Executive Team | Board of Directors | Advisory Board
Directors | Regional Advisory Counsel
Experience Camps are lead by a dedicated team of professionals in camping, social work, finance, technology, and beyond. The key ingredient that is woven through our team is the passion each one has for summer camp and the life-altering experience it can provide.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
SARA DEREN, Chief Experience Officer
Sara Deren is the founder and Chief Experience Officer of Experience Camps. Sara received her MBA from Columbia University and spent 12 years in the financial services industry before turning her full attention to camp. Experience Camps was founded on Sara’s, and her husband, Jon’s, desire to provide the camp experience to children who would not otherwise have that opportunity. She now uses her business background and love of camp to develop and operate Experience Camps, and to ensure that our campers enjoy the best that summer camp has to offer.
CARA ALLEN, Chief CLINICAL Officer
Cara Allen is Clinical Director for Experience Camps and has a private psychotherapy practice in San Diego, CA. She holds both an MSW and a Master of Management degree, is a licensed clinical social worker, and has worked extensively in bereavement for the past 14 years at Sharp Healthcare where she was awarded both Social Worker of the Year and the prestigious Sally Bruener Haugh Spirit of Caring awards. Cara provides clinical supervision to aspiring therapists and has served as Experience Camps Director of Camper Services in California since 2014.
Jeff Kimball, Chief Possibilities Officer

Jeff, our new Director of Development, is an innovative, entrepreneurial and seasoned non-profit executive skilled in fundraising, communications and scaling brands. Jeff seeks to inspire people to think, act, invest in and connect to our mission and program. A former aide to Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, Jeff worked in crisis communications on Wall Street, re-created the development program of a prestigious private school, scaled a childhood cancer non-profit and has served as a consultant to a number of social venture start-ups. Ask him about his experiences, and he will dismiss all of the results he has earned, because he has the perspective gained through life experience that tells us the integrity of the process is most important. Jeff, who lost his wife to cancer at age 38 and his niece in a tragic accident at age 9, is the father of two teenage girls and lives in Westport, Conn.
Sam Green, Chief Program Officer

Sam has been involved with Experience Camps as a volunteer since 2012 and has served as the Program Director at KenEx for the last 3 summers. He most recently worked at PwC, as a consultant in the financial services industry. Sam received his BBA degree from Emory University and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he volunteers as a mentor for high school students from low-income families preparing them for college success. Sam spent his formative years as a Camp Manitou camper and director, which, combined with his Excel spreadsheet mastery and passion for camp, makes him the perfect person to drive Experience Camps through the next phase of our journey.
jesse moss, National program manager

Jesse Moss is the National Program Manager of Experience Camps. She got her BA from the University of Florida and has previously worked for Warner Bros. Television and President Obama. Jesse fell in love with camp while attending Camp Lokanda for 10 years, and after her brother Jordan died in 2012, embarked on a journey to find a community of support. Her loss, coupled with her love of camp, inspired her to become an Experience Camps CalEx volunteer, and ultimately, to become a part of the ExCamps central team!
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
You'd be hard-pressed to find a group of people as passionate and dedicated to a cause as this one. They represent industries from technology to metals, interests from surfing to art, and all have experienced the magic of camp first-hand. Many of our board members have also experienced their own losses, either as children or parents, and can truly understand the importance of the time spent at camp.
Bill Anderson - First Beverage Group (Board Chair)
Todd Arky - Serial entrepreneur
Sunil Arora - Arora Coaching
Evan Bloomberg - UBS Wealth Management
Wiley Cerilli - Good Uncle
Liz Eddy - Crisis Text Line
David Garlick - Pineapple Co.
Heather Garson - Paloma Partners (Treasurer)
Justine Lelchuk - Deloitte Consulting
Ben Luntz - Indicator Ventures
Aimee Skier - AMSkier Insurance
Aron Weingard - Weingard Wealth Management of Raymond James
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ADVISORY BOARD
Our Advisory Board is the icing on the cake of our board structure. These members represent leaders, experts and great minds in areas that add value and guide us through the key areas of our strategic plan.
Darren Berger - Kane Kessler
Raleigh Leahy - Senior Executive in Hospitality & Events
Arthur Rosenberg - Kane Kessler
Michael Thompson - Lantern Camps
Kellie Wagner - 214
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DIRECTORS
Clinical Directors
Cathy Spear, LICSW - California Girls Clinical Director
Dan Wolfson, PsyD - Pennsylvania Boys Clinical Director
Jenna Wolfson, LCSW - Maine and Pennsylvania Girls Clinical Director
Brie Overton, PhD Candidate, Georgia and Michigan Girls Clinical Director
David Webber, MA, Georgia and Michigan Boys Clinical Director
Jay Clayton, LCSW, California Boys Clinical Director
Program Directors
Martha Straus - California Girls Program Director
Eli Asch - California Boys Program Director
Jordan Rosenberg - Pennsylvania Boys Program Director
Katie Luther - Pennsylvania Girls Program Director
Josh Hahn - Maine Boys Program Director
Ashley Laughlin - Maine and Georgia Girls Program Director
Brian Klein - Georgia Boys Program Director
Ilana Lerman - Michigan Girls Program Director
Lee Zucker - Michigan Boys Program Director
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REGIONAL ADVISORY COUNSEL (RAC)
Our regional RACs are made up of the dedicated volunteers who live in the areas we primarily serve. They demonstrate commitment through their actions and deep involvement with Experience Camps on a regional and national level. They are innovative, inspirational, and pretty darn smart. To learn more, visit our RAC Info page.
Mid-West
Ali Boorstein
Meredith Channing
Abigail Gardner
Ilana Lerman
Michael Pomerantz
Julia Ring*
Todd Shamlin
Ben Spillman
Stephanie Tasman
Lee Zucker
New York City
Ellen Anderson
Samantha Benvegna
Zach Bergman*
Lisa Bernstein
Christina CasaNova
Gobie Kumarasamy
Brian Helfman
Matthew Liebhaber
Sam Oliff
Melissa Samuels
Micky Silverman
Emma Zeiger
Max Zeiger
Philly
Scott Elfenbein
Jess Laderman
Pam Malter
LJ Sidari
Morgan Zoroya*
South Florida
Michael Goldman
Jon Hooshmand
Kristina Lucia
Emily Plajer
Jesse Soffer
Boston
Emily Herman
Lucas Johnston*
Jonathan Zackman
California
Kat Besse
Dave Burg
Lila Dupree
Stacey Greenberg
Zoe Katz
Rahul Lakhwani*
Benjamin Richman
Jackson Ross
Rachel Schindler
Kristin Sun
Libbie Thacker
Andy Vadapalli
Bobby Weinberger
Fairfield County, CT
Gery Grove*
RAC LEAD *