Born and raised in Durango, Colorado, USA, Austin Volz grew up hiking in the mountains, rock climbing, rafting, and backpacking. He found his love of collaborative learning and experiential education while pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico and wrote his Bachelor's thesis on John Dewey's Democracy and Education. As an English language teacher in Greece and Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Germany, he worked with youth to foster intercultural communication and deepen his knowledge of second language acquisition. Having studied Mandarin with Cornell University's FALCON program, he is happy to back in Beijing, deepening his understanding of China and working on his language skills. Austin currently works as a Program Developer with the JUMP! foundation, working to inspire and empower youth to become global citizens and community leaders.
