Wayne, has had many careers, but for 30 years has intertwined his passion and belief in The Promise of America with ethnic diversity and racial justice into all of the positions he has held.

A decorated combat Marine, Wayne spent many years in the Information Technology business world before a major career change into outdoor, experiential education, and then eventually into Federal Land Management.

He spent several years as Assistant Director of Outdoor Programs at Dartmouth College. He was also an instructor for Outward Bound Boston Harbor. During this time Wayne simultaneously worked with National Park Service Director Bob Stanton to understand and remedy the lack of ethnic and cultural diversity in outdoor recreation and careers.

From there Wayne became a career backcountry ranger in the west for the National Park Service where he patrolled the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado and the canyons of Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah, and later for the Bureau of Land Management where he patrolled the Colorado River in western Colorado and its surrounding environs.

Wayne retired from federal land management in 2013, but continues to help manage wildland fires. He was on the board of High Country News for 12 years. For many years he wrote about race in the United States. In 2020,  in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, he co-founded The Civil Conversations Project where he and others, through writing, filming, podcasting, and guided conversations, attempt to change the narrative that America tells itself about race. Wayne is a member of the National Parks Conservation Commission Advisory Council as well as a member of the Protect Our Winters advisory council. 

In his limited spare time, Wayne enjoys friends, road and mountain biking, road trips, ice climbing, hiking, canyoneering, exploring the wilds of southern Utah and northern Arizona, good food, and pretty much any cocktail.

Wayne lives in western Colorado.

To read more about Wayne’s Long Journey CLICK HERE