2025-2026 Board of Directors Nominations

COEO is mandated by our constitution to appoint a Nominating Committee that prepares a slate of candidates for all positions open for election to the Board of Directors. Nominations were received after a call was extended to our membership. Additional nominees will be accepted from the floor during the Annual Meeting. Our next Annual Meeting is at Camp Couchiching in Orillia on Sunday, September 21, 2025.

The following nominees were received prior to the Annual Meeting. Each candidate were asked a series of questions. Learn more about each of the prospective candidates below!

Candidate for President	Peggy Cheng
Candidate for Vice President	Ben Blakely
Candidate for Secretary	Kim Squires
Candidate for Treasurer	Valerie Freemantle
Candidate for Volunteer Coordinator	Devin Mutic
Candidates for Members At Large (presented in alphabetical order by last name)	Devin Mutic Rayanna Santiago Angel Suarez Esquivel

Use the arrow to expand each of the sections to read about the candidates or download a PDF copy here.

Candidate for President

Peggy Cheng

Caption: Lichen can grow on all sorts of surfaces in various environments and represents my adaptability to different situations. They are complex organisms, not quite plant nor fungus, they don’t fit into just one box. Often overlooked they play an important role in our ecosystem – supporting both people and nature.

Peggy (she/her) is privileged to be an immigrant settler living, working, and playing on Indigenous land and continues to learn how to live out truth and reconciliation within outdoor education. She has been in the outdoor education sector for 10 years and is currently working at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority as a Community Outreach and Education Coordinator. Peggy started out in community stream restoration but loved connecting people to nature so she decided to pursue outdoor education. She completed the Outdoor and Experiential Education program at Queen’s in 2015 and knew she wasn’t going to work in a traditional classroom. She has worked for several conservation authorities in the GTA facilitating in-school and outdoor education centre programs, youth conservation programs, and teacher professional development workshops. She also worked at Trails Youth Initiatives as a weekend program facilitator and in the summer she has lead a few backcountry canoe trips.

Growing up, Peggy didn’t spend a lot of time out in nature but as she got older, people generously took her camping, skiing, and she learned other outdoor skills along the way. Every winter, she looks forward to snow so she can go cross country skiing.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

I want to continue and support the work of the current 2024-25 COEO board. A lot of great things were started by our board members this past year including Terms of Reference (TOR) documents for various board committees, a strategic plan for COEO, and advocacy. I intend to help keep our board members on track to completing our TORs and work towards bringing more COEO members who are passionate to join in with us. There are so many opportunities beyond chairing or volunteering at a conference for our COEO members to be involved in and I would love to connect our membership’s passions and skillsets to these opportunities. I will continue to be on the advocacy subcommittee and advocate for outdoor ed funding in our province.

I look forward to hosting another COEO Town Hall as I am passionate about connecting our membership beyond conferences. I want to be able to hear the voices of our membership and make changes to our organization to better serve our community and beyond.

I will continue liaising with various COEO partners and will do my best to represent COEO to ensure our values, vision, and goals are met.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

Having been on the COEO board since 2021 first as a Director at Large and then as the Vice President for the past two years I am now familiar with the way COEO meetings and general operations are run.

Other skill sets I bring from my work experience include:

meeting facilitation
project management
partner liaison
communication
record keeping
conflict resolution/mediation
openness to new ideas/ways of doing

Why do you want to be on the COEO board? What do you envision for COEO in the 1-3 year term? Members are only elected for 1 year increments, but what are your big dreams for COEO during your 1 year term and beyond?

I was first introduced to COEO as a student. I remember leaving the conferences feeling invigorated and excited to add to my teaching toolkit. As I transitioned into a young professional, I noticed that within the COEO community there weren’t a lot of people that looked like me. For a while I actually didn’t feel quite like I belonged so I took a pause. I came back to this community when a friend invited me to consider joining the board so I took a leap and decided to get involved. I don’t want anyone else to feel like I did and would love to see more representation and look at how we might work on being a more inclusive space for all educators of various backgrounds.

