Our
Story
Keegan Peñalva
Co-Founder | Wilderness Instructor
Keegan graduated from Asbury University with a Bachelors in education. He also completed the Asbury Adventure Leadership program. He is a professional educator who worked as a full time teacher at Maxwell Elementary in Lexington as well as overseas in Honduras. He is an Army Veteran with nearly a decade of military experience. He is a certified and qualified army sniper and currently serves as a sniper team leader with the Ohio national guard. Keegan served six years on the Lexington Fire Department operating as a firefighter/paramedic. He is currently a licensed paramedic and rope rescue technician. Keegan is a certified canoe and rock climbing instructor who has taught hundreds of students to climb and paddle and personally led over one hundred trips. Teaching is his passion. Keegan believes that good character is the most important thing a person can develop and that Adventure can create character.
Nick Porritt, LMFT
Co-Founder | Wilderness Instructor
Nick is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Nick specializes in experiential therapy utilizing the outdoors through adventure skills and photography. Nick uses his expertise by adapting the curriculum to be trauma informed and contain building blocks for self-improvement.
What started as a love for adventure has since turned into a desire to teach and grow others into individuals and communities that support each other. We all are individuals who love the outdoors and have spent our whole lives seeking out the thrill and excitement it brings. Even more so, we have loved taking our own families into the wilderness to show them the same love we have for it. At Peñalva, we make it our mission to create a space for people to become more responsible, resilient, cooperative, and conscious of the impact we have on this planet.
Nick and Katie met Keegan and Hannah while Nick and Hannah were starting the process of getting a license in Marriage and Family Therapy. During this time, Nick, Katie, Hannah and Keegan all realized a shared desire to bring people to the outdoors and teach people the skills that come from being outdoors in spaces that are more accessible.
We are all still very excited to bring the outdoors to people and help everyone we meet to leave finding something inside of themselves and others that they can grow and appreciate. We hope to meet you out there and hope to continue a growing relationship that develops not only you as an individual but communities as well.