What is Educational Travel Consortium?
Learn about the Educational Travel Consortium (ETC), the leading professional community for the educational and affinity group travel sector. Founded in 1987, ETC brings together the professionals who design, manage, and support travel programs for universities, museums, alumni associations, zoos, conservation organizations, and nonprofit institutions around the world through collaboration and education.
ETC serves as a year-round platform for professional development, industry collaboration, partnership building, and knowledge exchange across the educational travel ecosystem — connecting institutional travel planners with destinations, tour operators, cruise companies, and industry partners who share a commitment to experiential, educationally-grounded group travel experiences.
Educational Travel Consortium is a global community that advances lifelong learning through travel.
Educational Travel Consortium
Advisory Councils & Staff
Executive Advisory Council
ETC’s Executive Advisory Council brings together experienced leaders from across the educational and affinity travel community, including representatives from universities, museums, alumni associations, conservation organizations, destinations, tour operators, and the broader travel industry. The Council helps guide ETC’s strategic direction and contributes to the development of conference programming, professional standards, and educational initiatives across the organization. Our council members guide the development of ETC Certification and the strategic direction of the Annual Conference.
Michael Small
COO
AHI Travel
Marguerite Jones
Travel Program Director
Johns Hopkins University
Jared Scherer
Director, Donor Experience & Travel
California Academy of Sciences
Rumit Mehta
Founder and CEO
Immersion Journeys
William Bennett
Director of Alumni Travel
Indiana University Alumni Association
Daria Porreca
Vice President
Travel Program Leader USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services
Gaby Cannon
Associate Director of Alumni Relations
Tulane University
SJ Kindsvatter
Associate Director of Donor Engagement
The Nature Conservancy
Douglass Payne
Manager of Alumni
Travel Carolina Alumni
Vada Lou Meadows
Director of Reunion Leadership Giving
Wake Forest University
Yaşar Karadağ
Founder
New Faces
Melanie Swenarchuck
Senior Manager
Travel Manitoba
Emilie LaRosa
Assistant Director
Penn Alumni Travel & Education University of Pennsylvania
Sandy Doss
Director of Affinity Sales
PONANT Explorations
EAC Emeritus Council Advisors
Stacy Fiorentinos
President
Classic Escapes
EAC Emeritus Council Advisors
Mary Ann Hunt
Director of Lifelong Learning
Office of Alumni Engagement Tufts University
EAC Emeritus Council Advisors
Karen Kuttner-Dimitry
Vice President of Affinity Sales
Aurora Expeditions
EAC Emeritus Council Advisors
Ian Kynor
Director of Affinity & Charter Sales National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions
EAC Emeritus Council Advisors
Janet Moore
Owner
Distant Horizons
EAC Emeritus Council Advisors
Beth Ray-Schroeder
Senior Director
Duke Travels Duke University
ETC Staff
ETC’s staff team supports the day-to-day operations of the consortium, member engagement, professional programming, and the Annual Conference. Working in collaboration with the Executive Advisory Council, the team helps sustain ETC as a year-round professional community serving the educational and affinity travel sector.
J. Mara DelliPriscoli
ETC Founder
Matt Capozzoli
AV Manager
Carolyn Otis
Registration Desk Support
Tyson Bowman
International Bazaar Manager
Abby Jansen Busdeker
Program Support
Become a Member of Educational Travel Consortium
Since 1987, ETC has connected the professionals shaping the educational and affinity travel field around the world. The community you have read about — including institutional travel planners, destinations, operators, suppliers, Executive Advisory Council members, and ETC staff — is the professional network you join as a member.
Membership is open to nonprofit and institutional organizations, as well as industry partners, involved in the development, management, and support of educational and affinity travel programs worldwide.
Contact Us
etc@educationaltravelconsortium.com
503-609-0381
Educational Travel Consortium
11 NE 55th Ave Suite 306
Portland, OR 97213