When I talk to people not many people know of COEO. I would love for our organization to be more known and for any educator that teaches outside to be reflected in this space. I want to see more organizations connected to COEO and build up our network. I would love to see more of our membership involved and bring more connection points for our membership beyond the conferences like regional and online events.

Candidate for Vice President

Ben Blakely

Caption: Working in the TDSB Greenhouse this past year, mostly teaching experiential programs for Gr 1s on Plants and Gr 3s on soils, as well as maintaining the space for water, bugs, and pruning for the Toronto Urban Studies Centre of the Toronto Outdoor Education Schools.

Ben Blakey (he/him) is a father, outdoor educator, teacher, and researcher, currently working as an Outdoor Education Specialist for the Toronto Outdoor Education Schools (TOES) with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). In the past decade he’s taught mostly at independent schools in Toronto, advocating and leading outdoor classes when possible in a variety of crucial roles, and conducting research on nature-based learning. He has an extensive background in outdoor, experiential, and environmental education, and a deep understanding of human development, having taught students from grades K – 12. His research interests include ecopsychology, summer camps, and integrating nature-based learning at various levels of the education system. Ben has served for the past 10 years on the COEO board of directors, after 4 years on the editorial board for COEO’s academic journal Pathways. Ben is deeply committed to COEO, regularly being involved with conference committees, leading the Past Perspectives Project, and receiving COEO’s President’s Award in 2024. He hopes to continue to support outdoor education in Ontario as Vice-President in the coming year, continuing to evolve our approach and efforts towards reconciliation, and utilizing the wisdom of his wide range of experiences in guiding COEO going forward.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

Aside from the incredible connection and relationships formed that keeps me returning and working for COEO, I’m deeply encouraged by COEO’s approach to reconciliation and building relationships with Indigenous groups and peoples. I’ve acted informally as Indigenous Liaison for the board for the past 2 years, after Hilary Coburn and Barbara Sheridan, and following the incredible work of Doug Jacques and elder Ozhibi’ige Nini (Peter Schuler) over a decade ago. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work, play, raise children, and live on Indigenous land, and I hope to continue to support COEO’s work towards reconciliation however possible. Having a broad understanding of the board’s decisions over the past decade, and from several roles as a board member, I hope to use my understanding of leadership and training to assist in the development of all COEO members, and continue to support conferences and board initiatives as needed. I continue to work on the Past Perspectives Project, and I’m excited to share more of the work conducted on this in the past 5 years with the membership this coming year.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

I excel in writing, listening, leadership, research, and teaching, and I have a deep understanding of both development and education at the elementary and secondary levels. Having initially disagreed with education in life, I bring a critical perspective that allows for thoughtful engagement with modern problems, and a deep desire to give my time and efforts towards connecting people of all ages with nature. I intend to bring my wide array of experiences in COEO initiatives to the 2025/26 Board of Directors to lend wisdom and assistance whenever possible as a leader. I’m is also highly encouraged by the work of the past year on organizational development, and often feel humbled by the incredible minds and efforts of other board members in the 2024/25 year to move COEO forward meaningfully. I hope to continue to support all board initiatives in the coming year through patient and engaged leadership, and I’m excited to work with Peggy and Hil in leadership transition.

I’ve considered the role of President and Vice-President of COEO for several years now, and have been discussing such a transition with Peggy (current vice president) and Hil (current president) in anticipation. I continue to want to be a part of the Board of Directors for COEO, and am at a point in my life where a position of leadership on the board makes sense as a viable outlet for my passion for COEO and connecting youth with nature. I believe the relationships I’ve formed with past and current board members to be indicative of my fit in such a role, and I hope to broaden my support of the board’s initiatives from key projects to assist the President and other members whenever possible. It has been a great learning experience to act as Indigenous Liaison, and I hope to continue to support this work in establishing an Indigenous Advisory Committee, allowing Indigenous voices to be heard and respected as we walk the needed path forward in reconciliation in Canada. It has been an honour of mine to serve on the COEO board for the past decade, and I hope to continue to honour the organization and its members with my efforts and skillset.

