| Greg Lais
Founder and Executive Director
Wilderness Inquiry
Expert Source:
Wilderness adventure travel, inclusion, and non-profit management. |
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- Founder of non-profit Wilderness Inquiry, the oldest and most
extensive outdoor education and travel program in the world for
people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Since 1978,
Wilderness Inquiry has served more than 200,000 people on wilderness
trips throughout the world, including thousands of people with
disabilities such as quadriplegia, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple
Sclerosis or traumatic brain injury.
- Pioneer of outdoor education programs and training curriculum
that use the wilderness to facilitate greater acceptance of human
diversity. Developer of training curriculum on the latest
techniques for integrating all people into activities, facilities,
and programs. Author of numerous articles.
- Creator of adaptive outdoor
recreation equipment, such as one-armed paddles, that significantly
increases mobility for persons with disabilities. Guide
for more than 100 Wilderness Inquiry trips integrating people
of all abilities, including those with physical, cognitive and
emotional disabilities. Trips have included kayaking in
Costa Rica, British Columbia and Lake Superior, horsepack trips
in the Colorado Rockies, and canoeing in the Boundary Waters,
the Everglades, Australia, Russia, Alaska and throughout Canada.
- Author of numerous articles,
books and reports, Lais is the primary author of two Congressional
studies regarding access to Wilderness and Federal recreational
lands. Wilderness Inquiry is the only organization that
has a formal agreement with all six federal land-management agencies
to help make federal recreation land accessible to people with
disabilities.
HONORS
- National Therapeutic Recreation Society Organization Citation
for 1988
- Honored at the White House for service for people with disabilities,
April 1989
- St. John's University Alumni
Achievement Award 1990
- Minnesota State Council on
Disability Distinguished Service Award, November 1992
- Jim Renne Leadership Award, Association of Outdoor Recreation
and Education, May 2000
TOPICS:
- Wilderness trips for people with disabilities, seniors and families
- How to select and prepare for a wilderness adventure
- Vacations that enable personal/family growth
- Best wilderness trips for novices and advanced adventurers
- Traveling with special-needs children and adults
- Adaptive equipment for disabled wilderness adventurers
- Impact of motorized vehicles on the wilderness
- Improving wilderness and outdoor recreation access
- Therapeutic value of a wilderness adventure
MEDIA EXPERIENCE:
Lais and Wilderness Inquiry have been featured in the Wall Street
Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Arthur Frommer's Budget
Travel Magazine and CBS Sunday Morning, among many other travel,
lifestyle and trade publications. Lais is a sought-after speaker
on such topics as leadership, entrepreneurship, adventure travel,
disability, diversity and non-profit management.
Contact Greg Lais:
612/676-9409
greglais@wildernessinquiry.org
or
Sarah Milligan-Toffler
Associate Executive Director
Wilderness Inquiry
808 14th Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: 612/676-9413 FAX: 612/676-9401
sarahmtoffler@wildernessinquiry.org
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