Meet a few members of our team

Andrew Spofford
Director, Outward Bound Professional

In 1989, a winter mountaineering course in western Maine cemented Andrew's lifelong admiration for the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School.  After a decades-long career involving secondary school and corporate education, as well as client management and business development responsibilities within publicly-traded and privately-held organizations, Andrew returned to the school as Director of Outward Bound Professional in 2017. 

Having served executive-level clients across industry sectors -- including financial services, life sciences, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, and government -- Andrew draws on a firsthand appreciation for the pace of change, sense of urgency, and competitive dynamics that test our clients' Culture, Teams, and Leaders each day…And nothing excites him more than witnessing the discovery and celebration of untapped strengths.

Andrew graduated from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) with a degree in English and certification in Secondary School Education.  He and his family call the North Shore of Massachusetts home, and he's frequently found on the waterfront, fly rod in hand.

Cindy Makin Brown
Senior Consultant, Outward Bound Professional

With over 35 years in the field of experiential learning, Cindy is currently the Senior Consultant for Outward Bound Professional with Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. She works with corporate groups and senior leaders in team building and leadership training around the globe. Serving a wide range of companies, her recent work has included JP Morgan, Nestle Waters, Nortek Global, Avery Denison and more locally LL Bean, MaineHealth and Maine Development Foundation. Cindy enjoys building the results of psychometric tools -- such as CliftonStrengths, MBTI and DiSC -- into the design of experiential programs.  Her strength is in helping employees increase their performance by focusing on leadership behaviors, corporate culture and team interaction.

Cindy is also responsible for Outward Bound Professional operations, overseeing: curriculum development, technical operations, staff development, logistics and sales support. She holds certificates from Interaction Associates, National Training Labs and Wilson Learning and is certified as a CliftonStrengths Coach. 

Luke O'Neill
Program Manager and Lead Facilitator, Outward Bound Professional

Luke’s association with Outward Bound began in 1989 when he participated in a 7-day sea kayaking course based on Hurricane Island.  A former corporate attorney who received his MBA from the Harvard Business School, Luke has been leading Outward Bound expeditions  and creating custom professional programs for the past 30 years.  

Luke specializes in coaching leaders, building high performance teams, and designing vibrant learning cultures for our clients.  He also serves in the role of expedition leader, guiding teams on sea kayaking, mountaineering, sailing, scuba, and backpacking courses in Maine, Florida, Washington, Panama, and Croatia.  

During his career with Outward Bound Luke launched and led several educational and youth development programs, including Shackleton Schools, The Henderson International School, The Cape May Fund, and American Explorers, a youth leadership development program created under the auspices of the Arthur M. Blank Foundation.

OBP Clients that Luke has worked with include: JP Morgan Chase, iCapital Network, RGAX, Maverick Capital, Viking Global Investors, GE Capital, IBM, Genentech, Blackstone Group, Tuck School of Business, among others.

Gary Tublin
Program Manager and Lead Facilitator, Outward Bound Professional

Since the 1980s, Gary has been fortunate enough to enjoy a diverse and unique career that has spanned the breadth of environmental education, experiential learning, adventure education, team and leadership development, and organizational change and development.  He has a passion for being outdoors and working with people.  Gary teaches and trains others in rock-climbing, canoeing, mountain-biking, challenge courses, and kayaking, as well as designing and organizing multi-day wilderness experiences.

Gary earned a graduate certificate degree in Organization Development from Georgetown University where he explored the phases to managing lasting and successful change management projects. He also is qualified to administer the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and is well versed in other personal and team assessment tools and proven learning models which he uses to design and deliver dynamic and engaging experiential programming. 

Gary has formed partnerships with many distinguished consulting firms, engaging with them on long and short-term organization development initiatives. He is most passionate working with senior and mid-level executives, as well as developing leaders, helping them realize their truest potential in leading others.

Gary has been involved with Outward Bound since 2000, implementing unique methods to promote, design, manage and deliver team development and leadership skills to corporate, government and non-profit organizations over the world.  He partners with clients to design programs utilizing proven learning models and mental modes. Gary has a history of bringing distinctive experiential components to these projects, applying a philosophy of adventure and challenge, systematic thinking, learning by doing and instill social and environmental responsibility and character building.

Current and past clients where Gary has managed initiatives with include Marriott, Under Armour, TRowe Price, McCormick, U.S. Office of Personal Management, IFC, World Bank, General Dynamics, JP Morgan, Xerox, TerpSys, University of Maryland-Promise Program, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Clark Construction, Maverick Capital, Health Care Access Maryland, Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Program, and BB&T Bank.

Gary lives in Northern Virginia. When not working he can be found fishing on streams far and near or bounding along mountain trails.

Eric H. Denny
President and Executive Director
Hurricane Island Outward Bound School

A twenty-five -year Outward Bound leader, Eric Denny currently serves as President and Executive Director of the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, New England’s largest Outward Bound School, serving youth, veterans and corporate clients. Eric previously served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Advancement Officer for Outward Bound USA, the country’s premier experiential education organization. 

Eric's Outward Bound career began in 1991 as a wilderness instructor at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. In 2000 Eric joined Outward Bound Professional as Vice President of Program and Operations. In this role, he was responsible for the development, design and execution of of Executive Team Leadership Programs for J.P. Morgan Chase, Prudential, Novartis, American Express, and many other Fortune 500 clients.

 A graduate of Bates College in Maine, Eric completed his Master's Degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island. He was chosen for a Presidential Management Fellowship and served as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations specialist to the Pacific Islands from 1998-2000 and as a senior staff member of President Clinton's Coral Reef Task Force. Eric and his wife, Andrea, have four children and live in Rockport, Maine.