Candidate for Secretary

Kim Squires

Caption: This photo represents an important connection opportunity, moment of gratitude, and feeling of calmness with the Lands within Ontario. The metaphor offered by the trees and sky mirrored in the water is also meaningful as I see them speaking to the possibilities of collaboration and community.

I (she/her) was first introduced to COEO while completing my BEd at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2012 and have loved it ever since. I have had the pleasure of being part of COEO’s Board of Directors for the last two years as a Director at Large and would be honoured to continue to serve the COEO community this coming year.

I am an early childhood educator and teacher and now work as an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph. While teaching in the BASc Child Studies program, I have the incredible privilege of working with many pre-service ECEs and aim to help students understand the critical importance of the outdoors for children and adults. I work outdoor play and learning into my undergraduate courses and am always thrilled to see the response and engagement from students. My research focuses on early childhood education, with a particular focus on outdoor and nature play. Among many things, I am curious about how we design outdoor environments, how these spaces are accessible to a variety of learners, and how this impacts play, learning, and development. In my own outdoor play, I love backcountry camping, jogging, and exploring waterfalls, mountains, and lakes.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

If elected into the position of Secretary, I will aim to ensure clear, timely, and transparent communication across the organization and to ensure that all legal information requirements are met (in accordance with COEO’s constitution). I understand that accurate records and the efficient flow of information are vital to supporting decision-making and upholding COEO’s mission and values. My primary goal would be to maintain organized and accessible documentation to ensure that board members and the membership can stay informed and engaged. I would also look for ways to streamline internal processes and explore digital tools that can improve collaboration and continuity over time. Beyond administrative duties, I am committed to listening actively and supporting the diverse voices within our community. I believe that strong communication is not just about recording decisions but helping people stay connected to the work and to each other. As someone who values the impact that COEO makes across Ontario, I would be honoured to contribute to its ongoing success through a role that helps keep things running smoothly, responsibly, and inclusively.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

In a practical sense, as a Director at Large on COEO’s Board of Directors for the last two years, I would be able to bring this knowledge and experience into the position of Secretary. I have served in a variety of roles within COEO, including supporting on conference committees, social media, merch, marketing, event planning, and awards committee. I was also excited to serve as a co-chair for this past Make Peace with Winter conference. I am organized and appreciate working collaboratively within team environments. I have also had previous experience on a variety of boards and committees within my professional roles. That all being said, mostly importantly, I have a deep passion for outdoor education, play, and learning. I believe in the transformative power of the outdoors and am committed to helping COEO grow its reach and impact across the province. My goal is to continue supporting the board and membership with a strong work ethic, creative energy, and a focus on connection and community.

COEO has been a meaningful part of my life for many years, and I am eager to give back to this community. I deeply believe in its mission to support and grow outdoor education, learning, and play across Ontario. Being part of this community has been incredibly rewarding, and I’m excited by the opportunity to keep contributing to its evolution. Over the next few years, I envision COEO expanding its reach by deepening connections with educators, organizations, and communities across the province. I would love to see continued growth in accessibility and inclusivity within our programs and events, ensuring that this field is welcoming and relevant. I hope to continue to support initiatives that foster year-round engagement and opportunities for members within and beyond COEO’s well-received annual conferences. My big dream is for COEO to be seen as an invaluable central hub for outdoor learning… a place where people come not only for professional development, but also for inspiration, community, and shared purpose. There are incredible people and organizations doing important work (in “big” and “small” ways) and I’m excited to keep building on the momentum COEO already has, while helping shape a vibrant, inclusive, and resilient future.

Candidate for Treasurer

Valerie Freemantle

Caption: A view of the sunset from the shelter of the willows around the corner from my home. These trees have graciously accepted my hugs and listened to my hopes and fears.

Val Freemantle (she/her) lives on the traditional territory of the Anishinabek, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat (Kingston, Ontario). As a child, she discovered that a totally different version of herself came out when camping. This “Camp Val” was more confident, more capable, and seemed to have an innate permission to be silly and make mistakes. She is better for these experiences in more ways than can be listed. As a mixed-race person, she knows that there is not equal access to outdoor and educational spaces. She wants to work to make the opportunities that she had to discover the magic of learning outside more accessible to others.

