About Us

Our guides are hand-selected for their skills and interest in sharing the natural world with young people.

When not guiding Grand Canyon Youth trips, they work as teachers, students, artists, conservationists, and healthcare providers, among other things. Given their sense of humor and ability to facilitate, we are proud to have such talented and conscientious guides leading our trips. Here are some of our dedicated river guides:

Governing Board

Angela Keith, Chair

Eric Scott, Treasurer

Ian Austin

Scott Cundy

Carol Haden, Secretary

Linda Jalbert

Cynthia Nemeth-Briehn, Vice Chair

Scott Pettitt

Helen Ranney

Susan Spinelli

Marieke Taney

JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) Council

Volunteers are essential to the work we do

We have a lot of opportunities in our office/warehouse for volunteers to come in and help behind the scenes with getting trips out on the water. Volunteers help keep the warehouse working by checking tents, packing sleep kits, and tidying our gear borrowing room. Our volunteers also help out at local community events in Flagstaff and our annual fundraiser

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us.

Are you interested in a seasonal job?

Field Staff at Grand Canyon Youth consists of river guides and drivers. We run almost all of our expeditions from March through July. We do most of our hiring in December and January, but it is never too early or late to let us know you are interested. Our field staff typically do between 3 – 6 expeditions a year. Please read the descriptions below. If you would like to be considered for a field staff position, please email us a cover letter, resume, references, and your river log (if you have one).

• We do most of our river programs on the San Juan River, the Colorado River’s Diamond Down section, and the Verde River’s TAPCO to TuziRAP section. We have five Grand Canyon trips each year.
• Grand Canyon Youth guides are outdoor educators. Our primary focus is creating community and opportunities for youth to challenge themselves while exploring the rivers and canyons of the Southwest. We have fun and play in the dirt while teaching about the places we travel through.
• Responsibilities include but are not limited to: educating participants about the place you are traveling as well as outdoor safety and etiquette; leading hikes; engaging with youth and participating in interpretation; providing needed first-aid and managing/assessing risk; setting up camp, cooking meals, cleaning dishes, maintaining toilet systems; providing care and repair to boats and equipment; using good judgment and maintaining heart and humor.
• Minimum Requirements: Be 18 years of age or older; Wilderness First Responder, CPR, and Epi Certifications; Food Handler’s Certificate; experience on the sections we boat through; pass a pre-employment background and driving record check and drug test.

• We do most of the transportation for our expeditions. This means driving a van with 10-19-year-olds for 2 – 6 hours across the highways of Arizona and Utah.
• Driver responsibilities include: transporting participants to and from their Grand Canyon Youth expedition; and attending to all pre and post-drive tasks, which include pre-drive safety checks and loading of vehicles, post-drive clean-up and fueling vehicles, and gear return and cleaning as needed.
• Minimum Requirements: be 21 years of age or older; have a working mobile phone, valid driver’s license, and five (5) years of driving experience; pass a pre-employment background and driving record check and drug test.

Please contact us if you are interested and we will send you the official job description(s).

Annual Report