Staff

indra hayre (she/her), Mentorship Program Manager

Indra is a South Asian-Canadian activist and educator living on the unsurrendered land of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh First Nation. You can most often find her on a mountain, at the skatepark, or loitering at whatever small business her friends work at. 

Being born and raised in and around “Vancouver,” her teenage years were defined by what felt like an inexplicable yearning for a sense of belonging. In university, while studying sociology, she was introduced to the term “double consciousness,” and the introduction of this concept became a catalyst for her passion in creating inclusive communities where people could feel a sense of unspoken belonging and understanding. 

Community has always been the thread that connects all she does, and over the last five years, her body of work has lied heavily in the spaces of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is a DEI consultant and the founder of Incluskivity, another non-profit driven with the goals of creating access and opportunities for traditionally marginalized groups in snow sports. 

Indra can be reached at programs@mountainmentors.com

Board of Directors

Monika Tesiorowski (she/her), President

Polish by birth, but raised on the unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) lands - Mon is a walking North Vancouver stereotype. Her arsenal of sports include backcountry skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking and kite surfing. When she’s not in the outdoors you can find her tending to an extensive plant collection or checking-in on her vegetable garden.

Mon currently works in Global Events at Arc’teryx and recently finished a two year term as the Vancouver chapter lead for Protect Our Winters Canada. She is a firm believer that the mountains are the ultimate playground and should be respected as such.

Although still volunteering with POW on a casual basis, Mon is now looking to focus her time on Mountain Mentors after having been a part of the winter cohort for the past two years both as a mentee and a mentor-in-training. Throughout this time, she has developed a deep connection to the purpose of the organization and is honoured to have the opportunity to give back and contribute.

Monika can be reached at monika@mountainmentors.org

kathryn trnavsky (she/her), vice president + secretary

Kathryn has always loved being outside, and will find any excuse to spend quality time with momma nature. ANY EXCUSE. Kathryn first learned to ski on ice, climb on slick limestone cliffs and camp around provincial parks while growing up in southwestern Ontario. Kathryn now lives and learns on unceded and traditional xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) lands.

Kathryn’s own experiences of learning to rock climb in 2016, and the patience her early mentors and dedicated climbing partners had, left an immense impact on her understanding of what it means to participate in these communities. When not in the mountains, she’s hard at work collaborating with communities on climate solutions, meandering around town with her dog Milo, or playing with clay in the local pottery studio.

Since moving to BC in 2017, the coast ranges of the Pacific Northwest have been a classroom for her and is constantly humbled while climbing, camping or skiing among them. She also understands that these spaces are not accessible to everyone, many are systemically excluded and under represented from outdoor spaces. Kathryn firmly believes in the power of mentorship as a tool to break down these barriers.

Kathryn’s learning journey has transformed through the Mountain Mentors program, participating as a mentee and mentor in both the climbing and skiing cohorts. She is eager and excited to take a creative & strengths based approach to enhance the capacity of the outdoor community to confidently step into mentorship roles. She in beyond honoured to be stepping into the Vice President & Secretary roles.

Kathryn can be reached at admin@mountainmentors.org

JoJo Das (he/him), Program Development Director

Born in Kolkata, India, JoJo has since hopped and skipped his way through his home country, Canada, Indonesia, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. He had never considered himself an outdoors oriented person until he moved to Vancouver in 2013. On the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, JoJo developed a strong love and passion for rock climbing.

His own experiences of being mentored in outdoor environments left a profound impression. Since his first foray onto BC granite, JoJo has been struck by the opportunity and challenges that these spaces bring. Now a firm believer that walls are meant for climbing, instead of keeping people apart, JoJo is energized by his role with Mountain Mentors as a place to create spaces where people feel welcomed, supported, and equipped to learn and shape their own experiences.