Val’s first outdoor education job was at the Scarborough Outdoor Education School (Kearney, ON), as an undergraduate co-op student in 2012 and 2013. After completing her M.Sc., she enrolled in the Outdoor and Experiential Education Bachelor of Education program at Queen’s (2020). Since then, she has been working as teacher in schools and outdoor learning settings. In 2024, Val launched her own outdoor education company. Val joined the board in 2023 as a member at large. She co-chaired the Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 COEO conferences and has contributed to other board initiatives.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

If re-elected to the COEO board, Val would like to continue the work that she has started including: leading the switch COEO’s banking from a traditional bank to a credit union that aligns with COEO’s values, the 2024 membership survey, updating the bursary program application process, supporting the rebirth of O.W.L.S (the Outdoor Wilderness Leadership Symposium), and contributing to the board’s effort to codify board and committee roles with TORs (Terms of Reference). Through the survey of the membership last year, members have said that they would like more access to professional development and certification outside of the annual conferences. Val would like to explore how to offer more in-person and virtual training to the membership.

If elected as treasurer, Val would like to work with the board to come up with a sustainable spending and fundraising plan that allows COEO to expand what it offers its members. Additionally, Val would like to help COEO apply to more grants to support new initiatives.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

Val has experience working for a bookkeeper and is familiar with bookkeeping applications like Quickbooks. In addition, as a new small business owner, she has been learning how to file more than just her own personal taxes. Val is detail oriented, enjoys working with numbers, and enjoys communicating information to others.

However, potentially the most important thing is that Val loves spreadsheets. Like, she and Excel actually get along. Starting during her masters, she has taken an interest in how to use graphs and charts to supplement text to make things that are not everyone’s cup of tea (like budgets or year-end financial statements) more approachable.

As past conference co-chair, Val knows how to think of both the big picture and the little details. She is a good communicator and listener. Val has a big heart and tries to blend her eternal hope for improvement with considered, deliberate actions towards positive change. She enjoys supporting others and works to create environments where everyone feels valued and empowered.

Educators across different settings have been calling for change and support for years in Ontario. In addition to the advocacy work at the governmental level, I want to see COEO make itself relevant for educators, parents, and the public. We have a strong community, but we are not yet reaching all the folks who educate outdoors (or who want to). I would like to help COEO make outdoor education tools, training, and support more accessible to folks in formal settings (like schools, childcare, conservation authorities, forest schools, camps, tripping) as well as informal settings (like the learning that happens by ourselves and with our communities as we live our lives).

Outdoor education work can be hard, lonely, precarious, and undervalued. Having a community to support you, help you find your people, and provide training could really help folks in the industry (or those who want to enter). I want COEO to make sustainable steps to expand its offerings so that we can support more than just the folks who make it to our conferences. Specifically, I want COEO to build reciprocal, sustainable, and trust-based connections with the diverse indigenous, POC, LGBTQIA+, and newcomer communities of practitioners in outdoor education.

Candidate for Volunteer Coordinator

Devin Mutic

Caption: I took this photo during a canoe trip I led in Quetico. Taken while camping on the aptly named “Blueberry Island”, this photo represents the peace of the natural world, as well as my profound belief in the amazing possibilities which emerge from group travel in natural places.

Hi, I’m Devin (he/him)! An educator, philosopher, wilderness traveller, and enthusiast in all manners of exploration and poking around in our natural world, I currently have the great pleasure of serving on the 2024-2025 COEO Board as the Volunteer Coordinator. Outside of COEO, I am the Director of the Headwaters Wilderness Program, an educational organization guided by the purpose of developing, implementing, and practicing education needed in our time of great environmental change; education which aims to reconnect a disconnected culture. Centred around enabling entwined relationships with nature and with community, Headwaters partners with schools and utilizes intentional wilderness travel as an ideal medium for a wild, flourishing, forward-looking education.

I addition to my work with Headwaters and COEO, I am active with Pathways and in the academic world. My Master’s research focused on investigating the role of education in building community-based environmental ethics, and I am soon to begin a PhD to build on this prior research.

