As our Executive Director, George Comfort is responsible for the successful operation of NorthBay Adventure Camp. George has 20 years of experience in domestic and international sales and marketing, including an assignment as Business Director in Europe/Middle East/Africa. George's greatest passion, however, is the development of children and teens. He has spent over 20 years as a relationally focused youth leader and mentor. He has taught, organized and led teenagers in mission oriented service projects in a variety of settings, including a two-week service project in Zambia. He believes that education and adult encouragement and adult example are foundational to changed lives. George has a BS degree from Vanderbilt University and is a few credit hours away from completing a Masters degree in Counseling.

Ben moved from Steamboat, Colorado to join the NorthBay team. In Steamboat, Ben was facilities manager at Perry-Mansfield, a renowned performing arts camp for kids. While living in Colorado, Ben enjoyed skiing, hiking and all outdoor activities.

Ben received a B.A. degree in General History from Western Colorado in 2002. During his summers, he returned to Camp Mondamin, where he had taken trips as a youngster. After two summers at Mondamin as a counselor, he became the Head of Mountain Biking, taking groups of eight on five-night, self-contained biking

trips while also organizing longer trips that included additional activities for young campers. During these summers Ben continually worked on increasing his wilderness survival skills in hunting, fire by friction, hide tanning, and flint knapping. In 2004 he took an unguided 260 mile raft trip down the Grand Canyon, encountering fierce rapids and cold temperatures. Ben relied on his previous survival experiences to keep him going.

Growing up on the Ocmulgee River in Georgia, Ben has always enjoyed spending time outside where there are few distractions. He instills this appreciation for the outdoors in his young campers at NorthBay. He says "Some of the best moments of my life have come when there is complete quiet all around. I hope to show kids that they have choices in their lives. Kids have choices to live where they want to live, to be what they want to be, and to affect their future in ways that only they can decide. Nature has given me a place to reflect and I hope to introduce it to others."

Ben is newly married and lives with his wife, Andrea on a sailboat in North East, Maryland. Some of his goals include sailing around the world, continuing his formal education in environmental science, and impacting many people in positive ways.

Leah Malson comes to NorthBay from the great state of Texas where she earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from Texas A&M University. As the Assistant Summer Manager, she is responsible for marketing, hiring summer staff, and camper/family relations. Although her family still resides in Texas, she made the move to Maryland in 2005 to be part of the NorthBay family. Before she entered into her new role, she spent more than a year as NorthBay's first Baker, creating all of the delicious desserts that kids love.

Along with her love for working with elementary aged kids, Leah has volunteered with Young Life, a ministry for high school students, for four years. She brings an immeasurable array of camping experience to the NorthBay table, from counseling to dining services to administration.

Some of her favorite memories are from her summers at camp. Leah has a sincere passion for working with disabled children and has always found that she comes away with more from the time she spends with them than the time she gives. Because of her love for kids and camp operations, we are fortunate to have Leah a part of the NorthBay team.

Andrea Wilhelm grew up in Baltimore, MD and earned her B.A. in English and Music from Stanford University in 2002. She has a history and passion for working with children, arts, and education in the non-profit sector as well as an innate love for nature.

After college, she spent three years in Steamboat, Colorado working for Strings in the Mountains Music Festival as Marketing, Facilities, & IT Director. A calling from the sea and a few knee surgeries later, her love for skiing and snow was superseded by a desire to learn to sail. She and her husband Ben, an educator at NorthBay, purchased a boat in the Virgin Islands and sailed to the Chesapeake to settle closer to home, family, and the water. With four family members already working for the company, Andrea started with Erickson (NorthBay's founder) in the spring of 2005.

As an Operations Associate, she participated in rotations in the Sales, Dining, & Resident Activities departments before accepting a position as Accounting Office Coordinator. While she will always maintain an affection for working with seniors, she felt drawn to the unique & influential culture at NorthBay, especially after marrying her husband this past summer. As Director of Administration, she looks forward to effecting positive development in the Administration office and in sixth grade students across the state of Maryland.

Andrea hopes to return to graduate school for her MBA in the next two years, but in the meantime entertains herself with studying classical harp & piano and spending time in the outdoors. 

Lauren Walsh is our sweetest Baltimore, MD native. Prior to coming to NorthBay, she spent the last 35 years as a Group Practice Administrator for a number of medical and dental practices in the Baltimore area with a focus on the care of children in Pediatric Dentistry and Pediatric Allergies for the last 15 years.

In 2002, Lauren unleashed her entrepreneurial side and partnered with her husband, opening two locations of their retail store. The Bay Dog offers a variety of apparel, gifts, and collectibles for people who just love dogs. This enterprise has prepared Lauren well to handle her NorthBay duties as Office Manager and Manager of The NorthBay Trading Company, our camp store.

