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Our Team

Our Team

On top of our large network of freelance contributors and part-time staff, we are a growing, international team with a common goal: to educate and inspire all people to experience, enjoy and protect wilderness.
  • Apoorva Prasad
    Founder, CEO & Editor-in-Chief
    Apoorva Prasad
    Founder, CEO & Editor-in-Chief

    Apoorva is an award-winning entrepreneur, multimedia journalist, photographer and writer; experienced rock climber and mountaineer, snowboarder and paragliding pilot, with over a decade of international media and outdoors experience in France, USA and India. Over his career, he helped launch Maxim magazine’s India edition in 2005; spent four years at the Paris headquarters of the international 24/7 news channel FRANCE 24; and has worked on projects as diverse as scripts with Shekhar Kapur and Gautam Chopra, to managing multimedia editorial projects for the New York-based Studio One Networks.

    For many years he was the only international outdoor and adventure journalist of Indian-origin, with clips in The Australian, Gizmodo.com, Outlook Traveller, L’Equipe mag, Triathlete’s World UK, Climbing magazine (USA), Rockclimbing.com, Indian Mountaineer, The Economic Times, Maxim, Men’s Health, Open, Smart Travel Asia (Hong Kong), Extremium (Poland) and others. In the course of duty, he’s trained with the French Army at its elite National Commando Training Centre in Collioure, learned to race a Corvette Z6 at the Phoenix, Arizona-based Bondurant School of Race Driving, braved riots and snowboarded off Kashmir’s Mt. Apherwat, ridden backcountry over Chamonix’s glaciers, gone scuba diving in Corsica, rock climbed from Armenia to Yosemite, and called for helicopter rescue while winter climbing on the Mont Blanc Massif. He holds an Advanced diploma from India’s prestigious Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, and is an experienced snowboarder, with a working knowledge of skiing, paragliding, scuba diving and other sports.

    Apoorva is a graduate of the first batch of New Delhi’s Vasant Valley School - the country’s number-1 ranked K-12 institution; has a degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, and a diploma in French Cinema from l’Institute Catholique de Paris, France. He’s a member of the Himalayan Club and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia, and is invited to speak at conferences in India and globally and has served on several committees and panels in the adventure space. He is currently serving as a judge for the 2016 edition of the prestigious Red Bull Illume photography competition.

  • Lorenzo Fornari
    Co-Founder & COO
    Lorenzo Fornari
    Co-Founder & COO

    The question Lorenzo receives on a daily basis is “where are you now?”.

    Ever since he was a child he’s been living, exploring, photographing, and sharing these travels. The only continent that has so far managed to be spared by his presence is Antarctica.

    From a family of diplomats and artists, he grew up between the Middle-East, USA, and Europe, where he got his Masters in Business and HRM and now (mostly) resides as a photographer and explorer by passion.

    Whenever he can get away he will dive the ocean depths in search of new adventures, from tickling giant groupers to exploring the WW2 wrecks in Truk lagoon.

  • Nandini Prasad
    Co-Founder & Publisher
    Nandini Prasad
    Co-Founder & Publisher

    Nandini grew up between India and Europe, exploring jungles in one and skiing in the Alps in the other. Over her long career she became well-known for having developed a Code of Ethics for Gender Mainstreaming in Broadcasting Organisations, and as the author of several research papers and books on gender and media.

    Until 2008, she led a USAID project in India, and before that, managed the gender and basic education portfolio in India for Development Cooperation Department of the Netherlands. Nandini has a Masters in Economics and a diploma in journalism and mass communication. An inspiration to her son Apoorva, she continues to travel, having recently snowmobiled in Svalbard in the Arctic Circle, and visited the Everest Base Camp on the Tibetan side.

  • Cat Coughran
    Director of Sales
    Cat Coughran
    Director of Sales
  • Himraj Soin
    Producer & Co-Founder
    Himraj Soin
    Producer & Co-Founder

    Himraj Soin, Producer & Co-Founder, is an adventure travel journalist and photographer who helped launch The Outdoor Journal in 2012 as the first employee. An avid skier and climber who studied at Colorado College, his expeditions have taken him to Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, Borneo, Madagascar, Peru, Morocco, Namibia, Siberia, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, and Antarctica, amongst others. He is also a National Geographic Student Expedition leader, where he teaches photography. His works have been published in Vogue, Vice, National Geographic Traveller, Reader’s Digest, and Runner’s World, apart from The Outdoor Journal. At TOJ, he writes, shoots and covers international travel destinations, extreme adventure sports, athletes, gear, maps, and more. He is a director at the award-winning Ibex Expeditions, which takes clients and athletes on adventure expeditions and eco-tours throughout India and the neighbouring Himalaya. He was a team member on the International Antarctic Expedition with Robert Swan, studying climate change and sustainability. He wants to be TinTin.

  • Omar Spira
    Director of Tech
    Omar Spira
    Director of Tech

    A student of philosophy and code.

