder.

The fire still burns for Penn with recent trips to climb in Russia, Antarctica and Nepal. He is a happily married father of four and previously served on the Protect Our Winters board for two terms.