Alan Lewis was the Co-Founder of Pinnacle LTD. Alan was a social entrepreneur, business leader and philanthropist with a lifelong vision to help change people’s lives.  To further their lifelong devotion to social justice, Alan and his wife, Harriet created Alnoba, a leading place for nonprofits to develop and honor daring leaders on the frontline for equity and justice around the world.

In 1983, Alan founded the Kensington Investment Company for the Lewis Family’s real estate holdings, investments and philanthropic activities. Today, KIC is primarily focused on real estate operations and development with various properties in Boston, Utah and across New England with more than one million square feet of residential and commercial property. They have alternative investments in Israel and more than 80 Israel companies.

In addition to serving as KIC’s chairman, Alan is Chairman of Grand Circle Corporation, the leader in international travel, adventure, and discovery for Americans aged 50 and older. He and his wife Harriet acquired Grand Circle Travel in 1985 and transformed the $23 million travel company that was losing $2 million a year into a fast-moving, global enterprise with gross sales exceeding $600M, more than 35 offices worldwide, and in 85 countries have 3,000 associates, guides, and ship crew. Today, Grand Circle Travel is joined by two other travel entities: Overseas Adventure Travel, acquired in 1993, and Grand Circle Cruise Line, which Alan established in 1998.

Alan was deeply committed to use his leadership, life experience and business success to advance his passion to develop and support strong activist leaders; fight for social justice for the young and indigenous peoples; and help save the earth we share.

His True North was Alnoba in Kensington, New Hampshire a small town that his maternal ancestors helped settle in the 1600s and where he spent his boyhood summers. Its 600-acre landscape with 10 miles of trails, wildlife habitats, sculptures and unique gathering places is a sacred place where inspiration meets action. It is also the base for the family’s charitable endeavors, which include Pinnacle Leadership and Team Development, the Lewis Family Foundation, Grand Circle Foundation and the Farm at Eastman’s Corner. Since 1981, Alnoba  has supported more than 100 strategic partners worldwide and donated $225M in more than 70 countries.

Believing you can lead from anywhere and that strong leaders make strong companies and communities; Alan was especially devoted to leadership development. In 1993, he founded Pinnacle Leadership and Team Development, which has trained hundreds of nonprofit and business leaders from more than 60 countries. He had a lot of first-hand experience in crisis leadership, having successfully navigated his companies through more than a hundred world events, natural disasters, and other calamities, including the Gulf War, 9-11, the 2008-09 financial downturn and the COVID 19 pandemic. He has authored, Leading through Turbulence: How a Values-Based Culture Can Build Profits and Make the World a Better Place, published by McGraw Hill, and his 10 Keys of Leading in Crisis provide hard won wisdom and guidance to other leaders.

Alan has been recognized for his philanthropic leadership, including by the late Paul Newman’s Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy for “CEO Leadership and Innovation in Philanthropy” and as Ernst & Young’s New England “Social Entrepreneur of the Year.” He was an avid traveler, loved work, was a persistent reader of history and biographies, a lover of risk, and a lifelong fan of all Boston sports teams — no matter how they’re playing. Above all else, he was a family man, committed to Harriet, their children, Edward and Charlotte, and their three granddaughters.

Harriet Lewis is the Co-Founder of Pinnacle LTD. Harriet Lewis, Chair of the Lewis Family Foundation, is an educator, philanthropist and world traveler. She is passionate about social change, especially in her hometown of Boston and in the countries where the family’s travel company, Grand Circle Corporation visits.

Harriet taught children with severe emotional disabilities in Washington DC then returned to Boston, where she continued to teach troubled children. From these experiences, she developed her strong belief that our best hope for real, lasting and deep community transformation rests with our young people.

She founded the Next Generation Leaders program to provide rising college freshmen with a work, service and international travel program to advance their leadership and improve success in life and college. Harriet is also unwavering in commitment to work in partnership with the community and ensures that Alnoba Lewis Family Foundation “ask and listen” to the young people, their families and leaders who live in the neighborhoods and global villages where we work.

Edward is Chief Executive Officer of the Kensington Investment Company. Based in Park City, Utah, Ed serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Kensington Investment Company, representing the second generation of Lewis Family leadership.

Ed also serves as Vice Chairman for the family’s travel companies, Overseas Adventure Travel, Grand Circle Cruise Lines and Grand Circle Travel, as well as Vice Chairman to the family’s charitable entity, the Alnoba Lewis Family Foundation.

Prior to becoming CEO, Ed served in a variety of roles within the company, where he learned the business from the ground up. During his time as Senior Vice President, he held the vision for the award-winning Kensington Tower, a LEED Gold certified, eco-conscious apartment tower that minimizes the impact to the environment; maximizes the convenience, comfort, and health of its residents; and creates a community within the building. Over his career through development or acquisition, Ed has led the charge in doubling KIC’s real estate portfolio from under 1M square feet to 2M square feet today.

Building on his father, Alan E. Lewis’s Legacy, Ed has set a bold 2030 vision for KIC to be the leading socially and environmentally responsible family Real Estate Development Company with a focus on strategic acquisitions and developments across New England and Utah. As well as continuing to build on Alnoba Lewis Family Foundations impact around the world.

Under Ed’s leadership, KIC is currently developing Astra Tower, a new 41-story structure in Salt Lake City, which will be the tallest building in the State of Utah. Believing that Utah’s capital is turning into a ‘world-class city,’ Astra Tower will offer best-in-class apartments for a city fast attracting people from across the globe.

Ed moved to Park City in 2010 where he launched SNOCRU the first “micro-social” app built for the entire snow-sports industry. Following his passion for skiing, Ed later co-founded Kingfisher Heliskiing. Ed supports and is committed to the success of numerous organizations around the world.