    Omar is a full stack developer who tells stories through code and delivers the impossible. 

    When he’s not coding, he’s modeling for The Outdoor Journal. 

     

     

  • Elliot Adams
    Communication Director
    Elliot Adams
    Communication Director

    After almost 15 years in the PR and communications industry working in London, Paris and Monaco, Elliot has amassed a unique set of skills (very unlike those of Liam Neeson in 'Taken', but impressive nonetheless) that helps companies understand how best to communicate internationally, and when.

    Before joining as Comms Director and acting PM for The Outdoor Journal & Voyage, Elliot was previously the Global Head of Public Relations and Communications at Silversea Cruises, the leader in luxury cruising; and Director of International PR at HotelTonight. Before that, Elliot was the International Corporate Communications Director for Yelp, helping the Yelp community in its continued expansion internationally in 17 countries across Europe, South America and Asia.

  • Sean Verity
    Content Strategy Director
    Sean Verity
    Content Strategy Director

    The seed of Sean’s love for travel was laid early, with a family that carried him off to every corner of the world. However, with an auntie who worked to bring education to remote areas of the world, these weren’t your average family holidays.

    Since then, Sean has continued to travel, work, and study on every continent. Sean is also a big sports fan, but most people within the business switch off when he changes to this topic.

    From a professional perspective, Sean has worked across the media industry, from founding start-ups, to working in agencies and big corporations such as the BBC, BT Sport and Red Bull.

    With a TV & Digital production background, Sean’s main achievements have centered around working to help brands, influencers and media business transition into the digital age, and benefit from it.

  • David Braun
    Content Manager
    David Braun
    Content Manager

    Davey Braun is a digital media attorney, travel writer and adventure seeker. As an American expat, Davey now resides in Luxembourg because, as he says, "it's 2 hours from everywhere" in Europe.

    His hobbies include bouldering to scout cliff jumping locations and shopping for local fashions in exotic destinations.

    As Content Manager for TOJ, Davey creates packages to share our partners' itineraries and he also develops editorial content for our print and digital magazine.

    Davey likes old ships, Land Rover Defenders and collecting photography gear. Of our TOJ team, he's most likely to be wearing a GoPro.

  • Artemis Magoula
    Communications Officer
    Artemis Magoula
    Communications Officer

    Coming from a Naval family Artemis has sailed all 5 Oceans and visited all 7 Continents by the age of 6.

    Having a genuine love for the outdoors from an early age, she got her diploma in Outdoor Recreation and Open Water Sailing and also became a Whitewater Rafting & Rescue guide. 

  • Colin Rex
    US Sales Manager
    Colin Rex
    US Sales Manager
  • Maneesh Gulati
    Admin & Distribution
    Maneesh Gulati
    Admin & Distribution

    Maneesh is the Administrations & Distribution master of The Outdoor Journal. Over 21 years of progressive experience in this and other core office management positions have made him the bedrock of the company.

  • Edouard Vigier
    Financial Director
    Edouard Vigier
    Financial Director

    Recently graduated in Finance from the London School of Economics, Edouard worked as a business analyst for Pictet Group before joining The Outdoor Journal in January 2017. A devoted tennis player and fanatic skier, Edouard enjoys travelling when he has free time from poring over The Outdoor Journal & Voyage’s spreadsheets and models.

  • Olivier Fleurot
    Advisor & Investor
    Olivier Fleurot
    Advisor & Investor

    Olivier has been mentoring start-ups and advising companies on communication issues.

    Until the end of 2017, he was Senior Vice President of Publicis Groupe, in charge of Group Corporate Communications, CSR, Real Estate, Insurance, and large projects like the new ERP platform.

    For 8 years while in Publicis Groupe he was advisor and on the board of the Women's Forum. He managed Publicis group agencies in the field of Public Relations, Corporate and Financial communication and International Events management under the MSLGROUP brand (2009-2015).

    For the last 8 years he has been teaching an Executive Master on Media Management at Sciences Po University.

    From 1999 to 2006, he was the global CEO of the The Financial Times newspaper and previously he was the CEO of Les Echos group in France,  France's leading business newspaper.

  • John Rossant
    Advisor
    John Rossant
    Advisor

    John Rossant personally leads the LA CoMotion team. He is the Founder and Chairman of the New CIties Foundation, a major global non-profit institution dedicated to improving the quality of life and work in cities. He previously led the team producing the famous World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland every January and has been been the producer of major World Economic Forum conferences in China, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. He has also played key roles in Monaco, with the Monaco Media Forum and the ongoing Prince’s Roundtable on Philanthropy. In 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked John to organize the first global summit on the future of the Internet, the e-G8. John has worked with heads of state and government and leading CEOs from around the world.

    A former journalist, John held several senior editorial positions at Business Week, including European Correspondent, as well as Paris, Rome and Middle East correspondent. He has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Overseas Press Club Award and the German Marshall Fund’s Peter Weitz Award for Distinguished Reporting. John holds advanced degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the American University in Cairo.

