Aaron Fernandes, BA

Executive Director

Co-founder, Owner

Aaron holds a BA in psychology from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Aaron has vast leadership experience in the fields of outdoor education and wilderness therapy. In 1999, Aaron joined Aspen Achievement Academy, where he served as a Senior Field Instructor and then Field Director from 2002 to 2003. As Field Director, Aaron supervised the day-to-day field operations, organized trainings for employees, served as risk management director, and implemented programmatic innovations in personnel management and quality assurance. In 2004, he accepted a position of Executive Director of Explorations Wilderness Programs in Trout Creek, Montana. Aaron was then hired to provided strategic business consultation for a variety of Aspen Education Group (AEG) wilderness therapy programs.

In addition to his work with Aspen, Aaron worked as a field instructor with the Voyageur Outward Bound School in Montana leading mountaineering trips. He facilitated spiritual wilderness workshops with the Esalen Institute in California. Aaron also has worked as coordinator of a 15,000 square foot organic garden with at-risk inner city teenagers, served as an HIV prevention educator in India, and traveled extensively to such places as Africa and South America. While at Brown University, Aaron was elected captain for the Ivy League Champion Men’s Soccer team. He spent a semester away from school in Patagonia, Chile with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), and then served as manager of the Brown Outdoor Leadership Training (BOLT) program where he oversaw the program’s successful accreditation with the Association of Experiential Education. Through all of these varied experiences, Aaron has come to understand the value of teamwork and interdependence and the importance of articulating a compelling and audacious vision.

Aaron is an inspiring and confident leader. Aaron founded Open Sky with a vision of excellence and sustainability on all fronts: delivering treatment services with long-term benefits for students and families, supporting the passions and growth of employees, and engaging in environmentally and socially responsible business practices. He is a critically engaged thinker, loves the outdoors, and deeply enjoys working with people. These characteristics are synthesized with his vision and manifest in his leadership of Open Sky.