Meet Our Staff Leadership Team

Cori Coccia, Executive Director

(she/her or they/them)

Cori has worked for GirlVentures since 2003 in all program staff roles, from Logistics Intern to Program Director. Cori identifies as queer and gender non-conforming and was raised in a working class home, primarily by her mother.  Her early relations with nature developed on childhood camping trips in the mountains and deserts of southern California.  She has chosen this line of work because her relationship with nature has been an essential means of healing, connection, growth and transformation in her life.  She’s committed to providing resources for others to have these experiences and to dismantling barriers to access outdoor spaces because she believes that having a relationship with nature is a fundamental human need.

Cori holds a BA in Outdoor Recreation with an emphasis in non-profit administration and an MS in Environmental Education and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. When not working, she enjoys studying herbal medicine, reading astrology charts, hiking, cycling and soaking in hot springs.

Genevieve Gandal, Development Director

(she/her)

With a deep passion for advocacy, social justice, and community empowerment, Genevieve Gandal has dedicated 25 years to nonprofit leadership and development. Throughout her nonprofit career and prior, she has demonstrated full commitment to working towards positive community change and growth from within those communities.  Genevieve excels at imparting to donors and constituents a sense of urgency, pride, and purpose. She is known for her exceptional ability to forge meaningful partnerships and plays a pivotal role in advancing the mission to create lasting change for the community and the individuals living within.

Genevieve’s journey to the nonprofit sector began while she was producing documentaries for television. Genevieve thrived working on stories that elevated causes and provoked reflection on how we can do better with our community – whether it be through art, science, health, or community. With skills in interview prep and creating narratives, Genevieve honed her anecdotal and case study approach to fundraising and community awareness. As she moved into nonprofit leadership, Genevieve built upon those skills to develop expertise in event management, strategic planning, donor relations, team building, and ethical operations management

Genevieve’s career has been an eventful one; for years, she was asked to consult for organizations, rebuild protocols, lead events and fundraising, etc.  It was thrilling for her to have such a variety of nonprofit sectors to work in, which is why today she is such an asset to GirlVentures. Having found her forever home, Genevieve will draw on a world of experiences to be part of a mission she deeply believes in.

Xiomara Batin, Outreach and Community Engagement Manager

(she/her)

Xiomara is a Berkeley girl born in New Jersey, raised in a beautiful multiracial family that encouraged all the interests that popped into her head. Childhood experiences in the outdoors had a tremendous positive impact and she wants to cultivate opportunities for others to explore. Authentic engagement and genuine ally-ship with communities that have had limited access to outdoor spaces due to historical barriers, is an area of professional and personal importance to Xiomara and she feels passionate about being involved in advocacy in a variety of capacities. 

She has worked in a variety of educational institutions and non profit organizations, with a through-line of working with the community to ensure that all have access to resources that will cultivate and encourage their success and always putting equity and inclusion at the center of supporting students and their families in all capacities. As a member of the GV team she has worked to cultivate partnerships with other organizations that share this viewpoint and are actively working to create more equitable access for all.

Along with working at GirlVentures, Xiomara is a team member at Inclusion Outdoors, an organization that works with multiple partners to address the barriers that keep all people from enjoying the outdoors. Xiomara is also a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the City of Berkeley Tuolumne Family Camp, a group that is committed to ensuring the camp is an inclusive and welcoming place. The BTC she remembers from attending as a child and then becoming a staff member as a teenager,  had people of many different backgrounds, with a variety of levels of experience in the outdoors, and all with a shared love and appreciation for being in that incredible environment.

In her free time, she travels as much as she can throughout California and the world, reads anything from fantasy to historical fiction, is always down to go to thrift stores and look for treasures, and is continually seeking new trails and paths to explore.

Tryka Orbin D Tryka, Program Director

(he/him)

Born and raised working class in South Jersey, Tryka decided to take a chance at age 28 and enrolled as a student in an Outward Board course in 2002, where he immediately fell in love with Outdoor Education. He has been working in this field ever since.

During Tryka’s 21 year career in Wilderness Education, he has instructed and directed courses and programs all over the country primarily serving girls and queer young people.  Tryka’s experience includes work with the North Carolina Outward Bound School, Thompson Island Education Center, Passages Northwest (Bold and Gold), Positive Adventures and Point Reyes Outdoors. Before starting his position as Program Manager, Tryka was an Instructor and Course Director for GirlVentures from 2004-2011.

Tryka is grateful to have been trained and mentored by some of the best youth workers in Outdoor Education and considers it a privilege to pass on these teachings.  He has a deep commitment to social justice work, and to making this field more accessible. When Tryka is not working he’s drinking coffee in the backyard with his Lil Cat, tending his garden and dancing with friends.

 

 

Meet the whole team - Visit our seasonal staff page!

Erika Bruno, Program Coordinator

(she/they)

Erika (she/they) is proud to be a queer mixed-race Filipinx person born and raised in the Bay Area. She has been working seasonally as an outdoor instructor and program coordinator for GirlVentures since 2022 but got her start in the organization volunteering for the school year program Girls Climb On (GCO). She adores how GV’s programs focus on teaching socio-emotional learning, incorporating social justice values, and acquiring technical outdoor skills.

Erika has been in awe of the natural world for as long as she can remember, including her first camping trip amongst the redwoods and a banana slug sighting on the forest floor. As an avid climber and hiker, she noticed discrepancies in who historically has partaken in outdoor recreation and how the barriers towards equitable access connect to systemic issues. This realization led her to seek opportunities to help her further understand and amend the varying dynamics at play such as partaking in Justice Outside’s Rising Leaders Fellowship (2021).

Additionally, Erika graduated from the University of San Francisco with an MA in Human Rights Education (2023) and holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies: Global Cultural Studies from Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University). Before entering the non-profit sector in 2020, she worked as a classroom instructor and in outdoor retail. She also spent a few years living abroad and has traveled to 22 countries (and counting). In her spare time, you can typically find Erika scrambling up rocks, dipping her feet into the ocean, or making eclectic Spotify playlists.