In my spare time, I volunteer extensively with youth groups in my local area, taking kids on camping trips year-round and engaging them in neighbourhood volunteering and service projects.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

If elected, my goal is to continue growing COEO’s capacity by strengthening our partnerships, expanding our variety of events, and deepening our advocacy work.

In my first year on the Board, I worked with our wonderful COEO colleagues to kick-start a re-envisioned OWLS (Ontario Wilderness Leadership Symposium) conference. Taking the form of two canoe trips in June, we sought with OWLS to expand COEO’s membership by engaging the summer camp and wilderness tripping community, as well as to fill a needed gap in teacher education by intentionally looking at the deeper philosophical and pedagogical questions that underly outdoor forms of education. In addition to OWLS, I have been working to resurrect our Student Rep program in order to expand COEO’s network of engaged universities and to bring more awareness of COEO and outdoor education to students and young people in our province. Another focus of mine has been on helping to lead COEO’s advocacy work, especially in regard to budget cuts coming from the provincial government. My goal is to continue working on these three aspects, including by starting-up a winter iteration of OWLS, expanding COEO’s regional events, and continuing our advocacy work at the policy level.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

My varied background has allowed me to see outdoor education from a multitude of angles, and to get to know a wide diversity of people working in all aspects of our field. My work has been as an educator in a variety of settings (including camps, canoe trips, environmental learning centres, and public school boards); as an academic researcher in the fields of education and environmental studies; and as the Director leading an organization which merges all three aspects of outdoor education: theoretical research, curriculum/program development, and program delivery/facilitation. With this background, I bring to COEO’s Board a broad and multifaceted understanding of what outdoor education means and can look like – an understanding which I seek to bring into all Board discussions so that COEO is able to represent and stay relevant to people committed to outdoor learning across Ontario and beyond, whether they be researchers, classroom teachers, canoe trip guides, or curriculum designers.

I also bring technical skills and knowledge which I am happy to share with the COEO Board. Such as experience with organizational insurance, grant writing, strategic planning, advertising, research, and event coordination.

I hope to be elected to the COEO Board because of my immense compassion and concern for the state of the living, breathing creatures of our planet, and my profound belief in the central importance of education in creating any sort of future wherein our nonhuman kin may flourish. To reconnect a culture, we need – desperately need – organizations like COEO and the wonderful people they represent. For the chipmunk and the bumblebee, the red pine and the forested lake, the human child with wind in their hair and dirt on their face. Life – all of life – is counting on it.

My vision for COEO over the next few years is to see us become better recognized for the expertise we hold. To have COEO and its members be recognized as an organization working at the forefront of educational practice, and to have the institutional world of school boards, governments, and policy setting bodies see the essential nature of outdoor education. To get there, I envision COEO expanding on our vision of events to become a source of pedagogical ideation and enhancement. To take our internal sharing of best practices and to share them with the wider world.

Candidates for Members At Large

Devin Mutic

In my spare time, I volunteer extensively with youth groups in my local area, taking kids on camping trips year-round and engaging them in neighbourhood volunteering and service projects.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

If elected, my goal is to continue growing COEO’s capacity by strengthening our partnerships, expanding our variety of events, and deepening our advocacy work.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

Rayanna Santiago

Caption: This picture was taken at the peak of “The Crack” hike, overlooking the interior lakes and forests of Killarney Provincial Park. Killarney feels like home to me. I revisit the backcountry lakes every year, and it’s one of the first places where I fell in love with the natural world.

Hi! I’m Ray (she/her), and happy to meet you! I first came to know COEO at the 2023 Fall Conference and fell in love with the community and the values it stands for. Since then, I have supported the Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large for the 2024-2025 year and helped organize the last three conferences as the registrar. I’m currently a graduate student in the Master of Education program specializing in Environmental and Sustainability Education at Lakehead University. My research focuses on how place-based, post-secondary education supports students in developing an environmental ethic of care and meaningful relationships with our non-human kin. Before starting my master’s program, I completed the concurrent education program for the intermediate/senior division at York University. During the summers when I’m not taking courses or supply teaching, I’m a program leader for Headwaters Wilderness Program. In my spare time, I can be found somewhere in the woods, whether it be on a canoe in a backcountry lake, in a tent under fall foliage, or attempting to snowboard and cross-country ski through snowy terrain. I’m always eager to further my abilities as an outdoor educator and love finding opportunities to learn from and with our non-human kin.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

