Dan joined the Rural Action team in 2017 as the Entrepreneurial Communities Coach after working in the outdoor recreation and adventure education field for more than 20 years. He is now the program director. His career experiences range from indoor classrooms to outdoor education centers, and leading wilderness trips in the northeast and upper Midwest with youth and adults alike. Dan has been both program administrator and instructor, most recently as faculty at SUNY Delhi College of Technology in the Natural Resource and Recreation Sports program. Dan completed education degrees at Penn State University, Minnesota State University, and finished his MBA at Ohio University.
“As I was growing up, I watched my father take on all of the risks and rewards of being an entrepreneur in a very rural area with limited resources. Every one of my siblings helped to keep the family business operating, and through those experiences, we formed supportive bonds that last to this day. Every time that I see that spirit in the communities that Rural Action works in, I know that this region will renew itself through the dreams, determination, and mutual support that is so much a part of the people that live here.”
Dan lives on his little piece of Appalachia on Willow Creek and enjoys being out with his family hiking, biking, gardening, and doing all things that make it their home.