Meet Our Staff Leadership Team
Keri Butkevich, MA, CFRE - Executive Director
(she/her)
Keri’s passion for youth development and providing inclusive and transformative learning and leadership experiences for young people has shaped her executive leadership for 17 years. Her early roots in Northern WI and Upper Michigan exploring the woods and lakes with her family
made Northern California’s mountains, lakes, ocean and forests feel like home. As an avid hiker, camper, and kayaker whose engagement, marriage, honeymoon and young daughter’s early years have all been centered in our National and State Parks and the Bay Area’s amazing open spaces, she’s thrilled to be professionally embracing that love for the outdoors, building empowered leaders, and connecting communities as part of the Girlventures team.
Keri holds a Master’s degree in Voice from San Jose State University, a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from University of Wisconsin, Madison, and an advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive certification. Over 36 years of teaching with organizations around the country deepened her commitment to ensuring equity for young people to thrive. Her executive leadership with ETM-Bay Area, Oakland Youth Chorus and PEBCC brought transformative change, greater financial stability, and inclusive programming to those organizations and 50 Bay Area schools impacting 20,000 children and youth. She is a proud member of the Board of Directors for Oakland Rotary #3 and serves on their DEI committee. In her free time, she’s an aspiring soccer and art mom to a feisty toddler girl, sings a lot of show tunes, takes improv classes, devours travel memoirs, and is always up to explore a museum, garden, new travel destination, trail or anywhere in or on the water.
Tryka Orbin D Tryka, Program Director
(he/him)
Born and raised working class in South Jersey, Tryka decided to take a chance at age 28 and enrolled as a student in an Outward Board course in 2002, where he immediately fell in love with Outdoor Education. He has been working in this field ever since.
During Tryka’s 21 year career in Wilderness Education, he has instructed and directed courses and programs all over the country primarily serving girls and queer young people. Tryka’s experience includes work with the North Carolina Outward Bound School, Thompson Island Education Center, Passages Northwest (Bold and Gold), Positive Adventures and Point Reyes Outdoors. Before starting his position as Program Manager, Tryka was an Instructor and Course Director for GirlVentures from 2004-2011.
Tryka is grateful to have been trained and mentored by some of the best youth workers in Outdoor Education and considers it a privilege to pass on these teachings. He has a deep commitment to social justice work, and to making this field more accessible. When Tryka is not working he’s drinking coffee in the backyard with his Lil Cat, tending his garden and dancing with friends.
Xiomara Batin, Director of Outreach and Community Engagement
(she/her)
Xiomara’s work with GirlVentures has focused around authentic engagement and genuine allyship with communities that have had limited access to outdoor spaces due to historical barriers. This is an area of professional and personal importance to Xiomara and she feels passionate about being involved in advocacy and building partnerships in a variety of capacities. Childhood experiences in the outdoors had a tremendously positive impact and she wants to cultivate opportunities for others to explore the outdoors in whatever capacity they feel most comfortable.
Xiomara has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and continued her studies to attain a Masters in SocioCultural Anthropology with a concentration in social justice and education. She has worked in a variety of educational institutions and non profit organizations, with a throughline of working with families, students, and community while putting equity and inclusion at the center.
Along with working at GirlVentures, Xiomara is a team member at Inclusion Outdoors, an organization that works with multiple partners to address the barriers that keep all people from enjoying the outdoors.
In her free time, Xiomara travels as much as she can throughout California and the world, reads anything from fantasy to historical fiction, is always down to go to thrift stores and look for treasures, and is continually seeking new trails and paths to explore.
Meet the whole team - Visit our seasonal staff page!