If I am elected as Director-at-Large, I am interested in supporting the growth and implementation of COEO’s Ontario Wilderness Leadership Symposium, OWLS. I believe this is an important area of development for COEO as it creates space to support young and early-career outdoor educators, a group that is often underrepresented at COEO’s fall and winter conferences. Like OWLS, I would also like to help revive regional and topic-specific events for COEO members. Ontario is a vast province, and outdoor education encompasses a wide range of careers. Providing regional and topic-specific events supports meaningful community building across this diverse field. I am also interested in building connections to universities, colleges, and organizations. I believe that COEO has great potential to further their connections and invite various perspectives and voices into the community. Lastly, I am eager to learn more about COEO’s finances and accounting so I can support the treasurer with financial decisions and reporting when needed. With an undergraduate background in mathematics and business, I would be glad to help with the Board’s financial responsibilities whenever needed.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

One of the strongest qualities I bring to the COEO Board is a genuine eagerness to support fellow board members in bringing their ideas and visions for COEO to life. I enjoy working through the process of turning an idea into something real, like an event that brings people together. In the 2024-2025 year, along with a team of board members, I helped re-envision OWLS as two four-day canoe trips. Additionally, I worked alongside board members to create a COEO Town Hall event where members connected via Zoom to collaborate and stay up to date with COEO events and advocacy work. Another quality that I bring to the board is my enthusiasm for collaboration and teamwork. I believe that the best ideas and plans emerge through group discussion as people can share various perspectives and build on each other’s strengths. This is especially helpful when planning events or engaging with advocacy work. When part of a team, I strive to consider the diverse perspectives in the room, those that might be missing, and the potential best practices that help ensure COEO aligns with its core values and meets people in their diverse ways of being.

One of the main reasons I want to join the COEO board is to support and give back to the community of educators who bring so much love, care, thoughtfulness, and attention to not only their students, but to the natural world. I also want to help ensure that outdoor education continues to have a place in Ontario’s education system, both now and for future generations. Outdoor education is a vital part of learning that fosters meaningful education and enables the flourishing of both students and our non-human kin. Within the next one to three years, I envision COEO growing its membership base in a way that better reflects the diversity of both the outdoor education field and its educators. I hope to see this vision realized by strengthening connections with universities, colleges, and organizations, and by hosting more events that foster community engagement, such as OWLS, regional events, and theme-specific events.

Angel Suarez Esquivel

Caption: The Hummingbird has always been very special to me. My mom has always called me her hummingbird, as I travel from Mexico to Canada every year, just like the bird.

Student and Community Engagement Specialist / Senior Nature Interpreter

Angel (he/him) is an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) who specializes in outdoor pedagogy. Along with his Early Childhood Education and Teaching diploma from Humber College, Angel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability. He works at the Humber Arboretum and Centre for Urban Ecology in Toronto as a Student and Community Engagement Specialist, coordinating the ECE field placement for outdoor education and the Learning by Leading program for Humber College and University of Guelph-Humber students. Finally, as a part of the Arb’s educational team, he continues to work with college students along with the general community and children of all ages.

Angel has a special connection to nature as it is the place he feels most comfortable, and he knows that nature always has something new to teach him. Originally from Mexico, he advocates for Latine communities to have fair access to outdoor spaces and recreation. He is passionate about removing barriers to nature and his goal is to connect more people to the outdoors.

If elected, what do you want to do in your role on the COEO board?

My focus would be to keep supporting with organizational structure of COEO and governance to ensure our processes are standardized.

What skills do you bring to the COEO Board?

Board governance experience
Experience in standardizing organizational systems
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion extensive training
Truth and Reconciliation extensive training
Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing deep awareness

This would be my last year as a Director at Large and I am envisioning to be Volunteer Coordinator as a next step.