Leadership Summit 2025: We Are All Leaders

Karin, Paul, and Aleya represent three different paths to leadership — through endurance, empowerment, and empathy. Their stories remind us that leadership isn’t about perfection; it’s about courage, curiosity, and care.
Ashley Kramer Ashley Kramer
October 22, 2025

At this year’s Leadership Summit, we’re exploring what it truly means to lead — not through titles or hierarchy, but through courage, connection, and shared responsibility. Leadership in the outdoors, like leadership in life, is about how we show up for one another. As Brené Brown writes in Dare to Lead, “A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes and has the courage to develop that potential.” When we focus on relationships, we manage risk better, handle conflict more gracefully, and create more positive experiences for everyone in the group. Whether it’s on a long trail, in a team meeting, or while teaching a new skill, the way we show up for each other defines the experience.

Our speakers this year embody this spirit of leadership — through perseverance, adaptability, and empathy — each offering a unique lens on how courage and connection strengthen our communities.

Paul Dryer – CEO, Avid4 Adventure

Keynote Speaker

Paul Dreyer’s leadership journey has taken him from the boardroom to the backcountry. After trading a corporate banking job in New England for a decade of guiding and living out of his car, Paul formed long-standing roles with various outdoor organizations, including NOLS, High Mountain Institute, and Avid4 Adventure, where he served as Chief Empowerment Officer (CEO). His philosophy is rooted in curiosity and adaptability, embracing uncertainty as an opportunity to learn and lead with authenticity. Paul reminds us that flexibility and courage go hand in hand, whether steering a company or leading a group into the mountains.
Paul’s talk will explore how curiosity, flexibility, and courage are essential to effective leadership, especially in times of uncertainty. His story is a reminder that leadership doesn’t come from your title; it grows from your willingness to adapt, learn, and empower others along the way.

Aleya Littleton, MA, LPC – Adventure and Somatic Therapist

Wilderness Psychology First Aid

Leadership in the outdoors isn’t just about navigating terrain, it’s also about navigating emotions. That’s where Aleya Littleton comes in. Aleya is an adventure and somatic therapist, a rock climbing guide, and an educator who helps people understand how our bodies and minds respond to challenge.
With a Master’s in Adventure Therapy from Prescott College and a background in neurobiology and education, Aleya blends science, psychology, and the outdoors to help people heal and grow. She has been featured in Outside Magazine and the podcast The Three Day Effect for her work integrating nature into trauma therapy.
At the Summit, Aleya will lead an intro to Wilderness Psychology First Aid, an engaging, hands-on session designed to help outdoor leaders better support emotional safety and connection in the field. Through her teaching, Aleya helps us recognize that true leadership often starts with empathy, the ability to see and support the people around us, even when the trail gets tough.

Karin Pocock – Endurance Athlete and Outdoor Guide

Roder Dinner Speaker: "10,000 Miles of Discovery"

Few people embody perseverance like Karin Pocock. This past year, she crossed the 10,000-mile mark on her bike — a milestone that came right after claiming a podium finish in the Tour Divide, a grueling race from Canada to Mexico. Between worn-out tires, countless chains, and more than a few scrapes, Karin’s season has been one of both challenge and triumph.

But her story isn’t just about racing. It’s about mindset — about what happens when we decide to chase big dreams, even when we start later in life. Karin didn’t begin bikepack racing until she was 41, yet she’s now earned podium spots on some of the toughest routes in North America, including the Colorado Trail, Arizona Trail, and Oregon Timber Trail.

When she’s not pedaling across mountain ranges, Karin is an AMGA-certified ski and rock guide, the Deputy Director of the Silverton Avalanche School, and a respected educator in the outdoor industry. Her presentation, 10,000 Miles of Discovery, will take us along her journey through vast, rugged landscapes — and inside the mindset that fuels her resilience. It’s an invitation to reflect on how pushing our physical and emotional limits can lead to growth, confidence, and connection with the natural world.

Together, Karin, Paul, and Aleya embody the many ways leadership shows up in our outdoor community — through perseverance, empowerment, and empathy. Their stories remind us that we are all leaders, and by connecting with one another, we can create safer, more inclusive, and more meaningful experiences in the mountains and beyond.

We hope to see you at the Leadership Summit and the Roder Dinner! Whether you guide CMC members through unpredictable weather, mentor a new volunteers, teach members how to face new fears on the edge of our summits, or simply showing up with kindness and clarity, we are all welcome! 

Leadership Summit - REGISTER Here!

RODER DINNER RSVP


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