Oakland Office Staff

Kyle Macdonald – Founder and CEO

Kyle’s experience in the outdoors began as a youth, on family camping and ski trips in the Northeastern United States. This experience brought him to work in 1993 with the Appalachian Mountain Club. He worked with AMC for five seasons, maintaining backcountry facilities and leading groups of youth and adults in the White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire. In addition to his work as a backpacking instructor for UC Berkeley’s Cal Adventures Program, Kyle has led trips involving high ropes challenge courses, canoeing and climbing skills. He has been a 4th grade teacher in New Orleans and has worked with urban youth in Boston, Detroit and Oakland, both in and out of the classroom setting. He maintains a current Wilderness First Responder and annually instructs on at least one BAWT course. Under his leadership, BAWT was recognized in 2010 by the Association for Experiential Education as its first “Exemplary Practices” awardee. Kyle has been recognized by Stanford University’s School of Education for valuable contributions and outstanding service to the education of low-income children and youth. He is passionate about, and speaks frequently on diversity and cultural relevancy in the outdoors. He founded BAWT in 1999 and lives with his wife and two children in San Francisco.

Aaron Gilbert – Program Director

Aaron grew up in suburban Chicago. As a young person he excelled in team sports and dreamed of playing shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. When he wasn’t throwing, kicking, or shooting a ball, Aaron loved to explore the forest and ravines surrounding his house. Aaron first came to California to attend college, and it was during his three-day canoe trip before his Freshman orientation that he first slept out under the stars. The wide rivers, majestic mountains, rolling hills, and vast deserts of California stole his heart and he has been playing in outdoors ever since. In 2005 he moved to San Francisco and took a position as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Mission Graduates, and for the next 5 years he managed their after school outdoor leadership program for youth in the Mission District. Aaron is deeply committed to social justice and believes that urban youth around the Bay need to have access to experiences in the outdoors, which will empower them to realize their fullest potential. Aaron completed his Wilderness Leadership Training (WLT) in June of 2006 and has been a member of the BAWT instructor faculty since 2007. He loves to travel, cook, ride bikes and speak Spanish. He is trained as a Wilderness First Responder.

Michael Kawalek – Director of Development and Finance

Michael is a San Francisco East Bay native but as a child had few opportunities to go camping. As an adult Michael worked in Special Events, Major Donor, and Membership Development for The San Francisco Zoological Society where his connection to the outdoors and its diverse wildlife significantly expanded. Michael’s concern for endangered species and his desire to assist in their repopulation lead him to vigorously fundraise for the Species Survival Program (SSP). This international Zoological program focused on the breeding of endangered species for release into the wild. Michael has traveled to Zoological Parks and Aquariums across North America to better understand the challenges that endangered species and the SSP face. As his appreciation for these challenges, nature, and our environment grew Michael began camping and hiking more frequently. Michael’s next adventure is to becoming more familiar with his own Northern California trails, campsites, and landscapes. He joined BAWT’s staff and completed our inaugural Frontcountry Leadership Training Program (FLT) in 2010.

Drew Crawford – Program Associate

Drew grew up in the green hills of West Virginia, where his family spent lots of time backpacking and camping in the Monongahela National Forest. He fell in love with nature at a young age through these family vacations. He studied sociology at West Virginia University and developed a passion for social justice and environmental activism. After a brief time in Seattle, he and his partner moved to Oakland. The easy access to wild places proved a good fit for Drew, as did the good people at BAWT. He joined the BAWT staff after a brief stint as program intern, and completed the WLT in June of 2011. Drew knows the power that wilderness can have in shaping a young person’s character, and is excited to be part of an organization that shares his passion for getting youth outdoors. He enjoys riding bikes, traveling, and the company of friends.

Milpitas office staff

Terry Nail Williams – South Bay Programs Manager

Terry integrates a wealth of experience in adventure-based learning, leadership and organizational development in her work with people from diverse backgrounds within schools, non-profit organizations, and corporations throughout the U.S. and internationally. Her work focused on strength-based experiential curriculum and facilitated programs emphasizing participatory processes, performance, and teamwork. She has a PhD with a specialization in Leadership. Her doctoral studies began with several intensive international community studies and service projects with the Mayan people and their villages including a 40-mile trek through the backcountry of western Guatemala and climbing the highest peak in Central America. Terry has also traveled over 15,000 miles on a bicycle, including a solo 8,000 cross-country journey for a national youth advocacy project, meeting with the President, representatives, U.S. senators, governors, mayors, and community leaders of over 24 states and 150 communities.

San Francisco office staff

Zak Klein – Programs Associate, Camping at the Presidio Coordinator

Originally from Pennsylvania, Zak’s outdoor experience was originally fishing with his father, building forts in forests and dams in streams with friends, followed by more frequent and farther-flung backpacking and boating trips as an adolescent. In 2000, Zak thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, an experience which solidified his desire to share with others the delights of backcountry travel and outdoor living. After early work establishing two student-outing organizations and environmental initiatives, Zak worked as a field instructor for NOLS and Outward Bound USA across the country from the Florida keys and the Appalachians to Yellowstone highlands and nearby Big Basin. Zak has instructed whitewater canoe, alpine backpacking, climbing, sailing and caving courses. Serving students from the public school systems in Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Oakland, Zak has witnessed the acute impact of expedition living and experiential learning for students not often exposed to a natural classroom. The simplicity of outdoor living fosters friendship and connection among people in a way that’s elusive among 2009′s gadgetry and distractions. Knowing that we can reveal a special nook for a camping experience right in San Francisco’s Presidio is very unique, exciting and keeps me motivated!

Grace Malango-Blake – Programs Associate, Camping at the Presidio

For Grace, her love of the outdoors has always been intimately connected to a love of adventure and travel. A Berkeley native, Grace recently returned to the Bay Area after nine months of backpacking and organic farming throughout Central and South America. After graduating in 2007 from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, Grace spent the following year teaching in the Portland Public Schools. Though she misses the Pacific Northwest, Grace is thrilled to be working with CAP and making the beauty of the Presidio accessible to Bay Area youth and educators.