     

  • Mohit Oberoi
    Advisor
    Mohit Oberoi
    Advisor

    Mohit Oberoi is a rock climber, mountaineer, Ironman triathlete, entreprenuer and more. He is one of India’s most well known and respected outdoor athletes. He’s been the former official India sport climbing team coach and advisor to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation on all its climbing matters. He’s the author of the country’s first rock climbing guidebook, to the cliffs around Delhi. Mohit is the founder-owner of The Outdoor School, India’s most well-known climbing wall manufacturer, which, (in partnership with France’s Entre-Prises), has built nearly all of the country’s artificial climbing structures. He’s also the founder of Adventure 18, India’s first and most widely spread outdoor gear store.

  • Peter Scott
    Advisor
    Peter Scott
    Advisor

    Peter Scott, has worked with entrepreneurs and startup companies for over 15 years both in industry and academia.  

    He was the founder of a baseball analytics company that provides digital coaching for analog baseball players. His previous experience includes advising 25+ technology start-ups in strategy, marketing/sales, finance and securing commitments of over $10 million of investment. These companies have been in varying markets from solar, to wind turbines, fuel injection, engine controls, consumer products, and medical devices. 

    He served as president of Current Motor Company, director of business development at Vale Solutions, and has held marketing and business manager appointments with Covinsint LLC, Lorro Inc., Worldspan LLP, MBA Enterprise Corps (Poland) and GE Aircraft Engines. Recently Mr. Scott started mentoring for Techstars in the Sustainability Accelerator and at the Watson Institute to assist the next generation of social innovators and entrepreneurs.

    Mr. Scott began his teaching career as a Professor of Entrepreneurship in Syracuse University’s top 10 ranked program. He created a class on Angel Investing and started a Creativity and Igniting Innovation and Intrapreneurhip competition.  In addition he created a Entrepreneurial Training Guides that are being used by incubators and universities in the Papua New Guinea and Bahrain. Mr. Scott is also part of several economic development projects focusing on Syrian Refugees in Turkey, and an Aspen Institute project focusing on Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Libya. Additionally he has taught in countries as varied as S. Korea, China, Pakistan and Luxembourg.

    Currently he is a Lecturer at the University of Colorado teaching entrepreneurship to MBA’s on the Boulder and Denver campuses.

     

    He holds a BS in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, an MS in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

  • Susan Hunt
    Everest summiteer, Ironman & Endurance Athlete
    Susan Hunt
    Everest summiteer, Ironman & Endurance Athlete

    Susan is an Everest summiteer, Ironman and endurance athlete whose other outdoor interests include ski mountaineering, ice and rock climbing. Susan also runs Navigator, her own tourism, sports and destination marketing company. Her professional background includes roles as Communications Director for Sydney’s Olympic bid, policy advisor to the Australian Minister for Sports and Tourism, Group Account Director of a global advertising agency, and marketing director for some of the world’s best-known destinations (Sydney and Manchester).

  • Mandip Singh Soin
    Mountaineer, Environmentalist & Founder of Ibex Expeditions
    Mandip Singh Soin
    Mountaineer, Environmentalist & Founder of Ibex Expeditions

    Mandip is a mountaineer, explorer, environmentalist and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, UK. Four decades in the pursuit of adventure in six continents has earned him the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, presented by the President of India. Mandip is the only Indian to be awarded the Ness Award by the Royal Geographical Society, UK, for mountaineering and polar expeditions and encouragement of youth exploration. He was also nominated ‘India’s Most Versatile Adventurer’ by the Limca Book of Records.
    mandip-singh-soin-speaking
    He is the Founder & Managing Director of the award-winning adventure travel company, Ibex Expeditions (which outfits expeditions in India for major brands such as The North Face), as well as the Founder-President of the Ecotourism Society of India, and a judge for the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. He also represents India in the Mountain Protection Commission of the UIAA. Mandip holds a Master’s degree in History from St Stephens College, Delhi University.

  • Maury Birdwell
    Climber & Attorney, Founder at Birdwell Law
    Maury Birdwell
    Climber & Attorney, Founder at Birdwell Law

    A belief in the power of the law to shape and enable success led Maury to earn his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center. After studying under and alongside some of the greatest legal minds in the country he immediately ‘fled’ back West to establish his home in Boulder, Colorado. His passion is to help people and organizations succeed by lending his knowledge and expertise.

    As a member of the Colorado National Guard, Maury has served with the 19th Special Forces Group and is currently assigned to the Judge Advocate General’s office providing legal advisement for our state and nation’s armed forces. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the Boulder Bar Association, and enjoys assisting the Georgetown Law Admissions Office every year as an alumni interviewer.

    When not helping clients navigate the legal landscape, Maury can be found running around the mountains close to home and afar. He has climbed and skied peaks from Alaska to the Alps, Patagonia, and more. His musings have been published in Climbing Magazine, Urban Climber, and more.