Lauren loves the outdoors and has been an avid sailor for the past 30 years, cruising the Chesapeake Bay and the Virgin Islands. She also enjoys biking up and down the East Coast.

Lauren and her husband Rich are lucky to live only minutes from camp and share the same spectacular view of the Chesapeake Bay. They have two grown daughters and two wonderful grandchildren.

Jennifer is the Medical Coordinator and lead nurse at NorthBay. She received her nursing degree from the University of Delaware where she enjoyed several focused clinical experiences in the community setting. She began her nursing career as a pediatrics nurse in a hospital before joining NorthBay. She's developed NorthBay's current medical program including the Wellness Center, which provides treatment to campers and staff, as well as health and safety training for staff. She continues to work at local hospitals in the pediatric and emergency departments to maintain a wide range of clinical skills.

Before becoming a nurse, Jennifer had a successful career in early childhood development and education. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware and a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studied science education in nontraditional settings. She taught young children in school programs as well as adults in teacher education programs where she emphasized supporting children's wellness in tandem with their education. She also led national, regional, and local training, developed an emergency planning program for early childhood programs, and conducted two research projects investigating the benefits of early childhood education.

Jennifer's interests in education and nursing are integrated in the NorthBay setting and her goal is to support children's physical and emotional wellbeing while encouraging their pursuit of knowledge. When not at NorthBay, Jennifer enjoys sailing and home improvement projects. She also volunteers with organizations that support learning about the Chesapeake Bay.

Keith is our Director of Education at NorthBay. He possesses a degree in environmental biology and worked as a Senior Environmental Biologist and Project Manager with the U.S. Army for 10 years.

He has also taught middle school science in Baltimore city, has 15 years of experience in outdoor environmental education, and has worked as a Senior Environmental Education Manager.

As the Dean of the NorthBay faculty, Keith provides oversight on curriculum and manages the NorthBay education staff. He is an environmental writer and writes a bi-weekly column for the Nor'easter Magazine. His articles have also appeared in Chesapeake Bay magazine. His first book, the Homeowners Guide to Saving the Bay, is expected to be published in 2007. Keith is married to Joyce, and has three children, Grace, James and Christopher.

Craig Worley comes to NorthBay after spending 25 years as a chef in Hotels and Restaurants in the Mid Atlantic region. He serves as our Director of Food Service, where he is committed to providing meals to campers that are good for them and taste great. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

Craig has been actively involved in mentoring teenagers for the past 23 years and he enjoys leading others in cross cultural educational experiences.

Craig and his wife Deb, and their three children reside in Elkton, MD and are involved with a teen ministry in their local church. When Craig is not whipping up delicious meals for young campers to enjoy, you can find him playing basketball, softball and tennis. Occasionally he can be spotted at various sporting events watching his son and at dance practices and recitals watching his daughter.

Captain Bob Burkhardt is the Waterfront Director and faculty member at NorthBay. He received his degree in Geosciences from Salisbury State University. After college, with a lifelong love of the water and the Bay, Bob obtained his United States Coast Guard OUPV license and quickly upgraded to a 50 ton Master. He is currently working to upgrade this license as well.

Bob runs and maintains all the vessels at NorthBay. He is a native to Cecil County and has lived his entire life on the banks of the Elk River. Bob spends as much time as possible working on the water. Commercial crabbing as a teenager, he moved on to become dock master of Schaefer's Marina through high school and college. Now he also skippers a charter boat in the offshore waters out of Indian River, DE.

When not working on the water Bob can be found spending his leisure time on the Bay, often in pursuit of crabs, fish, and waterfowl throughout the tidewater region.

Justin Britcher grew up in the small town of Clinton, NY and went onto receive his B.S. in Environmental Science from St. Bonaventure University. While there, he contributed to two research projects involving the meticulous habitat study of frogs and salamanders. He went on to intern at the Pfeiffer Nature Center working as Naturalist, then moving onto environmental education, developing a proposal for a trail system for newly acquired land using GPS/GIS. Justin gained his high adventure expertise at the Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center working as a facilitator conducting team building programs, where he was ultimately promoted to Challenge Course Manager.

As our new Adventure Coordinator, Justin comes to NorthBay with an earnest desire to assist children of all ages with learning how to evaluate difficult situations and construct strategic game plans to overcome their worst fears by guiding them through not just the adventure courses at NorthBay but the adventure courses of real life.

Justin is excited to be a part of the NorthBay team and is looking forward to making a difference in the lives of all the children that come his way. Justin teaches adventure classes to thousands of students the entire school year and we are fortunate to have him teaching this NorthBay summer, as well.