JoJo is crafting his EDI career, from working at UBC, Mountain Mentors, and is currently at VIMFF, helping it become the best mountain film festival it can be. Residing in Squamish, JoJo spends his time training his dog to do things you thought a dog could never do, and planning the next adventure into the vertical.

Julia Chen (she/her), Treasurer

Julia loves to climb, run, hike, and paddle and is grateful to live on the unceded Squamish Territory since moving here in 2021. The past couple of years have been spent getting sweaty, learning about systems and safety, redefining her comfort zone, and forming amazing friendships in the process.

Her career has been built in accounting, forecasting, and financial reporting for large multi-jurisdictional companies in the extractive sector. As treasurer, she will work hard to support the Mountain Mentors team with accurate reporting, responsible planning and asset management, and accountable bookkeeping.

nicole lacis (she/her), Compliance Director

Born and raised in BC’s lower mainland, Nicole grew up adventuring and exploring on the unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Territory. Her favourite sports include trail running, backcountry skiing and mountain biking.

She has been fortunate to have had many knowledgeable and patient mentors in all of these pursuits and is excited to be a part of an organization whose purpose is to ensure that those who may otherwise not have access to similar relationships, do.

By day, Nicole works as a lawyer and feels excited and privileged to use her professional skills to support such an important organization.

Katy Exton (she/her), Fundraising Director

Katy (she/her) grew up in the UK spending a lot of time outside and camping with a few trips to the Alps to kickstart a love of skiing and hiking. She moved to BC in 2014 for school and stayed for the incredible access to mountains year-round. 

You’ll find her spending weekends hiking or snowshoeing on the North Shore and local mountains with her dog and friends. Katy’s hoping to focus and improve skiing this season to feel more confident in the backcountry and experience more of what BC has to offer. She’s grateful to live and recreate on the unceded  xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Territory.

Katy has spent her career working in various non-profit roles, currently as a project coordinator. She is keen to bring this experience to Mountain Mentors and continue building relationships for an uplifting and diverse outdoor community.

Katy can be reached at fundraising@mountainmentors.org

Meryn Corkery (she/her), Alumni & Community Manager

Meryn is an uninvited settler on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territory, where she has resided for the last seven years. A childhood spent running through Treaty 6 territory, in the Edmonton/Amiskwaciwâskahikan river valley and hiking in the Rocky Mountains instilled a great love of the outdoors in her. This love of the outdoors, coupled with the desire to build a more sustainable and just food system, brought Meryn to the University of British Columbia, where she received a BSc. in Global Resource Systems. 

Meryn loves to trail run, hike, gravel ride, cross country ski and climb. Meryn joined the Mountain Mentors program as a mentee to gain more confidence transitioning from indoor to outdoor climbing. She believes that the outdoors should be accessible to and inclusive of everyone, and due to many different systems (patriarchy, racism, ableism, white supremacy and more), it currently is not. Meryn is committed to naming and working to dismantle these systems in order to increase access to the outdoors. While many solutions are needed, she sees mentorship as a key way to foster community among groups that are currently under-represented in the outdoors and support skill-sharing and capacity building. Meryn is excited to join the team as the Alumni and Community Manager to help support the Mountain Mentors community.

Meryn can be reached at community@mountainmentors.org

volunteer operational staff

Kelly Kurtz (she/her), data insights manager + mentor development

Bio coming soon…

Community architechts

Since its inception, Mountain Mentors has been a space that has hosted the passion, expertise, care, creativity, and commitment of so many incredible individuals. Each of them has contributed to a blueprint of what is possible as we work to create backcountry* spaces where everyone belongs and feels safe. For that, we are endlessly grateful.

The qualities and strengths of the Mountain Mentors community can be measured by the contributions of the individuals listed below.

(Listed alphabetically)

Anitra Paris

Brendon Dawson

Brett Trainor

Colleen Ellison

Mentorship Program Manager, 2018 - 2019

JoJo Das

Rosie Langford

Secretary, 2020 - 2022