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Our Team

 

Tom Larroquette

Co-Founder & Operations Manager.

Tom has lived with his family in Panamá for over ten years. He brings over 20 years experience in developing innovative projects in the education and hospitality industries in Canada, Central America, and Australia. 

He is fully trilingual ( French, English, and Spanish ), resourceful and diplomatic.  He is a perfect Operational Manager with the educational background and experience needed for international program development and ongoing operational management. 

Tom started working in international program development in 1997 after graduating with a Special Care Education degree in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec Canada. He was a national advisor & program leader for the minister of education for french studies in Costa Rica, a Special Care Educator & Co-ordinator for immersive A.F.S. international study abroad programs and  linguistic immersion summer programs in Canada. He was the office manager and logistics co-ordinator for the international exchange program ISV ( international student volunteers ) based in Australia. We could go on about his credentials, but it would take up the rest of this page. If you want us to send you his impressive CV, we CAN!

Tom is VERY excited to share the Go Across Travel Program in his adopted country of Panamá.
 

Skye Wikjord Co-Founder & Team Leader. 

Skye is an international traveler making a positive social impact everywhere she goes. Encouraging her children, her community and the Go Across Team to focus on their natural strengths to make a positive impact on the world around them. Skye's background is in social work & the alternative healthcare sector.


Skye moved her family to Panamá in 2012 and lived with her two young daughters and her husband in a small beach community until 2017.  She used her 20 years of dance, structural integration therapy (soma-institute.org) & registered massage therapy experience to open up a healing & learning Centre in Panamá. She was the president of a legal non-profit in Panamá for 2.5 years assisting underprivileged college-aged girls with the housing and support they desperately needed to continue their education (https://playacommunity.com/panama-articles/coronado-community/6083-money-bomb-winner-donates-winnings-to-chairty.html). She has created events that raised over 130K and a priceless amount of awareness for social programs in Canada, and Panamá. She also volunteered as an English teacher in Panamanian government-run public school. The experiences she gained from working alongside local teachers to promote greater literacy, support opportunities for higher education, and build vocational skills via her learning center ( Massage Therapy, communication skills, customer service, marketing, and goal planning ) among students was a joyful and fulfilling experience.


Skye is now working on her degree in Social Justice Warrior work ( AKA Social Work Degree :).  Adding this educational lens to all of her humanitarian work experience will continue to help her and the youth encountering cultural dissonance. This, global glimpse into immersive travel experiences (and creating exciting yet slightly uncomfortable cultural dissonance) is what research is showing to be the key to cultural diversity and peace on earth (Jessica Mei Pung, Ryan Yung, Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore & Giacomo Del Chiappa (2020). 


Skye’s lifetime goal is to offer these life-changing programs to the Panamanian youth & international visitors to Panamá. She sees these programs growing with their strong team of innovative, enthusiastic, and ethical team members.  


Reference:


Jessica Mei Pung, Ryan Yung, Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore & Giacomo Del Chiappa (2020) Transformative travel experiences and gender: a double duoethnography approach, Current Issues in Tourism, 23:5, 538-558, DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2019.1635091


 

Marcela, Saul & Jherzzum

Community Ambassadors.

We are so proud of our Go Across Travel Community Ambassadors! These young leaders have studied english in Panamá for the last four years and work as our guides, community ambassadors, and translators for our international homestay participants. They are also the program leaders for the ongoing community english programs that happen bi monthly in the Go Across Travel commuity village in Panamá.

They are a big part of our team at Go Across Travel Panamá Program and we are proud of their growth. They are excited about the opportunities these positions give them to advance in their career and international travel goals. They love meeting and sharing their native country, Panamá with the international participants. They also looking forward to experiencing an international travel abroad experience in Canada by 2020.