WORLDSTRIDES - Key Persons
Alexander is new to the travel industry, having worked for over twenty years in customer service and administration for diverse industries as public transport, residential construction and adult education. He also has over twenty years' experience in performing arts as an actor, playwright and director - an accomplished professional writer, he has recently branched into prose and his published work has received industry accolades.
Alexander has travelled extensively, from the South Pacific islands to the United States and the United Kingdom, and all the way through Europe, with extended visits to Russia and eastern Europe. He has a passion for European and Japanese history and culture and aspires to spend more time exploring Asia and his own Australian backyard.
Alexander carries an undying passion for education and travel and is thrilled to join the WorldStrides team in Melbourne.
Job Titles:
- Sales Manager Read More about Anthony Leydin
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- President
Bob Gogel previously served as CEO of numerous multinational companies and has extensive experience in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the U.S. He is an educator himself, for the last 30 years serving as a teacher and coach for lifelong learners in corporate and graduate school programs. At WorldStrides, Bob is focused on ensuring the organisation accelerates innovation of its core mission, enhances partnerships with educators, and reaches more students with its programs.
Bob's passion for experiential learning was born from transformative international experiences that were part of his own education. He completed an exchange program in Latin America in high school and studied abroad as both an undergraduate and graduate student. He has since dedicated his career to growing organisations that deliver high quality, innovative services to customers around the world.
Bob received his bachelor's degree from Harvard, and an MBA in International Business from University of Chicago. His commitment to education has deep roots: both his parents were public school teachers, and his wife was a high school language teacher.
Brett joined WorldStrides in March 2018, and has 2 years experience working in the travel industry and 9 years in customer service. While in school he travelled on a WorldStrides tour to Italy with his school - how's that for experience!
He has a passion for travel and has visited 9 countries over 5 continents with many more destinations on his bucket list. He believes that travel is a great way to learn and appreciate other cultures as well as providing valuable life skills.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President and General Manager, Australia Read
Job Titles:
- Manager, Domestic Division Read
Ethan joins the WorldStrides team with five years experience in customer service and stakeholder roles as well as a recent associates degree in Furniture Design.
Ethan has travelled extensively and loves to incorporate his passion for architecture and design into his trips both overseas and within Australia.
In his spare time, Ethan enjoys watching sports, specifically AFL & the Formula 1, and soaking up art and culture at various galleries and exhibitions around Melbourne.
Fay has been with the company since the early 80's and has acquired tremendous experience in organising unforgettable experiences for school groups. She has worked in multiple departments and is now focused on ensuring every domestic tour is a resounding success. Fay brings a friendly dedication to each and every school.
During the weekends, Fay enjoys keeping active through Zumba and Yoga, as well as spending quality time with family and friends.
Felicity believes that the best education one can get is a worldly one. She has been fortunate to travel to several places around the world and the lessons learnt in her time spent travelling cannot be compared.
Felicity's family has worked in the snow industry for generations. Growing up, she was fortunate to spend a lot of time in ski resorts and was exposed to the snow at a young age, which shaped a pathway for her future life endeavours.
Immediately after completing her schooling, Felicity travelled solo to Japan where she spent the winters working in the snowfields. She also learnt the language and taught English to young people as a second language. During the off-season, she spent the winter months in Australia working at Mt Hotham. She has now worked 10 winter seasons in just 6 years. She says, "The opportunities that ski resorts open up for employment and the supportive, active outdoorsy communities that come along with them are fantastic to be involved in."
Felicity has a passion to share snow life with young people, in the hopes that some may fall in love with the lifestyle and follow in similar footsteps.
Throughout her career, Felicity has worked in many customer-facing roles, but a career path she has always considered is working with young people. As Snowsports Program Consultant she is able to combine her passion for travelling to new places, educating young minds, customer service & all things snow. Felicity shares, "I look forward to forming long-lasting relationships with my program leaders and cannot wait to witness the many more smiling faces of students who I am given the opportunity to share snowsports with."
Job Titles:
- Program Consultant - Soccer Read More about George Cotsanis
Laura grew up surrounded by the luscious, velvety rolling hills of southern Gippsland. Since then she has travelled the world extensively, having experienced four continents and visited Europe a grand total of twenty-six times. She has hiked the Inca trail, fought off tarantulas and anacondas in the Amazon jungle and volunteered at a Thai elephant orphanage and hot-air-ballooned in Cappadocia. She is proud of her Italian heritage: a fluent Italian speaker, she spent two years as a nanny in Rome.
Laura has over twenty-five years' experience in the travel industry, and with passions as varied as photography, fashion, soccer, the performing arts and of course travel, she is keen to share her vast wealth of knowledge with future students for life changing travel experiences.
Sarah joined the WorldStrides team in 2017 and has 12 years experience in the travel industry. A seasoned traveller, Sarah has visited 50 countries, spent 4 years traversing Europe as a Tour Director, and called London home for another 4 years before coming back to Australia to reside in Melbourne.
Sarah is involved in the creation and delivery of tours from start to finish. She designs programs that are educational, sustainable and bring purpose and value to students' lives in her role as Program Manager.
Sarah is a firm believer that experiences gained during our younger years helps to form and shape our beliefs and values as adults. Sarah is an advocate for education, environment and sustainability and is passionate about making a difference in as many student's lives as possible.
Job Titles:
- Contracting and Operations Manager Read More about Tanya Sudano