Ed is in his element in the mountains of Utah, whether skiing the slopes or biking the trails, but he is at his best, when in the company of his family.

Charlotte is Chief Operating Officer of the Kensington Investment Company. She is deeply committed to ensuring that the company delivers an excellent experience for each of its residents. She also leads the company’s corporate culture and believes in building strong teams through service and aligned values and goals. Charlotte is passionate about using business models to drive social change and seeks to integrate business and philanthropy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College and is an avid sportswoman, world traveler and volunteer.

Sandra Fogwell is Director of Events at Alnoba. Sandra brings nearly two decades of hospitality experience to her role at Alnoba. As our Director of  Events, Sandra is committed to helping all of Alnoba’s visitors and guests host memorable and successful events.

She brings her extensive knowledge of catering, negotiation and event management to bear in ensuring that our high standard of excellence is maintained for every event on our campus. She builds lasting relationships with Alnoba’s clients and friends from the warm welcome they receive on arrival to ensuring that all their needs are carefully and thoughtfully met. When not at Alnoba, Sandra enjoys bike rides and family camping trips.

Colin has worked in the adventure field since 1994 as a trainer, program manager, consultant, and facilitator both independently and on behalf of reputable organizations.  He has served as: director of operations for Outward Bound Professional in Boston, interim director of the University of Southern Maine’s Action Learning Center, challenge course manager for Thompson Island Outward Bound, and certified trainer with Project Adventure.  In these capacities he has recruited, trained and assessed staff while managing organizations and delivering excellent service to clients.  His areas of expertise include teaching basic & advanced experiential facilitation, technical challenge course skills, adventure program management, and the mitigation of risk.

Colin’s consulting practice focuses on leadership development and building effective teams. He’s worked with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, and small to mid-size businesses.  Clients have included: World Bank, Yale School of Management, the US Air Force, and numerous youth and university groups.  In addition, Colin is past president of the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Society for Training & Development.  He holds an MBA with a focus on organizational development from the University of Southern Maine.  Colin is also a certified executive coach.  Prior to his involvement in training & facilitation, Colin worked in real estate and small business development.  When not working he enjoys practicing martial arts, just about anything outdoors & spending time with his family.

Melissa began her work in leadership development in 1994 as an outdoor educator and led groups on biking, canoeing and hiking trips in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Since the year 2000 Melissa has worked solely with corporate clients, where her work emphasizes effective team development, clear communication skills and content-based training. Melissa’s leadership, organizational and team development, team empowerment and management trainings have served a broad range of industries from health care to school systems to Fortune 500 companies. She currently serves on the board of directors for Unlimited Possibilities, a nonprofit organization creating opportunities for people in need.

Connor is a leadership and team development professional from Portland, ME. He builds impact from over 15 years of intentional experience working with teams ranging from student groups to corporate/non-profit leadership. Many of his formative years in experiential education were rooted in forming positive and supportive community in times of celebration and intense conflict. This lens of shared experiences and unified direction have led Connor down a rewarding and challenging path to bring the best out of individuals and the teams they exist within. He also believes deeply in the power of connection and the ability of play, problem solving, adventure, and harmony to achieve this goal.

Dan spent most of his professional life in the educational field, teaching math in Illinois and then as a school counselor at Woodbury Middle School in Salem. Over the years, he became interested in experiential education and the effect it had on young people. Dan worked with a colleague to write several successful grants to fund the construction of a challenge course at the school. He wrote and developed a challenge course curriculum and implemented the program to meet the needs of the three-grade population.

After leaving Woodbury, Dan became involved in the challenge course program at the Browne Center, and through that affiliation joined the team at Pinnacle/Alnoba in the summer of 2012.

Katie has worked in outdoor and experiential education programs since first being introduced to the field in 2005 through the La Vida Center for Outdoor Education and Leadership at her alma mater, Gordon College.

In addition to facilitating team building experiences for youth and adults in schools and challenge course settings, she has also served with various organizations in the roles of wilderness trip leader, office manager, supervisor for rock wall and ropes course staff, and even as the assistant program director for an immersion-based undergraduate outdoor education studies program.

Katie joined the team at Pinnacle as a contract facilitator and challenge course technician in 2016 after completing her master’s degree in Experiential Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is currently certified as a Level II Challenge Course Practitioner through Project Adventure and a Wilderness First Responder through SOLO.

Nate has worked in adventure education for over 20 years. Over this time this work has delivered nearly 1,000 programs designed to help others achieve goals, communicate effectively, enhance their teams and/or develop new skills. He is currently a faculty member in the Outdoor Leadership and Management department at the University of New Hampshire. His areas of expertise are rock climbing, challenge courses, mountain biking and the history of outdoor recreation. He has authored six technical books about rock climbing with falcon guides and is working on a textbook about the history of outdoor pursuits in America. Nate has worked at Pinnacle/Alnoba since 2005 in a variety or roles. When not working, Nate enjoys spending time with his family, usually rock climbing or playing lacrosse. As part Seneca Iroquois, lacrosse has been a big part of Nate’s life and he currently coaches and consults with numerous teams and organizations.

Joanna is a Level II Challenge Course Practitioner, a SCC certified leadership coach for mid-level managers and a certified TetraMap Facilitator who has been working with various organizations for the past 20 years (Pinnacle for the last 10 years). Joanna began her career with Colorado Outward Bound’s Professional Division.  In the last 25 years, Joanna has delivered hundreds of programs for corporations, students, and teachers with a focus on enhancing individual leadership and team development.  Lately, she has been specializing in delivering workshops on Emotional Intelligence, Managing Stress and Growth Mindset.

Participants greatly enjoy Jo’s boundless energy and positive attitude.  She recommends reading Dare to Lead by Brene Brown.