NOLS Announces New Board of Trustees Members and Board Chair

NOLS is thrilled to welcome six remarkable leaders to its Board of Trustees and introduce a new chairperson. Each brings a wealth of experience, from business and finance to the outdoor industry and law, adding fresh energy and perspective to its mission.

NOLS is also proud to announce that John Babcock will lead as its new board chair. He steps into the role following Dr. N. Stuart Harris, whose visionary leadership as chair for three years helped guide NOLS through both challenges and growth. Babcock’s new role began September 1, shortly before the NOLS 60th anniversary celebration and annual state of the school.

“We are excited to announce that John Babcock will serve as the next Chair of the Board of Trustees,” said Sandy Colhoun, president of NOLS. “For the past six years, John has been a steady and thoughtful partner, and I look forward to working closely with him in this new chapter. This is a moment of change, gratitude, and momentum, and we’re energized to move forward with John and these extraordinary leaders shaping the future of NOLS.”

“It’s an honor to step into this role,” stated John Babcock, the new chair of the NOLS Board of Trustees. “I’m grateful to our new trustees for joining an already strong and talented group, and I look forward to working with them, Sandy, and the entire NOLS team.”

The six new NOLS Board of Trustees are:

Bill Carr
Bill Carr moves from the NOLS Advisory Council. He spent over 15 years with Amazon as the Vice President of Digital Media. In this role, Carr launched and managed the company’s global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. He is the co-author of the worldwide bestseller “Working Backwards” and co-founder of Working Backwards, LLC, where he teaches executives how to implement the management best practices developed at Amazon.

Carr discovered NOLS on a 30-day Wind River Wilderness expedition in 1992. The trip fueled his passion for the outdoors and transformed his leadership style. In addition to his service to NOLS, he also serves on the Board of Directors for Worldreader. Carr earned a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College and a Master of Business Administration from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Joyce Choi
Joyce Choi moves from the NOLS Advisory Council. Choi has over 25 years of experience in the finance industry. She first discovered NOLS through an NOLS alumnus who had invited her to join the trip to the Italian Dolomites in 2013. Mt. Kilimanjaro was next, with Bhutan and India soon to follow. Joyce graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French in 1999. 

Neil Fiske
In 2023, Neil Fiske was appointed Brand President of Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. He joined Black Diamond from Marquee Brands, with a portfolio of 13 brands. As a CEO for almost 20 years, he has extensive experience in the outdoor, active, and apparel categories. An avid outdoorsman and experienced mountaineer, Fiske brings deep expertise in building brands, driving innovation, and improving operational performance.

David Lee
David Lee moves from the NOLS Advisory Council. Joining Tesla, Inc. in 2018, he serves as in-house counsel, focusing on the direct-to-consumer sales model for battery electric vehicles in North America.

Before Tesla, Lee served as a Branch Director for NOLS Mexico. He has over 200 field weeks leading backpacking, sea kayaking, sailing, and white-water expeditions at several NOLS campuses. He currently teaches Wilderness First Aid for NOLS Wilderness Medicine. David is a 2000 graduate of Himalaya Mountaineering.

David holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor from Boston College. 

Deane Malott
Deane Malott moves from the NOLS Advisory Council. For 46 consecutive months, he and his son shared a singular goal: to ski together every month. Their dedication to outdoor adventure was rooted decades earlier during a formative NOLS backpacking course in the Wind River Mountains, where he first developed a lasting reverence for the wilderness. 

Deeply grateful for the impact NOLS has had on his life and family, he is committed to expanding access to the same transformative experiences that shaped his worldview and continue to inspire the next generation of wilderness leaders.

Ethan Meers
Ethan Meers is the co-founder and Managing Principal of Kinship Capital, a private real estate investment firm. Before co-founding Kinship Capital, Meers was with the Related Companies and began his career with Telesis Corporation.

A former NOLS instructor who worked courses out of the Rocky Mountain and Teton Valley branches, he is a graduate of an Adventure Course in 1994, a Semester in the Rockies in 1998, and an Instructor Course in 2001, as well as various custom and alumni courses. After completing his semester course, Meers interned for NOLS in Lander, Wyoming, where he worked on outreach and public policy. He previously served on the NOLS Advisory Council from 2010 to 2015 and as a NOLS Board of Trustee from 2015 to 2021.

Five NOLS Board of Trustees terms ended on August 31, 2025. Chair Babcock stated, “The NOLS community is deeply indebted to our retiring trustees for their selfless service, and I would like to thank these retiring board members for their dedication and service to the NOLS mission: Dr. N. Stuart Harris, Jimmy Chin, Jane Fried, Griffin Myers, and George Phipps.”