Our Team
It takes a village to run The Cairn Project.
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Our Staff
Trailblazer Community Manager
Angie Lake
Angie Lake is a creative communications consultant and community events organizer for outdoorsy brands and women. Fueled by her nonprofit background in facilitating outdoor experiences with underserved communities, Angie seeks to inspire women to use their “Outside Voice” to help close the gender gap.
Angie grew up in Massachusetts where she spent her days exploring the woods on her family property. Since then, she’s completed endurance feats she never thought were possible for herself, and now calls the Cascade Mountains home. As a recreational mountain athlete who’s fascinated by the intersection of adventure and womanhood, Angie hopes to encourage a happier, healthier, and more adventurous world for all. You can find more of her work, like her all-women’s ultramarathon, at itsangiemarie.com.
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Executive Director of the Summit Scholarship and Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure
Sunny Stroeer
Sunny is a professional mountain athlete, outdoor industry leader, and advocate for gender equity in adventure. She began leading multi-day backcountry trips as a student at Harvard College, later earning an MBA from Harvard Business School and working as a management consultant while simultaneously developing her mountaineering and endurance skill set. In 2015, she left the corporate world to dedicate herself full-time to climbing, ultra-endurance pursuits, and expanding access to the outdoors for women and gender-diverse adventurers.
Sunny is the founder of the Summit Scholarship Foundation, which merged with The Cairn Project to create the GEA Alliance—a nonprofit dedicated to advancing gender equity through transformative adventure opportunities. Through her leadership, the GEA Alliance continues the mission of breaking down barriers for women and girls in the outdoors.
To learn more about her work and advocacy, visit www.sunnystroeer.com.
UTAH
CO-FOUNDER
Alison Wright
A San Francisco native, Alison grew up in a family that enjoyed the privilege of outdoor access – many memories were made in California’s iconic mountain and coastal landscapes. Alison has spent her career in the philanthropic sector, advancing initiatives for justice and empowerment internationally and closer to home. In addition to her leadership at The Cairn Project, she is Executive Director of the Environmental Defenders Collaborative, channeling support to frontline environmental activists around the world.
Alison is a board member of the AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation and Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide; she holds a BA from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a JD from Seattle University School of Law. Alison lives with her family in northern California.
California
Associate Director and CO-FOUNDER
Sarah Castle
Sarah Castle grew up in a small mountain town west of Denver, Colorado, and has spent most of her adult life a stone’s throw away from the Rocky Mountains. Though she held a fascination for wild places at a young age, it wasn’t until late high school that she became captivated by the high elevations and unbeaten paths of the mountains in her backyard.
Merging her love for both exploration and grit, Sarah pursued a career in soil science, studying the effects of global change and land use on natural and managed ecosystems. Currently living in Saint Paul, Minnesota, you’re likely to find her either trail running or logging one of many 70mi. weekend bike rides. Sarah holds B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. from the University of Montana.
California
As of 2025:
The GEA Alliance
The Cairn Project and the AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation 501(c)(3) have merged to create the GEA Alliance and is now governed by a joint board. This is our mission:
We connect women, girls, and gender-diverse adventurers with transformative adventure opportunities, advancing gender equity on and off the mountain.
KANAB, UTAH
Posts From Our Team
Van Life and Three Sisters: Meet Roxy Dawson
Roxy Dawson
Bikepack: The Maah Daah Hey Trail
Sarah Castle
Backpack: Trans-Catalina Trail
Alison Wright
Lessons in “Can Do”
Alison Wright