Our Team
Meet Our PVC Team Comprised of Board of Directors, Interns, and Volunteers
Marinel M. de Jesus, Esq.
PVC Founder
Marinel is a Filipina American whose journey of navigating a colonized identity led her from a civil rights law career in Washington, D.C., to becoming a global mountain nomad and founder of the Porter Voice Collective. After years advocating for social justice in the courtroom, she found a deeper calling on the trails of the Andes, Himalayas, and Kilimanjaro, where she witnessed the inequities faced not only by porters but also by guides—especially women guides—whose labor and leadership sustain the trekking tourism industry. Carrying both her lived experience as a brown Filipina immigrant who once felt pressure to assimilate and her enduring commitment to justice, Marinel now works to decolonize mountain tourism by amplifying porter voices, supporting guides, advancing labor equity, and centering the stories of those historically overlooked. To learn more about her journey and the origins of this movement, visit Our Story.
PVC is made possible through international collaborations with friends and allies of the mountain tourism workforce—filmmakers, writers, journalists, content creators, trekking operators, guides, lawyers, advocates, activists, researchers, anthropologists, historians, human rights organizations, and many others committed to listening to, celebrating, and elevating the mountain tourism workforce. Through the power of grassroots efforts, volunteering and digital storytelling, we advocate for the rights of those who carry, guide, support, and sustain mountain tourism, while educating tourists so they, too, can champion equitable treatment across the industry. We believe every member of the mountain tourism workforce has the right to dignity, respect, and safe working conditions, and that tourists deserve an honest and truly ethical form of tourism rooted in workforce equity.
Will you be a part of us too?
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Board Member
Sara Frenning is a human ecologist, researcher, and storyteller passionate about social and environmental justice.
She first joined Porter Voice Collective as an intern and later as a researcher/campaign coordinator, helping to amplify the voices of Nepali mountain workers and advocate for fair and ethical trekking practices.
With a Master’s degree in Human Ecology from Lund University, Sara’s research explores the intersections of labour, colonial legacies, and sustainability in Nepal’s mountain tourism industry.
She now combines her background in communications and advocacy to support initiatives that centre equity, dignity, and local leadership in outdoor and environmental spaces.
As an avid practitioner of outdoor sports herself, she is passionate about seeing the outdoor sports world develop into a more equitable and inclusive space.
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Research, Nepal
Sandhya is a trekking guide and travel content creator and holds a deep passion for exploring Nepal’s diverse landscapes and cultures. Her experience spans guiding travelers through iconic regions like Everest, Langtang, Annapurna, and Mustang. She’s certified in wilderness first aid and completed Women’s High-Altitude Training with 14 female guides, organized by ‘3summits for Nepal.’ Sandhya has a Bachelor’s degree in Travel and Tourism from the esteemed Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM), under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Sociology.
Sandhya particularly aligns with PVC’s commitment to promoting equity and inclusion through storytelling. She believes that sharing authentic narratives is key to educating others and creating meaningful change. Her experience in content creation and understanding of the trekking industry in Nepal allows her to contribute meaningfully to PVC’s mission of raising awareness and advocating for porters globally.
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Researcher in Tourism Resilience and Gender Equity
Oumayma Hilal (she/her) is a Moroccan researcher, educator, and advocate for community-based and gender-inclusive tourism. She is currently a Fulbright Research Scholar at Arizona State University and a PhD candidate in Community-Based Tourism Frameworks at ENCG Fès, Morocco. Her research focuses on how communities in the High Atlas Mountains rebuild after the 2023 earthquake through responsible and women-led tourism initiatives.
Professionally, Oumayma works with G Adventures as a Tour Staff Coordinator for the MENA region, supporting more than seventy local tour leaders and collaborating with NGOs such as Planeterra and Equality in Tourism to develop community-driven travel projects.
As a volunteer with the Porter Voice Collective, she aims to help women tour leaders and porters strengthen their leadership, communication, and empowerment skills across global trekking communities. She believes that promoting gender equity within tourism is essential to creating fairer, more resilient, and more compassionate travel economies.
Guided by values of solidarity, reciprocity, and empowerment, Oumayma hopes to bridge perspectives between Morocco, the MENA region, and the world.
