Ethan Screnock

President

Ethan began in the travel industry over 15 years ago after graduating from Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, where he studied Computer Science and Philosophy. Ethan worked from the technology side of air travel developing software before pursuing operations management and then eventually served as the President of Centrav, Inc., an industry leading consolidator, for many years.  While raising his three daughters alongside his wife in Lakeville, MN, he became passionate about educational travel. As a board member of the SYTA Youth Foundation, he began to combine his specialties and connections in air travel to provide the experience of travel to all students. The uniqueness of Global Travel Alliance drew him and his family to relocate to Bozeman, MT last year. Ethan strives to continue the legacy of Global Travel Alliance, while growing the opportunities for all students to experience the value of travel. He is especially invested in the Global Doing Good and Leaf Cutters projects in Costa Rica, where he loves to travel with his family.

Linda Alesch

Chief Financial Officer

Steve Maehl

Executive Vice President

A native Montanan who now lives in Orlando, Florida, Steve is the most experienced traveler and guide on staff. As a young boy he spent hours spinning his globe and reading travel guides dreaming about all the places he could someday go. Now, he lives his dream and has led trips to more than 20 countries and visited every continent – except Antarctica. Steve earned a college degree in Elementary Education from Montana State University and studied Experiential and Outdoor Education at the University of New Hampshire. He is a former educator who taught English at a Maori school in New Zealand. Steve is married with two children, and like most Montana natives, enjoys a rugged outdoor lifestyle including rafting, kayaking, snowboarding, hiking and camping.

Jeremy Swinborne

Chief Technology Officer

A graduate of Bethel University, in St. Paul, MN, with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Jeremy began working in the travel industry over 15 year ago.  He joined Ethan Screnock at Centrav, Inc. and began his adventure in the travel industry developing technology for booking and managing airline tickets.  Jeremy joined the Global Travel Alliance team in 2016, and is responsible for all of the technology needs.  A long time resident of Minnesota, Jeremy has been married to his high school sweetheart for over 20 years, and they have been blessed with four wonderful daughters.  When he is not busy orchestrating the many technology needs of our company, he may be found in his barn, building something new, or out in his yard harvesting and boiling sap to make maple syrup.

Dan Porta

Vice President of People & Culture

Dan was born in Northern Minnesota and graduated from Bethel College in St. Paul with a degree in Social Studies Education. He has been in education for over 12 years in various roles, including full time Social Studies teacher, outdoor educational director, class adviser, and skydiving instructor. He has traveled to Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and all across the continental U.S. He currently lives in Shakopee with his wife and 2 small boys. He loves time with his family, being outdoors, exercising, and reading about all kinds of world history.

Timothy Smith

Vice President of Trip Delivery

Born in Seattle, Washington, Tim was raised in Minnesota following his family’s return from living in Deschapelles, Haiti. He stayed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes to attend St. Olaf College where he played for the Ole men’s tennis team and studied History and Spanish. After college Tim spent some time abroad in the Dominican Republic, only to return to the Midwest to complete a Master’s of Arts in American History at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Tim has held a variety of tennis coaching positions, both nationally and internationally, including seasons in France, Mexico, the College of William and Mary, and the College of Charleston. Tim resides in Charleston, SC with his family. While his interests are varied, Tim spends much of his time in theology, philosophy and history as well as dabbling in some woodworking, aware he has so much to learn in all of them.

Paul Belanger

Director of GTrek

Paul joined Global Travel Alliance after a ten year career directing place-based education programs in Montana for The Nature Conservancy and Montana Audubon. Born and raised in Southwest Ohio, Paul later moved to the Rocky Mountain West and has since explored a majority of the Northern Rockies national parks, including a one year study at the Teton Science School in Teton National Park. Paul believes that a good trip equals abundant wildlife, landscape vistas, and few traces of a human footprint. Paul has a passion for helping young people connect with the outdoors through recreation and learning. Paul now lives in Hamilton, MT in the Bitterroot Valley with his wife and two children.

