Meet the Team | Voyager Youth Progra

Team

Compassionate. Dedicated. Knowledgeable.

Executive Director

Janine Rusnak

Janine is new to Voyager. Her passion for youth development stems from her belief that every child deserves a safe place and has the potential to achieve greatness. At this time, Janine is focused on becoming acquainted with the communities of Ouray County. From there, she'll lead Voyager to fulfill its mission and vision of inspiring youth to lead healthy lives.

Prior to working at Voyager, Janine was the Program Operations Coordinator at the Montrose County School District's Early Childhood Centers. She started at the preschool as a parent - served on the preschool parent council for two years, and then spent over five years in her role overseeing health & safety, employee onboarding, and writing annual reports.

Janine grew up in Northeast Ohio. She is a graduate of Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. While at Walsh, she studied Communications and English-Writing. She also graduated from the Ohio Media School (formerly the Ohio Center for Broadcasting) with an emphasis in radio/news. It was this line of work that brought her to Colorado in 2007. She also has journalism experience from publishing her own online publication and has served on numerous boards throughout her career.

Outside of work, Janine enjoys hiking, yard games, reading, paddle boarding, snowshoeing, and cheering on Ohio sports teams. She is the proud mother of two boys and enjoys participating in their academics, sports, and extracurriculars. They have one dog named Diesel and a three-legged cat named Kitty.

Development and Grants Manager

Agnieszka Przeszlowska, PhD

Agnieszka's role at Voyager is to develop funding resources to support its innovative programming. She values Voyager’s commitment to connecting youth to their local community through enriching and meaningful activities that empower them to make positive life choices.

Agnieszka’s professional background is in riparian ecology and watershed science. She completed her graduate degrees at Colorado State University in 2009 and in late 2011 returned to Colorado after completing a research project in the Pacific Northwest. She and her husband set roots in Ridgway where they enjoy exploring the outdoors with their two young children. She was the first Program Coordinator for the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership, serves on the Steering Committee for the Ridgway Community Garden and has been substitute teaching at Ridgway Elementary.

Enrichment Site Director

Madison Gustafson, M.Ed

Madison has been at Voyager since August 2021. Madison is our large center director and oversees our licensed child care program. Madison oversees all programming for children aged 3 - 11 and also serves as a lead teacher for our preschool program.

She has a B.A. in Psychology and Health and Exercise Science from the University of Oklahoma and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on Athletic Counseling from Springfield College in Massachusetts. In March of 2020 Madison moved to Colorado and soon after started working for Treeline Education before transitioning to Voyager Youth. During her time at Treeline, Madison taught social-emotional coping skills to children through mindfulness and nature.

In her free time, Madison enjoys hiking, camping and exploring the local area!

Teen and Community Development Manager

Cat Geras

Cat is our Communities that Care (CTC) Mobilizer and Teen Center Coordinator.

She has a B.A. in International Affairs specializing in Latin American studies. Cat's previous role was in community organizing, mobilizing and empowering members of its community to advocate for change. She loves working with people, building relationships and getting to understand different perspectives and cultures within existing communities.

In her free time she is climbing or skiing and is eager to get out and explore the San Juans.

Enrichment Program Coordinator

Michelle Melendez

Michelle serves as Voyager's program coordinator and is in charge of Ouray's after school enrichment program. She continues to connect with the community and its children. During her free time, Michelle loves to hike, camp, and explore beautiful Colorado with her family.

Michelle was born and raised in North Plainfield, New Jersey and enlisted into the Marine Corps shortly after high school in 2013. She studied telecommunications in Twenty-Nine Palms, California and was later stationed in Camp Lejuene, North Carolina, where she got married and had two wonderful children. After completing her time in the Marine Corps, Michelle and her family moved to her husband's hometown, Ridgway, Colorado. She has been working with children since the winter of 2018 as the lead attendant of the children's center at Telluride Ski School.

Youth Engagement Coordinator

Kayla Pratt

Kayla officially joined the Voyager team in April of 2023 after collaborating to host multiple Teen Craft Nights. She was invited to step in to help facilitate our Teen Led Initiative: The H.U.B.B. (Help Us Break Boredom).

Originally from Vermont, Kayla obtained a Bachelors in Elementary Education along with a Special Education Endorsement from Johnson State College (now Northern Vermont University) while teaching at a pre-school. She continued to teach at the pre-school after graduation until she visited Ouray. Kayla then attended Green Mountain Massage school during her last year at the pre-school before moving to Ouray in October 2019.

She has enjoyed reconnecting with her professional background after years of exploring opportunities in the wake of her move and the pandemic. She appreciates expanding her educational experience to include a new age bracket. The opportunities to engage with the community in reciprocal supportive efforts makes this work especially fulfilling as Kayla enjoys connecting people to collaborate towards a shared goal.

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