Our Team
Sally L. Berg
Executive Director
Sally Berg is a social entrepreneur with a broad and diverse set of skills and experiences. Google her, and you’ll find she is a passionate, adventurous world traveler. She was one of the first to climb Carstensz Pyramid in West Papua -- the highest point on the Australasian continent -- when it reopened to the public in 2006. She loves working with youth, as depicted in the award-winning film, Blindsight. The film tells the story of six blind Tibetan teenagers who attempted to climb 23,000 foot Lhakpa-Ri on the Rongbuk Glacier. It is based on an expedition led by seven-summiter Erik Weihenmayer, Sally, and five other guides, in which the youths’ personal stories of courage outshine the expedition story. Sally’s adventures have led her to six of the seven continents reconnoitering, guiding, and volunteering.
Sally has dedicated her career to international travel, education, and non-profits. Since 2001, she owned an international travel business assisting an impressive clientele doing extraordinary philanthropic work in remote corners of the world. Her client list included National Geographic, the Himalayan Cataract Project, the DZI Foundation, Telluride Mountainfilm, and Serac Adventure Films, among other notables. She is a seasoned, passionate educator. After six years as a Course Director for Outward Bound, she moved into the corporate arena. Here, she spent a decade as a professional trainer, designing and delivering leadership programs for rapid growth start-up companies. An active volunteer, Sally has co-chaired the award winning Rocky Mountain PBS youth program, “Super School News”; acted as Executive Director for the Kilimanjaro Climb for the Cure 2000 – where her team raised $125,000 for the Denver Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation; and lent her expertise to the MercyCorps Action Center since arriving in Portland. Sally believes it is a self-evident truth that individuals have the inalienable right to reach their full potential and enjoy a meaningful, productive life. She has dedicated her career helping people from all walks of life do so.
Sally received a Political Science degree from the University of Colorado and studied in the Technology Management graduate program at Denver University. She’s been trained as an EMT, a WEMT, and a Zenger Miller leadership development facilitator. She loves to run marathons, guide international treks, cook, read, and write.
Sarah Kennedy, MA
Program Manager
In 1997, Sarah Kennedy organized a group of theater performers to travel down to the remote village of Terlingua, Texas, on the border between Texas and Mexico to do improvisation and Shakespearean performance work with the high school students. It was during this whirlwind three day experience that Sarah discovered how much she could learn from young people, and she has been striving to learn more and give back for the last 13 years. Sarah has a fierce commitment to equality, access and social justice that has been solidified by her years working with underserved youth in alternative education environments in Texas, Oregon and Arizona. She strives to bring these principles into the classroom at every opportunity and believes The Pangaea Project is an exciting place to exercise this practice. Sarah has an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Texas, and a Master’s degree in environment and community from Antioch University. However, Sarah strongly values the education she has received by traveling domestically and internationally, and through meeting people from all walks of life.
Laura Erceg MSW Intern
Laura Erceg is one of our interns this year. She comes to us from PSU’s School of Social Work, where she is completing her final year in the Master’s program. Laura grew up in Northern Minnesota at Concordia Language Villages, a language immersion program for youth and adults. It was here that Laura first began her forays into exploring language, culture, social justice, and developing an environmental awareness. As an undergraduate at Cornell College, Laura studied Russian and Sociology and traveled abroad to Krasnodar, Russia for a semester. While in Krasnodar, she completed an interview project with various program host mothers as well as professors at the local University regarding their experiences as women in Soviet Russia, and the way in which the fall of the Soviet Union affected those roles and their families.
After graduation, Laura received a Community Service Fulbright Scholarship to live in Vladivostok, Russia, for one year where she volunteered at various orphanages, group homes, and an organization which provided outreach to street youth.
Laura moved to Portland four years ago, and has worked with the local Russian-speaking community as a domestic violence client advocate and a student advocate for Russian-speaking youth. She is passionate about working with youth and families and is thrilled to be interning with Pangaea this year.
Meredith Marie Fleming PSU Intern Although a Pacific Northwest native, Meredith Fleming has spent nearly five years living, traveling and working in Latin America. Her commitment to inter-cultural awareness was fostered by her experience as an AFS Intercultural Programs student in Chile at age sixteen. In Chile she developed a sense of self-awareness and humility which prompted a series of eye-opening international adventures and has driven her to work for organizations committed to promoting intercultural awareness through education. She has lived/studied and or worked in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Panama and has traveled extensively throughout Central and South America.
Meredith has an undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in Journalism, Spanish and Latin American Studies and is currently studying toward an MA in International Development and Service at Portland State University and in conjunction with the International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership (IPSL). Meredith is ecstatic to join the Pangaea team and be a part of the changemakers of tomorrow.
Adisak Kaewrakmook
In-Country Coordinator, Thailand
The Pangaea Project’s In-Country Coordinator for Thailand, Adisak Kaewrakmook, holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from the Rajabhat Institute and a Masters of Arts in Philosophy from Chiang Mai University. A fluent English speaker, Adisak has worked with youth of all ages for over 12 years. He began his career as an English teacher in Chiang Mai and peppered the early years of his career with English-language summer camp coordination.
Adisak moved on to teaching English at a bilingual Montessori school, and for the past six years, he has worked with the Council on International Education Exchange program (CIEE) which coordinates international learning and exchange opportunities with college students. With CIEE, Adisak serves at Field Study Director where he oversees all components including orientation, homestays, excursions, and cultural trainings.
The Pangaea Project is thrilled to have Adisak on board as our In-Country Coordinator as he brings a wealth of knowledge about youth, teaching and training, and his country and culture. In addition, having spent several months in the United States, Adisak also brings a complex understanding of American culture and youth to his role as In-Country Coordinator, and we look forward to a long relationship with him.
Gabriela Aguinaga
In-Country Coordinator, Ecuador
Currently, Gaby works as a assistant for the Program in the Strategic Plan for the Sustainable Tourism – PLANDETUR 2020 – in the Department of Tourism while studying Environmental Management Engineering in the Technical University of Loja. During her studies, Gaby spent two years studying Ecology and Sustainable Development in Costa Rica to increase her understanding of the social impact of environmental decisions in Latin America.
In addition, Gaby is part of a network of youth who participate actively in environmental issues in Ecuador, GEO Youthful Ecuador, that is financed by The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and other institutions of the Ecuador. She has also served as an environmental ambassador representing Ecuador in the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy program in Leverkusen, Germany.
Gaby has been involved with The Pangaea Project since 2007, creating and setting up program components each year, leading groups and educating youth with her vast knowledge of Ecuadorian culture and environmental issues.
Juan Sebastian Torres Cevallos
In-Country Coordinator, Ecuador
Sebastian has extensive experience within the Ecuadorian non-profit community, and brings his knowledge of the social justice issues of his country as well as his fluent English skills to The Pangaea Project. After graduating from the Catholic University of Ecuador with a degree in Ecotourism and a focus on ecology, botany and biology, Sebastian served as Program Coordinator of the Biciaccion Foundation, a Quito-based nonprofit which promotes bicycle transportation in the city. With that organization, Sebastian led groups of children and youth on bicycle tours of the city, educating about climate change and alternative transportation. In addition, Sebastian has served as a naturalist and a bilingual guide in the Quichwa communities of the Amazon rainforest teaching both locals and tourists about the ecology of the forest, its importance for the planet, and the impacts of human interventions. The Pangaea Project is thrilled to have Sebastian on board so that he can share his knowledge and love for his culture and country with Pangaea Project participants.