Mark Runyan Email & Phone Number

Soquel, Ca, Us

In addition to my former responsibilities as a kayak guide and instructor, as a manager, I have taken full responsibility for the functioning of the shop. My responsibilities include oversight, leadership and management of all aspects of the organization in Moss Landing including payroll, hiring, website design and more for an organization with an annual revenue over $500,000 and a part-time staff of over 50 people during the busy season. In my time as manager, I have leveraged my coding background to redesign large portions of our website, transitioned the shop to a paperless booking system, developed a membership program, and rewrote the curriculum for our guide training for new hires, all while leading a large team of outdoor educators and managing the shop's day to day operations.

As a lead tour guide, I was responsible for leading groups out on the Elkhorn Slough and Monterey Bay to educate them about the wildlife, ecology and natural history. I became a lead kayak guide within the first two months of working at Kayak Connection and eventually achieved a level 3 Coastal Sea Kayaking instructor certification through the American Canoe Association and have taught kayak surfing, rolling and advanced maneuvering to dozens of individuals in the time since.

I worked as a Classroom Aide for Walnut Avenue Family and Women's Center's Early Education Center. I worked with the toddler classroom and provided care and support and guiding them in experiential learning. I left in April at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Teen Leadership Camp is a backpacking camp for teens between the ages of 14 and 17. The camp aims to develop teen's leadership skills by teaching them how to plan and effectuate backcountry excursions in the wilderness of the Northern Sierras. As the Teen Leadership Camp Director, I was responsible for designing programming for each two-week session, interviewing and hiring counselors, marketing and communications, and leading portions of the program both on site and in the backcountry.

Bachelor'S Degree, Social And Behavioral Sciences

Associate Of Science - As, Computer Science