Who We Are
Full Time Staff
T.S. Jones, Founder and Executive Director of Outdoor Odyssey
T.S. Jones, founder and Executive Director of Outdoor Odyssey, is retired as an officer in the United States Marine Corps after serving nearly 4 decades. Retiring as a Major General, Jones vowed to design and build a vehicle to reach those in need in the same manner in which he was impacted as a youth by his mentor. Shortly thereafter, Outdoor Odyssey was born. The initial mission focused on identifying youth in need and pairing them with mentor, but then evolved and expanded to embrace a variety of organizations. Jones has taken many principles and ideals from the Marine Corps to develop Outdoor Odyssey’s approach to team building and leadership.
Brandon Jones, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Outdoor Odyssey's longest tenured staff member, Brandon came on in our first summer back in 1999. Starting as Safety Net Coordinator and taking over as Director of Operations in 2001 Brandon oversees all daily operations of Outdoor Odyssey's professional staff, mentoring program, team-building customers, leadership academies, and all properties and adventure facilities.
Brandon serves as lead trainer and trains all staff-members in the skills they'll need to safely lead on the mountain. Brandon also conceptualizes and builds many of the obstacles, elements, and courses used on the mountain every day. Building a custom team building experience for any group is also one of Brandon's specialties.
Dayna Jones
PROGRAM Director
Katie Schmitz
PROGRAM Coordinator
Taylor Gorsich
Director of Social Media
Summer Staff
Check out our 2023 Summer Staff! This group of college students and recent college graduates traveled from around the country and even around the world to make an impact on the lives of others at Outdoor Odyssey.
The group consists of many motivated students with a variety of different majors, backgrounds, and dreams. The 2023 Summer Staff is trained to facilitate high adventure activities, lead team building exercises, teach important lessons on leadership and resiliency, and more.
Want to be a part of our 2024 Summer Staff? Apply today.
UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY: OUTDOOR ODYSSEY SUMMER INTERNSHIP
During summer 2022, four midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy completed their Outdoor Odyssey Summer Internship. This internship allows participating midshipmen to develop their own leadership styles by working with teams, helping them bond through shared adversity, challenging them, and teaching them what it means to be a leader. We are glad to have had the opportunity to partner with the US Naval Academy and work with these midshipmen, and we are excited to expand this program in the future!
