Joe Waksmundski

Program Director

Joe Waksmundski has been with the Northwest Youth Corps (NYC) since early 2002 and is currently the Program Director of Youth Corps. Previously, he was YouthCorps Program Manager. Before joining NYC, Joe worked for the Canyon Country Youth Corps in Utah and the San Jose Conservation Corps in California as well as teaching Environmental Science in Minnesota. Joe has B.S. in Environmental Science from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania and when not working he enjoys skiing, rafting, and hiking.

Adam Taylor

Program Manager

Adam came to us from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, eating apples and joining in Civil War reenactments. After hiking the Appalachian Trail and finally finishing his Graphic Design degree, he wandered around the country with his snowboard and unrelenting desire to see as many national parks and monuments as he can (current total 84). He has been a hiking/backpacking guide in the Tetons, a lead-lifty on many ski-mountains, lived in Hood River, Tucson and Colorado. The “Captain” has led crews for NYC and also Southwest Conservation Corps, and lives for long-distance hiking. In his spare time, when not glued to the snow-cams of various ski resorts while drooling, he jams his guitar with anyone that he can, and gripes about why he has to spend twice as much for half the amount of lactose-free milk.

Jeff Olson

Program Manager

Jeff has been with NYC since 2007 when he came aboard as a crewleader for the south program, He now finds himself in the Program Manager position for the north programs in WA. He is originally from Tacoma, WA and studied art at the Evergreen state college in Olympia. Jeff is a Wilderness EMT and is working towards his Fellowship of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM). When not at work, he enjoys climbing, fly fishing, Painting, and snowboarding.

Ashley Bruscoe

Program Coordinator

Ashley first worked with NYC in 2007 as a Crew Leader after spending earlier years doing conservation work in Vermont and Colorado. Shortly after her first summer at NYC, she finished her degree in Political Science and then went off to live in both Southeast Asia and South America for a long stint, where she ate lots of crazy foods and worked with various non-government organizations in an effort to improve the quality of life of people native to those lands. Eventually, despite the fun adventures, she began to miss the challenges that come with working at NYC and decided to come back as Program Coordinator. So far, she’s found few other things as rewarding as changing the lives of the youth that come through our program. Other things she likes include peanut butter cookies (if interested in sending some, please don’t hesitate to ask for the office address), doing anything outdoors, reading and sporadic painting and poetry writing.

Ryan O'Sullivan

Program Coordinator

Ryan started his NYC career in 2004 as a youth in the WA SCC. He was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, and when big city life had become unbearable, he’s been residing throughout the western United States for the past 6 years. After a few sessions with NYC’s BLP, and LDP program, Ryan has worked with SAGA in southeast Alaska, as well as the Colorado Fourteener’s Initiative rerouting a section of the Continental Divide Trail on beautiful Mount Massive before returning to NYC in 2008 as a crew leader. He will now be Program Coordinating for one of NYC’s South programs. During his time away from work, Ryan loves to ride his bike, read as many books as he can, and cooking giant, delicious meals with friends.

Brian Scott

Program Coordinator

Brian has been a long time NYC'er and trail junky. Living as far off as Bend, OR and County Donegal, Ireland, he enjoys an eclectic taste in music, traveling, and delving into the cultural experiences of local food stuffs. His spare time is spent either reading provocative sociological texts or bad Fantasy/Sci-fi novels. Working trail in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, California, and Nevada; co-managing a Horse Stable on the Olympic Peninsula; Community Organizing for grassroots programs across the Pacific Northwest; and being a literary critic have all been interests or previous jobs for Brian. He graduated from The Evergreen State College with a B.A. in Literature and Poetry with a minor focus in Sociology.

Desi Atwater

Program Coordinator

Desi spent the last several years since university, where she studied Eastern philosophy, working a slew of outdoor jobs all over the Rockies and west coast before landing safely at Northwest Youth Corps in the spring of 2009. She took over the Program Coordinator position for the Idaho program in early 2011. Outside of work, she reads too many books, dances, takes long runs, and eats big meals with her home community.