GTrek: Science & Adventure

J.J. Peterson

Director of Art and Design

J.J. grew up in Billings, Montana and went to college at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minnesota. During his junior year in 2008 he directed his first American Heritage trip to Washington, D.C. and has done so every year since. He finished school in 2009 with bachelor’s degrees in Digital Media Art and Biblical and Theological Studies.  He then moved to Orlando, Florida and was a middle school art teacher for Orange County Public Schools. He joined Global Travel Alliance full-time in 2012 and now directs our art and design, leads American Heritage trips, and helps with Global Doing Good. J.J. lives in Minneapolis with his wife Soo. They love planning trips together to places like New York City and Europe in search of delicious food. J.J.’s favorite hobbies include building mechanical keyboards, drawing cartoons, and reading books about sports.

Pura Vida Costa Rica

Tyler Hetland

Vice President of Educational Programs

Tyler was born and raised in rural central Minnesota. Most of Tyler’s younger days were spent on the family farm and being active in the outdoors. After high school, Tyler attended the University of Northwestern – St. Paul where he spent 4 years earning a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and playing football for the Northwestern Eagles. During college Tyler worked in the service industry while also spending time with kids as a 5th grade basketball coach. After college he spent time organizing group events in the Minneapolis area for the Mall of America, Minnesota Vikings, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tyler and his wife Breanna moved from the Twin Cities to Cleveland, OH where they spent two years before moving to Omaha, NE where they happily reside today. When Tyler is not working with schools or traveling the world with students, he can be found playing a variety of sports, traveling with his wife to see family and friends, and grilling in the evening.

Tori Soto

Senior Reservations Specialist

Tori was born in Hawaii and raised just outside of Washington, D.C. She recently moved to Florida and has joined the Global Travel Alliance team full time. Prior to this position, she was the Operations Manager of a major brand-name hotel in Alexandria, VA, where she was responsible for the supervision of all staff and customer satisfaction. She carries an expert wealth of knowledge regarding hotel operations and of the entire Washington, D.C. metro area. Tori loves all kinds of music and traveling around the world – she continues to hope and look for more adventure and travel opportunities. Tori now lives near Orlando in Apopka, FL with her son Noah.

Judy Maehl

Customer Care Specialist

Judy was born in South Africa and raised in England. She developed a love of travel early in life growing up in a family always on the move. After working in London for ten years she ran into an American group touring the UK led by Steve Maehl and owner Jeff Peterson. As they say, the rest is history, and now she holds her 3rd citizenship in America. Judy lives in Orlando with her husband Steve and two children. When she isn’t busy handling incoming payments for trips, you may get the chance to catch her international accent as she directs incoming calls for our worldwide trips.

Katie Conaway

Director of Marketing

Katie was introduced to the travel industry through her early work in theater group sales and a local tourism organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her undergraduate work centered on Arts Administration and she received a graduate degree in Arts Management and Program Development. Her passion for education stems from her time as Director of Education & Outreach at Pittsburgh Public Theater, and long-time board service for local arts education nonprofit, TJ Arts.  A life-long adventurer, Katie studied in London during college and has traveled extensively with her husband, including South Africa, Thailand, across the UK, Europe, and beyond. She believes travel has the power to challenge preconceptions, help young people become citizens of the world, and develop a deep respect for other cultures. Previously, Katie specialized in international and domestic tourism sales at VisitPITTSBURGH. She is delighted to combine her passion for travel and education at Global Travel Alliance. In her free time, Katie enjoys photography, live theater, and planning future travel adventures.

Claire Edgell

Education Program Specialist

Claire grew up near St. Paul, Minnesota and during middle school, high school and college, she learned the value of educational travel while attending mission trips and school trips to different parts of the county and world! She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire in Education and Spanish, and sought out every opportunity to get out of her comfort zone, which included living and working abroad in Panama, Costa Rica and Spain. After she graduated, Claire worked for Saint Paul Public Schools before moving back to Costa Rica to teach at an environmental, bilingual school Monteverde. When she returned to Minnesota, she began working in the educational travel industry for a Minneapolis based non-profit organization and teaching Spanish part-time. She joined the Global Travel Alliance team in 2022 as an Education Program Specialist, and is passionate about providing educators and their students with life-changing, educational experiences that extend beyond the classroom. Claire lives in St. Paul with her husband and baby boy, and enjoys hiking, salsa dancing, eating at new restaurants, spending time with loved ones and adventuring around the globe!

