Born and raised in Salem, Oregon, Molly received her Bachelor of Arts degree in German from Davidson College in North Carolina. Her JYA was spent at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (Germany).

Growing up in a rural setting shaped much of her interests, including Pacific NW flora & fauna. She spends her time between Portland and Sandy. She and her husband (Tony) live with their three children.

Since co-founding Trackers in 2004 Molly has done everything at Trackers. From administration and development to teaching our first homeschool programs and van driver. With a focus on permaculture design and sustainability, she currently manages over 450 acres of Trackers forest and farmland. The goal is increasing wildlife diversity, mitigating wildfire, and sequestering carbon in line with youth curriculum development. She also tends to the small but boisterous animal community that lives at Trackers Ranch. There is a herd of miniature donkeys and goats, a gaggle of over 40 ducks and chickens, and a smattering of sheep and turkeys. They are animal ambassadors for all campers who visit the farm. In her free time, Molly volunteers as a cellist and board member with the Willamette Falls Symphony.

Tony Deis is the founder of Trackers. He dropped out of high school and trained in the arts of awareness, forest-craft skills, primitive skills, and tracking. Since then, he has learned to run a business in order to make a profound impact on the educational world.

Tony believes that kids are far more capable than the modern world allows. He fosters the opportunity for them to be given greater freedom and greater responsibility so that they can create a better and more wild world.

Tony runs Trackers as though it were an extension of his large Italian family. Every member is responsible for creating a better world for the other members to live and bring new members into.

When Michelle R. McCann was a girl, she dreamed of creating books. She would disappear at birthday parties, only to be discovered hours later hiding in a closet with her friend’s books. She studied children’s lit at Brown University, got an MFA in Writing for Children at Vermont College, and has been working in publishing ever since. For the past 30 years she’s edited and art directed hundreds of books for kids, and for 13 years she taught Children’s Book Publishing at Portland State University.

Michelle grew up in Oregon doing all kinds of outdoorsy activities—rock climbing, hiking and camping, whitewater rafting, snowboarding. Trackers brings together her two passions: books and the outdoors. She writes an outdoor parenting blog for Trackers, and has helped create how-to outdoor skills books for families, fiction novels for kids set in the Trackers universes, and lots of super cool Trackers comics!

When not at Trackers, Michelle writes her own award-winning children’s books including Girls Who Rocked the World, Finding Fairies, Reading Together: Share in the Wonder of Books with a Parent-Child Book Club, and an upcoming book about women’s soccer. And she still loves to do all the outdoorsy things she did as a kid—now with her own kids.

Michelle’s favorite outdoor activities are snowboarding and rafting.

Tim, a native of the Pacific Northwest, has been deeply rooted in the region, with some of his most cherished memories revolving around nature adventures with friends and family. His heart resonates with a profound appreciation for the outdoors, especially in the serene landscapes of Oregon.

Beyond the tranquility of nature, Tim is an avid tabletop role-playing game enthusiast. He takes joy in sharing the art of storytelling and improv with people of all ages through gaming experiences. However, his storytelling extends beyond the realm of games; it also manifests in his passion for crafting, particularly in the intricate world of paper creations.

Tim is dedicated to helping people connect with nature, fostering a sense of appreciation and understanding for the environment. His commitment to this cause reflects his desire to share the beauty and importance of the natural world with others.

Proudstar has a formal background in environmental anthropology and degrees in Biology, Spanish and Environmental Studies. He has worked with youth as a mentor and instructor for 20 years and has worked with organizations that range in mission objectives from street youth outreach to medical relief in the third world and literature and poetry classes for high school seniors. Proudstar is a family man who brings a parental perspective to all his curriculum.

Proudstar believes in family and apprenticing the next generation of children into adulthood. Reintegration of humanity into the immediate environment and dispelling the idea that people are observers of nature but not part of it are his priorities second only to the safety of children and staff. He is a firm believer in the fact that everyone can be useful and he looks for the talents that can be fostered in youth.