Staff

Darcy Ottey
Executive Director

Journeys has been part of every major transition in Darcy’s life, since her Coming of Age program when she was 13.  She became Executive Director of Journeys in 2006, after serving as Associate Program Director at Outward Bound Wilderness and spending ten years as a guide and instructor for a variety of wilderness programs. She holds an MA in Environment & Community, with a focus on Leadership, from Antioch University Seattle.

As a former participant of Journeys programs, Tour de Cultures ‘94 and Wilderness Quest ‘097, Julie has returned to journeys for her second year in a leadership position. Committed to helping youth have profound life-altering experiences through these programs, just as she did as a youth, Julie loves to ask the deep questions and to really know people full-heartedly. Greeting everyone with a genuine smile, she likes to laugh at herself and life while maintaining authenticity in sharing the human experience. She is passionate about the power of reconnecting with nature and what it is that is sacred to an individual. Julie is a Ritual Leader and brings forth her gifts and talents as a Shamanic Practitioner in training. She holds a Wilderness First Responder certification and has extensive experience maintaining clarity and being grounded during emergency situations.

Terence is the 2007-2008 Americorps Volunteer with Rite of Passage Journeys.  He graduated with a double major in Physics and Anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2007.  Since then, he's worked a variety of jobs and spent five months on the U.S-Mexico border doing humanitarian work with recently deported migrants.  He has an interest in wild medicinal and edible plants, herbalism in general, constellations, and the outdoors.  He has a lot of experience backpacking, both as a youth in Boy Scouts and since then.

Randy has been a faculty member in the Liberal Studies Program at Antioch University Seattle since 1987. Prior to that, he taught kids, K-12, in Atlanta and Hiroshima, Japan for ten years. Currently, he teaches adult classes in dreamwork, archetypal and spiritual psychology, history and philosophy of science, ritual process and ceremonial design. Randy has been doing vision quest work since 1990 and has successfully created and facilitated Journeys first Ritual Leadership program. 

Edith has been working in alternative, adult and community education for over thirty years. She began her career as founder of an alternative community school in Tacoma. Edith then went on to spend a number of years at Antioch University where her work focused on helping returning adult students clarify their personal and professional goals. For the past ten years, she has been building her own business, LearningWorks, and works with individuals and organizations to enhance their ability to be effective in their chosen endeavors. Edith has an MA in Educational Philosophy and Design. She joined Rite of Passage Journeys in 1999 and has completed her own vision quest, served as an Adult Vision Quest Guide and helped guide and build Journeys. 

Emily continues to be a spoke in the circle that is Journeys – but this year in a different way. After two full-time years with Journeys, Emily is moving towards heading back to school to get a graduate degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology. She will continue to maintain her role in the realms of Marketing, Program Coordination & Delivery, and ‘Jumping-in’ wherever else it makes sense. Emily has a Wilderness First Responder and extensive experience in leadership and youth mentorship – in the past two years she has been a guide on four youth summer programs, completed her own vision quest, and designed/implemented the Healthy Youth Passages program in schools.

 In Spring 2009, Jason graduated from the LIOS, Leadership Institute of Seattle, Master’s program – after much dedication and many long hours of studying. He has over 20 years of experience in emergency response as an EMT, CPR/First Aid Instructor and ski patroller. Jason draws his inspiration from the wilderness and sees this as his vehicle for overcoming obstacles in the “steep chutes of life.” He shares his enthusiasm with the youth that he mentors. Jason is in his fourth year with Journeys and is the Program Coordinator for the Coming of Age for Boys.

Katie Mason
Program Coordinator

Katie has joined us this summer for her third season with Journeys. Previously she’s led outdoor wilderness trips with a variety of other organizations and companies, such as Adventure Cross Country, REI Adventures, and the Overlake School Outdoor Program. Through her involvement in outdoor education she has found her passion in mentoring youth while being outdoors and hopes to continue her career in this field. 

Drew Middlebrooks first was introduced to Rite of Passage Journeys while he and his wife were living off foraged foods on the coast of Washington in the summer of 2006. Impressed by the nature of the Coming of Age for Boys trip, he decided he would like to spend some of his time in the wilderness doing work of this kind.  He has been leading trips ever since. His passions include honing his wilderness/survival skills, deepening his relationship with the natural world, immersion in Daoist studies and martial arts, and mentoring youth.  These passions continually inform his leadership style and the curriculum he develops for the trips. 

Julie is a therapist and an artist. She has worked with Journeys for over 10 years as a guide and mentor for both youth and adult programs. She designed the current format of the Coming of Age for Girls program. Julie has worked for a number of wilderness programs, including Catherine Freer Expeditions, and is a certified Wilderness First Responder.

Jeremy's experience with Journeys began in 2001 when he participated in the Adult Wilderness Quest (AWQ) as a participant. Since 2004 he has been a guide for the AWQ. Along with his work at Journeys, Jeremy also volunteers for the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, and assists Michael Meade and the Mosaic team at local Puget Sound events; most notably the Voices of Youth Program. Jeremy has a keen interest in the spiritual and has been training with several native teachers, including completing a three year shamanic training with his mentor Char Sundust. He has also recently completed his training to pour sweat lodges for the Journeys community, and is presently working on his Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling at Antioch University Seattle.