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Sherpa Board Member & Nepal Project Manager, Himalayan Women Trail Leaders
I was born in a beautiful village in Solukhumbu, where the Himalayas are not just mountains but a way of life. I took my first step into trekking by training as a licensed trekking guide at Nepal Mountain Academy in 2019, and soon guiding became not just a part-time job, but a passion. I completed introductory rock climbing in 2021, basic rescue training in 2022 with NMIA, and most recently, advanced ice climbing courses at the Khumbu Climbing Center.
In 2024, I took on one of the biggest challenges of my guiding career—the nontechnical Great Himalayan Trail. My goal was not just to walk the trail, but to prove that women can lead long-distance treks across Nepal. Over 110 days, I crossed valleys, rivers, forests, and passes, connecting the east to the central regions of Nepal leading groups in different regions of Nepal as a part of the GHT Women Leaders Initiative. This project was made possible with the kind support of the PVC and Equity Global Treks, whose belief in me helped bring this vision to life.
The success of any trekking in the Himalayas is fundamentally reliant on the invaluable support of porters. PVC plays a crucial part of driving positive change for those who make Himalayan adventures possible.
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Researcher & Campaign Marketing Manager
PVC's work is crucial because it utilizes the power of digital content creation and advocacy to amplify the voices of porters, educate tourists, and campaign for equitable treatment worldwide.
Stephanie, a Young Leaders of the Americas Finalist (2025), continues to apply her skills in political analysis, project management, and cultural competency to build sustainable and equitable knowledge frameworks for global change.
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Volunteer
Rona is passionate about using content creation and storytelling to inspire meaningful change.
Originally from the Philippines, she has spent the past several years in France pursuing her studies. She is currently focused on developing social media content that encourages businesses to operate within planetary boundaries.
Her experience includes non-profit work in both the Philippines and France through organizations such as UNICEF, as well as consultancy-based social media and content creation work for the literacy nonprofit LitWorld.
Volunteering with PVC aligns with her belief in the power of storytelling to empower voices and connects to her interest in exploring how to decolonize the mind, particularly within travel and tourism.
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Board Member & Secretary/Researcher & Public Relations Himalayan Women Trail LeadersSophie Huss-Llenos (she/her) is a settler guest born on Turtle Island and lives near Waawiyaatanong, the area now known as Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is an Earth-lover, wife, and cat mom who enjoys spending time outdoors. Professionally, Sophie is a PhD candidate in the Geocognition Research Lab at Michigan State University.
Her current dissertation work involves building capacity for ethical engagement with and between diverse stakeholders and rightsholders in mining spaces using community-based approaches. Sophie also serves as a Community Science Fellow with the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange program and enjoys volunteering with several other environmental justice and outdoor recreation-oriented organizations.
As an outdoor recreator, she is passionate about PVC’s mission to advocate for the human rights of porters and create workforce equity tourism in the trekking industry worldwide. This passion grew exponentially after trekking to Chomolungma (so-called ‘Everest’) Base Camp as part of the Himalaya Trail Women Trail Leaders Campaign. She hopes to leverage this experience and her skills to continue to support ongoing PVC efforts in this space. As a professional and whole person, Sophie always tries to center values of loving-kindness, reciprocity, individual and collective well-being, and transparency in all she does.
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Communications, Global
Riley Chervinski (she/her) is a writer, brand strategist, and advocate for responsible tourism and conservation.
Originally from Winnipeg, Canada, she has spent the past several years working internationally in tourism and environmental storytelling, including time living and working in Zanzibar, Tanzania and Tamale, Ghana. These experiences offered her a firsthand look at the complex, and often unequal, realities of the global travel industry.
With a background in journalism, Riley uses her communications skills to raise awareness about both the challenges and the inspiring grassroots efforts happening within trekking and tourism communities.
Volunteering with PVC is a natural extension of her belief in using storytelling as a tool for justice, equity, and systems change.
She’s passionate about supporting porter voices and helping shift the travel industry toward workforce equity and more ethical practices.
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Marketing
Originally from the Boston area, Meredith has developed a global perspective through years of working abroad and traveling across six continents. For the past 20 years, she has worked in the travel sector with a focus on conservation, community impact, and sustainable tourism.
Her firsthand experience trekking in Peru, Tanzania, and Nepal deepens her understanding of the challenges porters face and the importance of equitable treatment.
PVC’s commitment to workforce equity for porters in these three countries aligns with her personal values and allows her to pair her creative marketing background with responsible, justice-driven tourism.
Creating platforms where digital storytelling advocates for porters’ rights and educates travelers so they, too, can champion fair and ethical treatment.