{"id":53414,"date":"2018-07-26T21:51:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T03:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walking-tree.dev\/post-39\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T11:52:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T17:52:51","slug":"our-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/resource-center\/who-we-are\/our-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Team"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Walking Tree Travel was founded in 2005 by three childhood friends from Denver, Colorado who all came to share an abiding belief in the transformative power of international travel after years of working and volunteering abroad. Since our first trip with 12 travelers in 2006, we have run hundreds of programs in over 22 countries across five continents with thousands of students from over 500 high schools in 46 states and nine countries. Through it all, our mission of helping young people discover the joy of immersive travel has remained unchanged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Our Team Today<\/h3>\t\t\t

Our team is made up of truly exceptional individuals who are committed to guiding the next generation of global leaders. Our international staff has an intimate understanding of the local environment, language and culture of our host destinations, helping to ensure that our adventures are as safe, immersive and authentic as possible. Walking Tree Program Leaders have traveled extensively and hail from the world\u2019s top colleges and universities. They are extraordinary guides, teachers, mentors and friends. Read more about who we are below!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

\n \n Join our Team\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

By the Numbers…<\/h3>\t\t\t
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100%<\/h2>\n

First Aid and CPR certified<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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50%<\/h2>\n

Have worked for non-profits<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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40%<\/h2>\n

Have worked in higher education<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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90%<\/h2>\n

Have worked in K-12 education<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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2.8<\/h2>\n

Languages Spoken<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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19<\/h2>\n

Countries Visited<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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14<\/h2>\n

Age Started Traveling<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Who We Are<\/h3>\n
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Gabriel Duncan<\/h4>\n

Co-Founder of Walking Tree Travel and Business Lead - Denver, CO<\/h5>\n\n
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Colby College \u2013 B.A. International Relations and Government<\/strong><\/p>\n

While at Colby, Gabriel spent a semester in Spain at the University of Salamanca studying contemporary Spanish politics and Spanish language. He also lettered for four-years on Colby\u2019s lacrosse team and earned All-American honors. After graduating, Gabriel hit the road. He fished commercially in Alaska, taught in Chile and China, led programs for students in Spain and Costa Rica, and traveled to over 50 countries and all 50 states in the USA. Regardless of where Gabriel is located, he is constantly haunted by his naive faith and unconditional love for Denver sports teams.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Jordan Sparrow<\/h4>\n

Director of Operations - Lisbon, Portugal<\/h5>\n\n
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University of Kansas - B.A. Latin American Studies; Global and International Studies, Minor in Brazilian Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jordan hails from Kansas City where he spent his entire childhood. Although he didn't realize it at the time, his first international experience would set the course for the rest of his life.\u00a0 After high school, he traveled to Guatemala where he began learning Spanish and cultivated a deep interest in everything Latin America. In college, Jordan spent almost half of his university career studying abroad in both Costa Rica and Brazil.\u00a0 In 2010, Jordan moved to Costa Rica for six years where he began his professional career teaching Portuguese to Costa Ricans and working with Walking Tree Travel.\u00a0 From Costa Rica he moved to Denver, Colorado and spent seven years traveling the USA and experiencing life as an adult in America for the first time. Jordan is trilingual and has traveled to more than 30 countries around the world. He currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal and enjoys practicing yoga, hiking, biking, spending time at the beach and cooking Middle Eastern food.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Juan Pablo “JP” Rabanales<\/h4>\n

Global Country Operations Manager<\/h5>\n\n
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Earlham College - B.A. International Studies, Minor in Economics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born and raised in Guatemala in a big family, JP spent seven years living and studying in the U.S., where he was exposed to highly diverse communities. He worked as a Wilderness Leader guiding expeditions across the American Southwest and later attended Earlham College in Indiana after completing the International Baccalaureate in New Mexico. His passion for international affairs led him to study abroad in China and travel extensively throughout Asia and beyond. To date, JP has visited 33 countries, often combining travel with service projects and cultural immersion experiences. Today, he is based in Costa Rica and works full time with the Walking Tree team. Outside of work, he enjoys photography, art and design, hosting friends and travelers, and planning road trips across Costa Rica and Latin America.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Luke Mueller<\/h4>\n

Co-Founder of Walking Tree Travel and Business Lead - Denver, CO<\/h5>\n\n
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Emory University - B.A. Sociology and minor in Latin American History<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke's path to student travel began in Mexico, during a year abroad in Mexico and Central America. This formative time led him to join an international volunteer program which, after graduating from college, sent him to the small village of San Gerardo de Rivas in south-central Costa Rica. Welcomed by the loveliest of host families, his experience in this tiny town is directly connected to the beginnings of Walking Tree five years later. His love for travel still burns bright, and today he's lucky to have a wife and daughter who are equally passionate about exploring the world. Settled in Denver, he adores his family and colleagues, skies whenever possible, and is a devoted fan of all Colorado sports teams.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Yusra Alsaleh<\/h4>\n

Operations Consulting Director (Flights, Marketing & Technology) \u2013 Remote<\/h5>\n\n
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Earlham College - B.A. Peace & Global Studies\u00a0<\/strong>
\nIndiana University - M.P.A. International Development and Nonprofit Management<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born and raised in Kuwait, Yusra traveled to the United States to pursue a B.A. in Peace and Global Studies at Earlham College with a focus on Conflict Transformation. Since then, she has been involved in several leadership positions (including working for a start- up peace museum) and actively seeks to help individuals challenge and learn from the world around them. Growing up in a household with a Father who was a Pilot and a Mother who was a Flight Attendant, Yusra began traveling as soon as she could walk and enjoys engaging the world through travel and interaction. She is passionate about social justice issues, grassroots movements and individual empowerment. In her free time, Yusra enjoys exploring new cities by bike, drawing and getting lost in libraries and bookstores<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking Tree Travel was founded in 2005 by three childhood friends from Denver, Colorado who all came to share an abiding belief in the transformative power of international travel after years of working and volunteering abroad. Since our first trip with 12 travelers in 2006, we have run hundreds of programs in over 22 countries … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":45187,"parent":53434,"menu_order":28,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-53414","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53414"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127647,"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53414\/revisions\/127647"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingtree.org\/wtt-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}