Camp Executive Team

  • Lauren Hunt

    Executive Director

    Pronouns: She/Her
    Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
    Years on Staff: 12
    Email: [email protected]

    Lauren has been apart of the Unirondack community for more than 20 years. She started as a camper in 1998 and was a camper for eight years. In 2016, Lauren started working on crew and two years later, became Crew Chief. Lauren worked for Unirondack until the summer after graduation from Elmira College with a degree in Public Affairs and International Relations. In the fall of 2013, Lauren was nominated to be a member at large on the Unirondack Board of Directors. After two years on the board, Lauren became President of the board. In the fall of 2016, Lauren became Executive Director Intern in order to seamlessly transition to Executive Director. In October 2017, Lauren took over as Executive Director.

    Outside of Unirondack:

    Lauren graduated in 2014 with her non profit management degree from the New School. Currently, she works at Good Shepherd Services, a non profit located in NYC, as the Assistant Director to Contract and Budgets. Lauren continues to work full time in addition to her responsibility as Executive Director.

  • Kristen Fiore

    Director

    Pronouns: She/They
    Hometown: Burlington, VT
    Years on Staff: 15 Years
    Email: [email protected]

    Kristen is entering her 16th year of working at Unirondack, a place she believes it is a place where campers gain confidence in who they are and who they can become and that camp can provide campers with inspiration to know their truest selves.

    Outside of Camp

    Kristen attended SUNY Plattsburgh for undergrad and the University of Vermont for graduate school in Nonprofit Leadership. She is a wilderness EMT, and an AMGA certified Single Pitch Instructor of rock climbing, a youth climbing coach at Petra Cliffs Mountaineering Center, and serves as President of the Climbing Resource Access Group of Vermont to facilitate sustainable climbing recreation and access in the Green Mountain state. She is also a regrettably overextended musician and the dedicated parent to our beloved Camp Dog Knuckles.

  • Elizabeth Bashur

    Camp Manager

    Pronouns: She/Her
    Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA & Unirondack
    Years on Staff: 17
    Email: [email protected]

    Elizabeth is the most tenured staff member in camp’s history and the co-leader of our organization. In her years at camp she has held or helped out in virtually every role Unirondack has to offer. She now serves as Unirondack’s Camp Manager, leading the charge in Unirondack’s spring and fall programming and leasing, while also leading the youth summer program with Kristen.

    When she’s not at camp she runs a community art studio in Pittsburgh, teaches art in afterschool programs, and enjoys gardening and painting things rainbow colors.

Leadership Staff

  • Caleb Seguin

    Assistant Director
    Pronouns: He/Him
    Hometown: Albany, NY
    Years on Staff: 12 Years
    Email: [email protected]

    Caleb Seguin has been working with youth since he was one. He was born and raised in Canada, and earned his BA from Trent University in Ontario. He is the owner/operator of Playful Pianos music studio for kids, and former Project Lead at Northern Youth Abroad, helping Indigenous youth in Canada’s northern territories develop volunteer projects to serve their communities.

    As an Indigenous person, Caleb draws inspiration from the core teachings of his Anishinaabe upbringing to examine youth work through an anti-colonial lens. Throughout his work, he maintains a commitment to fostering values of autonomy, community responsibility, and silliness for its own sake. He balances this with a commitment to addressing the inequities that make outdoor recreation spaces like Camp Unirondack inaccessible for many marginalized communities.

    Caleb has presented at schools, summer camps, conferences, and in professional development settings on topics related to LGBTQ+ inclusivity, anti-colonialism, youth autonomy and privacy, youth-centred behaviour intervention, and more.

    Caleb is dog dad to the little black and white menace known as Pingo. He has a deep passion for jigsaw puzzles and peach cobbler.

  • Sam Meister

    Art Shop Director
    Pronouns: They/them
    Hometown: Baltimore, MD
    Years on Staff: 6

    Sam has a passion for innovative storytelling through unconventional media and a commitment to helping make summer camp as fondly memorable for today’s campers as it was for them. As the captain of Unirondack’s “Art Ship,” they strive to keep this studio space as welcoming, inspiring, and efficient as possible, while continuously reimagining the possibilities of its artistic activities and gently pushing the limits of our campers creative confidence.

