Hello Jarabacoa Glimpsers!

Hello to all!

My name is Julie Kanak, and I will be one of the GG leaders on the trip coming up on July 31!  Can’t tell you how excited I am…This will be my second trip to the DR with GG, and I am SO looking forward to experiencing it with all of you.  I am eager to get to know each and every one of you…we will all learn and grow a lot.

My educational background includes Bachelor’s Degrees in Education and Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies, and further graduate work in Social Justice.  I spent most of my professional life in the non-profit world, working for a foster care agency, and a hospice, doing mediation in the court system, and as the Executive Director of an organization working with American, Israeli, and Palestinian youth.  More recently I have worked as a hiking guide, as a certified Forest Therapy guide, and as an Educational Program Guide at the Morton Arboretum.  On the more personal side, my husband and I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, we have 4 sons and one granddaughter, have hosted many exchange students from around the world and learned a lot from them and our other travels.

I have always been a hiker and an adventurer, not to mention a lifelong learner, and am delighted to be heading into this new adventure in the DR.  I know the entire GG staff has been working like crazy on all the details, and the in-country staff will work like crazy to make this trip powerful, enriching, educational, inspiring, and fun…and me and Tony will do the same!

See you all at the airport on July 31~~

Julie