Our Staff

Hannah Black

Hannah grew up in Seattle and credits the region with her love of the natural world. She left the Pacific Northwest to pursue a B.S. in environmental science and later an M.A. in environmental communication at Stanford University. Her passion for experiential education brought Hannah to jobs across the American West including peering into the depths of the Grand Canyon and tromping through snow in the Tetons. Hannah has guided and run backcountry programming since 2012 and currently holds a Wilderness EMT certification. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing letters, trail running, and all types of skiing. Her guilty pleasure is glitter.

Carolina Veenstra

Carolina was born in Cuba and the river of life brought her to the Pacific Northwest. Here she found work and community and has set deep roots. She has always loved being out of doors and living here by the Salish Sea, between the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Carolina discovered a passion for hiking. She finds time every day to be outside because being in nature calms and centers her. Sometimes this is a walk or run at the nearby woods or beaches; sometimes it is weeding in her garden or on the local trails. This daily practice has forged her. Carolina am a book restorer, artist, mother, dedicated trail steward and a guide for Wild Society. When not outside, you can find her in the quiet harbor of home with her husband Nick.

Blake Shafer

Blake would prefer a dip in a beautiful mountain lake to a hot shower any day of the year. His love of the wild came from chasing his father around the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He relishes the simplicity and spontaneity of any outdoor adventure. A camp counselor for many years, he recognizes the confidence and creativity born from new experiences and a little hardship! Blake is a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker who has spent much of his adult life outside the US. He loves birds, tree identification, mountain weather, and paying attention in general! He works in local government, is an alpine search and rescue volunteer with Olympic Mountain Rescue, and a formerly certified New Zealand mountain guide. He lives in Kingston and is always looking to build community in the natural world.

Oonaugh Foster-Bill

Oonaugh is a junior at the Evergreen State College with a passion for sustainable agriculture, land restoration, and reclaiming traditional ecological knowledge. She was born in Seattle and grew up in Indianola, WA, exploring tideflats and swimming in Puget Sound. Oonaugh was a guide for Wild Society last year, and found deep inspiration and joy from seeing young people grow and reconnect with themselves in nature. For this reason, she is excited to be a guide again for Wild Society this season and can’t wait for the exciting trips lined up. When not spending time in the woods, Oonaugh enjoys painting, reading, and making music, ideally with others.

Julia Bellia

Julia was born and raised in Washington and has a special place in her heart for the Olympic Peninsula. She graduated from Gonzaga University with a B.A. in environmental studies and an elementary education teaching certificate, with the dream of connecting students to the outdoors through science. She taught 4th grade for two years before moving to Bainbridge Island to attend the IslandWood Graduate Program through the University of Washington. She is working on completing her M.Ed. in Science Instruction and believes science should be filled with curiosity, wonder, and joy. When she is not teaching, you’ll find her anywhere outside, hiking, backpacking, paddle boarding, trail running, or with her 100 pound sheepadoodle.

Board Secretary

Caroline Dempsey

For as long as she can remember, Caroline’s favorite spaces have been those without four walls. These special outdoor places have varied throughout her life. As she grew up playgrounds and sports fields were the perfect place to romp around with friends. From this chapter, the power of games and play still stick with Caroline as her preferred mode of interaction. She learned a lot about herself from athletics, as she played soccer through college at Washington University in St. Louis. After college, the desert became a sacred place to learn alongside teenagers at an outdoor therapy company where she worked as a guide for two impactful years.

Currently, Caroline is a Health and Fitness Specialist at The Meridian School in Seattle where she celebrates building community through movement with her students!