    After growing up in Charm City, surviving leukemia as a young adult, and graduating with a BFA in Illustration from Towson University, Sam has affirmed their love for experimental art processes, intentional community-building, and responsible levity by focusing their energies on the unique experiences that sleep-away camp has to offer the growing adults of the future.

    When not at camp, Sam enjoys making abstract mini-comics, playing games they’re not good at, and carefully observing cats so as to learn their secrets. Their favorite place in the world is the lakeside porch of the Art Shop, and their favorite paint brush is a #16 filbert.

  • Riley George

    Program Director
    Pronouns: He/they
    Years on Staff: 7
    Email: [email protected]

    Riley George currently would say his favorite tastes are fresh basil, lemon custard, and corduroy shirts. When Riley is not reveling in the magic making of Unirondack they is studying to become a teacher at Michigan State University. He is getting certified to teach French, math, and English as a foreign language. Riley loves befriending all creatures great and small: from the robust Kellen Randall to the most petit campers, from the women they met once when they crashed a community bingo game at the age of 4 to the dogs and bugs he meets on the streets of France. After first falling in love with camp at the age of 12 he was immediately added to the staff the next summer. This will be his 13th summer and he’s thoroughly thrilled to return to watch sunrises and star showers. Riley is also the owner of a lovely black puppy named Tuna who you might see around camp!

  • Elena Woughter

    Mental Health & Wellness Specialist
    Pronouns: She/Her
    Years on Staff: 6
    Email: [email protected]

    Elena recently finished her Master’s Degree in Wilderness Therapy at Naropa University, Elena’s interests include biking, panda bears, Thin Mints, and Camp Unirondack. Elena has been a trusted counselor at Unirondack the past four years and will be continuing her work with Unirondack’s leadership team for a third year in 2020. In her words, “Unirondack has helped to guide me through many aspects of my life, and it is my privilege to give back in any way I can. See you this summer!”

  • Hannah Feron Niles

    Office Manager/HR Director
    Pronouns: She/Her

    Hannah started as a camper at Unirondack in 2007 and has been a fan ever since. She was on staff in 2015, and then took some time away to brainstorm program ideas before returning for summer 2021. When she’s not at camp, Hannah runs the Health and Wellness program at an Oakland high school, teaching lots of sex ed, consent workshops, drug and alcohol safety, and all that other good stuff! At camp, you can find Hannah bothering Kris in the office, constantly, eating jelly beans, dancing in the green room, watching the sunrise on Saturday mornings, or finding different ways to answer the phone. Hannah loves cows, anything green, weird tv shows from childhood, and most of all, wearing jeans. Hannah loves the fun camp brings to her life, but more importantly, she loves the space we are creating for kids to be their most authentic selves.

  • Lizbeth Cain

    Office Manager
    Pronouns: she/her

    While written records are unclear, most Unirondack historians agree that Lizabeth Cain (or Beth, as she is known in the Campiverse) was a camp parent for approximately 15 years, supporting sons Tim and Orion in their annual pilgrimage with grace and good cheer. She attended Family Camp herself for the first time in 2019, and she was indelibly transformed by the experience. Beth considers Unirondack her second home, and joined staff as Office Manager in 2021.

  • Knuckles

    Camp Dog, Assistant Waterfront Director
    Years on Staff: 9
    Hometown: The Woods

    Knuckles’ first summer at camp was in 2014 and she has been a proud leader ever since. She is a 50-pound mut mix who loves campers and is eager to participate in camp activities such as lying in the dirt, chewing sticks, swimming, boating, chasing chipmunks, and looking pitiful in an (often successful) attempt to acquire treats and belly rubs. She has diligently served as camp’s assistant waterfront director since 2016.

  • Bug

    Assistant Camp Manager
    Years on Staff: 11
    Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

    Bug enjoys basking in the sun in the hallway of Sophia Fahs, pretending to chase butterflies and squirrels but very slowly, and eating any snacks he can coerce you to part with. He is a constant companion to Eliz, especially in the spring and fall when he enjoys bounding around along the paths at Unirondack, or lazing about the art shop.

  • Pingo

    CDiT (Camp Dog in Training)
    Pronouns: Pingo is a dog and doesn’t know or care what gender is
    Hometown: Wherever Dad is

    Pingo is mostly a good boy. Except for when he’s not. But he’s working on it.