Jessica Wyrick

Education Program Specialist

Jessica was born in Montana, and after a lot of moves and completing her Bachelor’s in Marketing at Southwest Minnesota State University, she settled down in Billings in 2010. Jessica joined Global Travel Alliance in 2017, and after a 2 year hiatus, rejoined the team in 2022. Jessica believes every student should have the opportunity to explore the world first-hand. She brings her unique skills to Global Travel Alliance’s educational travel experiences, allowing students and chaperones to fully immerse themselves in their destinations. Igniting a love of travel and creating space for students to develop into life-long learners drives Jessica to deliver exceptional service as she works hand-in-hand with our group leaders. In her spare time Jessica enjoys art, reading, horseback riding, and leading her church’s week night children’s ministry. Jessica has one daughter, two German Shepherds, a cat, and a desire to one day have many, many farm animals.

Josh Williams

Education Program Specialist

Josh was born in the South Metro of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Growing up you could find him participating in all kinds of sports and spending lots of time with friends. Being in a family that loves to travel, Josh would also spend lots of time in the summers traveling to different locations all around the country, his favorite being New York City. Josh attended the University of Minnesota and worked with the university’s Sports Marketing department before joining the Global Travel Alliance team. His enjoyment of traveling, and his experiences traveling with his classmates during school, is what drew Josh to his current position as an Educational Program Specialist. In his free time Josh enjoys spending time with friends, family, his dog Willow and cheering on Minnesota Sports!

Brittany Thacker

Trip Delivery Specialist

Born in Los Angeles, California, Brittany grew up participating in sports and theatre. She loved American History, and chose to go to college in Virginia to see that history firsthand. Brittany spent a semester in Germany and a semester in Northern Ireland, and learned how beneficial travel and cultural exploration can be. This certainty and love of history led Brittany to guiding and eventually to Global Travel Alliance. In her free time, you can find Brittany taking trips big and small, even just the weekend getaways, attending concerts, and reading a good book.

Sally Cebuhar

American Heritage Program Leader

Sally grew up in Billings, MT and graduated from Billings West High. She then attended EMC on a track scholarship. She received a degree in Special Education and Physical Education and then went on to receive a Masters’ degree from Leslie College.  Sally taught at Garfield Elementary for two years and then went down the road to Huntley Project for three. She finally landed a job in Billings at Castle Rock Middle School where she taught for 32 years and went on 12 8th grade class trips to Washington, D.C. Now with Global Travel Alliance she’s on the other side of student travel. Her passion for helping young people and serving others gives her great excitement for the Global Doing Good Service Scholars program.

Jamie Jarvis

American Heritage Program Leader

Jamie is a middle school History & Geography teacher in Billings, MT. Jamie brings great passion and teaching expertise to Global Travel Alliance while guiding throughout the United States and Europe every Spring. He is a firm believer that students should engage with the world around them and has since created the Two Roads Project: a micro-financed program that allows middle school students to create and manage small scale community outreach programs. Jamie grew up in Billings and has lived in Pennsylvania, Colorado and now lives in Billings with his wife.

Two Roads Project

Jeff Peterson

Founder

Jeff Peterson is the founder of Global Travel Alliance and lives in Billings, Montana with his wife Pam. He grew up in Northern Wisconsin, which is where he developed his first case of wanderlust while reading Lawrence of Arabia and Huckleberry Finn. Jeff’s years in education have included time on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations and at Montana State University–Billings. During his time at MSU-B, he launched (with partners) the Rocky Mountain Language and Culture Institute and also served as the Program Director for the International Studies Department at MSU-B. Jeff has served as a headmaster of a private school in Florida and the European director of an education/missions non-profit. Jeff, with much assistance from his wife Pam, Steve and Judy Maehl, and Steven Falls Down, founded Global Travel Alliance in 2004. Jeff holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Christian Theology, History, and Education. He has taught full-time at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. His 35+ years in the field of education have been strongly influenced by a devotion to cross-cultural education.