On his down time, you will find Justin enjoying the outdoors; camping, hiking, and occasionally hanging from a very tall tree.

Kris Raser is our Program Coordinator for the school year and summer camp. He incorporates humor into the meal theatre, night show and general structure of every day at NorthBay.

In 1997, Kris graduated from Millersville University in Lancaster County, PA with his BA in Art.

During college, Kris' intensive and rewarding volunteer work with Young Life led him to continue with this ministry after graduation. Kris and his wife, Karen, moved to Kent County, MD in the fall of 1997 to join 5 couples in the start-up of Young Life's Bay Area. After eight formative years with Young Life, Kris began his work at NorthBay as the Guest Services Coordinator. Having a presence as the program point person from the start, Kris was soon asked to have dual roles as Evening Manager and Program Coordinator. Kris has since become the NB Program Coordinator in the Media Arts Department where he is able to focus on the areas where he is primarily skilled.

Kris and Karen have two children, Molly (5) and Pierce (3). In his spare time Kris loves music, writing, reading, designing and spending time at the beach with his family. His favorite passion is when he and Karen get to take their kids out kayaking on the Chesapeake Bay!

Phill Deal grew up in Maryland as the youngest of four sons born to Ronald and Constance Deal. While pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Communications at Morgan State University, he hosted and produced the Gospel Grace Morning Show on WEAA 88.9 FM and served as the Associate Producer for the infinity broadcasting station Heaven 1580 AM in Lanham, MD. He recently received his Masters Degree in Divinity from Howard University's School of Divinity. Phill is an all around achiever and has received numerous awards as compliments to his character. He has been featured in the Spokesman's Newspaper, been awarded the Chamber of Commerce Award, the Easter Major Scholarship, and the Lilly Grant, which is a scholarship for Howard School of Divinity students.

Phill believes in studying hard not only for the sake of making good grades, but to maintain the integrity of ministry and to show himself approved to God and to the people in whom he is entrusted to ministry.

Phill has all the experience he needs as one our Head Program Counselors; he has hosted youth leadership training workshops, worship services, motivational messages and organized youth summits for diverse youth gather to learn how to equip themselves to face their everyday life. Phill Deal is honored to be a part of NorthBay where he will have the opportunity to affect the hearts of kids that will turn around and impact the world.

Corey L. Barnes, a native of Baltimore, MD, is the Dean of Students during the school year at NorthBay and the host for the evening program, NorthBay Live! He is a graduate of Coppin State College with a Masters of Education in Special Education. Prior to coming to NorthBay, Corey taught for 10 years in Baltimore City Public Schools, at Forest Park High School and at New Song Academy, one of Baltimore City Public School's New Initiative Schools. For 2 years he served as the Program Coordinator for New Song, where he formed a partnership with Baltimore City Community College, and started G.E.D programs for non-profit organizations. Eventually, Corey joined the adjunct faculty at Baltimore City Community College.

Corey began his career with NorthBay in June 2005. He has provided valuable expertise and leadership in connecting the character development programming for youth with an urban background. He provides training in behavior modification and developing a positive peer culture. He directs the discipline policy for faculty, guest faculty and students as well as coordinating the relationships with the schools that are attending NorthBay.

Corey and his wife, Rashema and their three children reside in Baltimore and are involved with the youth ministry in their local church. Corey spends his spare time mentoring youth from the Baltimore City area or attending his son's sport games and practices. He can be seen all over Baltimore and the surrounding area doing inspirational speaking to youth and young adults. We are excited to have Corey also serving as one of NorthBay's Head Counselors for NorthBay Summer 2007.

Meghan Luttrell is living life to the fullest! She considers NorthBay an exciting and frequently changing environment; always working to get better and to make a greater impact, so working here helps Meghan to strive towards her goal. Meghan's goals were always to work with children in a meaningful and beneficial way, and NorthBay allows for her to do that in a setting she loves!

Meghan graduated from Towson University with BA degrees in Psychology and Sociology. Throughout college Meghan had different jobs, internships, and volunteered with organizations such as Young Life, all allowing her to work with children in different settings. One of the biggest lessons that she learned from these experiences was that kids from all different backgrounds and situations need a lot of support, and to now be able to be a part of that as a career is a dream come true for her.

Working at NorthBay enables Meghan to enjoy many of her hobbies and skills. While an educator during the school year, she is able to do things that she loves, like hiking, fishing, and learning, all alongside of her students. She is also able to be on stage frequently, hosting during the meals and the famed Luttrell's Show, which she views as an honor and an opportunity to utilize her abilities in order to provide children with a great overall experience at NorthBay.