Beyond Akeela is proud to boast 1 adult for every 3 teens on the program. More essential than the number of staff is the quality of personnel that we employ. At Beyond Akeela, every teen benefits from the care, spirit and skills of each staff member. We undertake extraordinary lengths to find the best of the best, to ensure that teens have a confidence building and transformative experience. They approach each summer with the energy, dedication and sense of humor that make it evident how much they enjoy and truly “get” Beyond Akeela teens!
This incredible group of people includes experts in the fields of child development, psychology, special education, therapeutic interventions, and health care. All of this combined expertise helps ensure that every Beyond Akeela teen receives an individualized coaching plan to help them thrive socially and build skills that will help them launch into college.
Beyond Akeela Director
Joshua Brinn brings more than 17 years of experience in teaching and education leadership in schools across South Korea, China, India, Abu Dhabi, and most recently, the San Francisco Bay Area. He has worked with students from kindergarten through high school, but has especially enjoyed the relationships he’s built with adolescents and their families. As a teacher, advisor, and school leader, he’s spent years helping young people work through challenges, develop friendships, build habits to help them succeed, and become more comfortable advocating for themselves.
Summer camp has also been a big part of Joshua’s life. He first attended Camp Walt Whitman in New Hampshire as a camper in the 90s. He later returned for nine summers to help lead the camp’s hiking, camping, and outdoor adventure programs. After a long hiatus (teaching abroad), he recently returned to camp as Director of Operations. His experience in both education and camp has taught him the importance of really getting to know young people and understand what they need — whether that be scaffolded support or the space to figure things out for themselves. It’s an approach that fits perfectly into the Beyond Akeela program.
Joshua holds a master’s degree in International Education from Framingham State University and a Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School. Originally from the Catskills in New York, he enjoys hiking, camping, golfing, and exploring new places with his family. He and his wife, Ginger, an elementary school counselor, have two children, Jonah and Juniper, and two cats, Tybee and Savannah.
While Debbie & Eric (Camp Akeela’s Directors) spend their summers at our camp program in Vermont, they are intimately involved in all aspects of Beyond Akeela. In addition to pre-summer planning and logistical support, Debbie and Eric are in constant communication with the Beyond Akeela team throughout the summer. The heart and soul of Akeela is truly infused into Beyond Akeela!
Camp Akeela Directors
Eric Sasson has over 40 years of camp experience, at some of the Northeast’s finest camps, including Camp Walt Whitman, Camp Wingate*Kirkland and Camp Mah-Kee-Nac. He has been a full time camp professional for over 25 years and is an active member of the American Camp Association. Eric earned a BA in Math from Haverford College and a Masters in Education from Harvard University. Outside of the camp world, he has extensive experience working with children and young adults in a variety of settings.
Debbie Sasson has been spending her summers at camp for more than 35 years. She has a BA in Psychology and a Masters in School Counseling from the University of Rochester. After 3 wonderful years as a middle school counselor in Belmont, MA, she returned to school and earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University in May 2008. She works as a full-time director of Camp Akeela, a position to which she brings extensive knowledge of the fields of child, adolescent and Family-Systems psychology.
Debbie and Eric met at a summer camp and have been partners in camping ever since. They have each held virtually every job available at camp, from bunk counselor and swim instructor to unit head and camp director. Throughout their careers, Debbie and Eric have always found themselves gravitating towards the “quirky” kids. Opening Akeela in 2008 enabled them to create an empowering community for boys and girls who thrive in traditional camp setting with a little extra social support. In response to families who wanted to continue their Akeela journey as their teens aged out of camp, the Sassons started Beyond Akeela in 2011.
