Catherine Collins
Executive Director
Catherine Collins has more than two decades of leadership experience in nonprofit fundraising and management and holds an MBA. She has worked for national youth organizations including Outward Bound and City Year and spent a decade helping to strengthen local economies with ACCION USA, a subsidiary of worldwide microfinance leader ACCION International. A native of Massachusetts, Catherine grew up sailing Cape Cod waters. Her passion for the power of sailing ships was sparked by her experience in 1993 as a volunteer educator aboard the sloop Clearwater on New York's Hudson River.
Amanda Leighton
Captain
Amanda has spent over a decade sailing the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, and she is excited for her first sailing adventure on Pacific waters. After first joining a tall ship in 2011 as a deckhand/educator on the schooner Roseway, she fell in love with sailing and outdoor education; eventually returning to Roseway for three years as chief mate. She continued to sail on several tall ships, including Liberty Clipper, Lynx, Amistad, and Spirit of Bermuda. Her first command was the 1924 schooner Bagheera in Portland, Maine, and she has also run water taxis and tours in Maine and charters in the Virgin Islands. But her true passion is tall ship sailing, and spreading that love to all the crew and students who cross our decks. Amanda also loves wildlife and environmental studies, and is excited to share these interests with the Adventuress communtiy. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and loves working on painting and illustrations in her "spare" time.
Jenny Huntley
Program Director
A Pacific Northwest native, Jenny first came aboard Adventuress for a four day overnight program when she was 12 years old and absolutely loved the entire experience. She discovered Adventuress again and enjoyed two seasons working as the shipboard Program Coordinator in ’16 and ‘17. Jenny graduated from Western Washington University’s Huxley College with a BA in Environmental Education. In her role at Sound Experience, Jenny assists with fundraising, event planning, grant writing, social media, organization of day and overnight programs with schools and educators, and supporting our crew and shipboard community. Jenny has always loved the Salish Sea and is very passionate about orcas, especially our Southern Resident Killer Whales. She lives in Bellingham with her husband and toddler and they love being near/on the water as much as possible.
Richard Lauridsen
Partnership Director
Richard is a bilingual Spanish speaker and has lived with his wife most of their lives in the Pacific Northwest. Together they love sailing the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Richard has a Master’s degree in Educational Administration and has spent 15 years as a classroom teacher before following his love of the sea into maritime education. He served as Program Director for the Lady Washington. Later he worked as Chief Operating Officer for the Hawaiian Chieftain, where he helped guide the ship through restoration work and its U.S. Coast Guard certification. He holds a USCG 25-ton Master’s license and an AB Seaman credential, and has also taught ASA Bareboat Skipper courses with San Juan Sailing. Now at Sound Experience, Richard focuses on building strong partnerships that help bring powerful, hands-on learning experiences to life, and supporting the crew and community aboard Adventuress.
Elisabeth Landgren
Development Associate
A traveler and lifelong sailor, Elisabeth, has joined the office watch after being on the crew for the 2024 and 2025 sailing season as a deckhand and as program coordinator. They have enjoyed sailing on tall ships in Europe and the Atlantic throughout their life. Elisabeth has a degree in computer science and biology they are passionate about community building and making nature accessible for all. In the development role Elisabeth is able to use their data wrangling knowledge to provide crucial support to the back end systems that keep Adventuress sailing.
Gordon Sims
Administrative Captain
In addition to serving as Captain on Lady Washington and as Mate and Engineer on the East Coast schooner Ernestina, Gordon has a long history with Sound Experience. Starting in '91, Gordon spent fifteen seasons aboard Adventuress as Watch Leader, Mate, Engineer, and—finally—as one of Adventuress' primary Captains from '02 to '05. Gordon returned to Sound Experience in 2015. He says, "I'm humbled to be coming back. I'm grateful and really looking forward to the opportunity to bring Sound Experience and Adventuress to the world." In his spare time, Gordon, a resident of Indianola, WA, is a member of a singing trio and loves being outdoors. He describes himself as having "a wonder of all things non-human."
Amy Kovacs
Special Projects
Amy first came aboard Adventuress between '09 and '11 as an Educator/Deckhand and Program Coordinator, then joined the staff team as Program Director in 2015 and Partnership Director in 2023. Amy has a Masters in Anthrozoology and has an extensive background in experiential education. She has started an outdoor education program at a newly-formed charter school in Salt Lake City, ran experiential school programs for Mountain Workshop as well as been a staff lead for wilderness therapy programs. At Sound Experience, Amy has moved into a party time role on special projects. A Northwest transplant as of September, 2014, Amy loves the Puget Sound region. In addition to her passion for experiential education, Amy likes to bike, canoe, and work on ceramics.