the Founders

We are Jen and Hayes — a married couple, educators, and parents of two. After 20+ years of teaching internationally across Korea, Austria, Switzerland, and North America, we realized that the traditional educational model — built on rigid age-grouping and standardized outcomes — no longer reflects the world children are growing up in.

Our journey is both professional and personal. As parents of neurodivergent children, we’ve seen firsthand how “one-size-fits-all” learning can stifle curiosity, confidence, and authorship. We believe children are naturally driven to create meaning in their lives; they don’t need more control, they need the right environment to think independently, explore deeply, and trust their own voice.

Jen grew up in Toronto’s Bedford Park neighbourhood before eventually settling in Switzerland, where we now live with our family. But Toronto has always felt like home. We return every summer, and it continues to be a city full of creativity, diversity, ambition, and new ideas — exactly the kind of place where meaningful conversations about education, technology, media, and the future need to happen.

Since 2015, we have co-produced TEDxBasel, coaching over 100 global speakers and curating ideas that have reached millions worldwide. Through this work, we’ve seen how difficult — and important — it has become to think critically, communicate clearly, and cut through the noise of modern media and technology.

This camp is our way of exploring what’s possible in education right now — creating space for curiosity, meaningful work, and deeper human connection in a rapidly changing world.

We hope you’ll join us!