The Venture Expeditions Team

Paul Hurckman, Executive Director

Paul has spent time working in higher education, the church, and the non-profit sector. The common thread with each of these has been a passion for advocating on behalf of those affected by injustices happening in the world, as well as educating and mobilizing communities as to their responsibility and opportunity to change these situations. Paul holds a MA in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University. He is pursuing his PhD in International Relief and Development from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Together with his wife Candace, and their two children, Lola and Justus, they are committed as a family to engage in the story of justice and hope. Paul loves both camping in the wilderness and drinking coffee in the city.

Ryan Skoog, President and Co-Founder

Ryan, Venture's co-founder, oversees finances, development, staff, and board. Ryan earned his MBA from University of Saint Thomas's Schultz School of Entrepreneurship before founding two companies, Fly for Good and International Volunteer Card, which serve customers such as Harvard University, Invisible Children, and Youth With A Mission.  He has presented and shared at colleges and churches internationally and has visited many places Venture works (such as Tibet, Burma, Kenya, and Zimbabwe) to spread the tangible love of Jesus. Ryan enjoys anything outdoors that involves adrenaline, such as skydiving, snowboarding, surfing, kayaking, and mountain biking. Ryan and his wife, Rachel, have two ginger-headed kids, Colin and Sydney.

Aaron Smith, Administrative Director and Co-Founder

Aaron founded Venture Expeditions while still attending North Central University in 2002. After he graduated with a Journalism BA in 2004, he fostered Venture into a growing non-profit organization with a philosophy of Christian compassion at the center. He led several cross-country bicycle tours in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Aaron focuses on communications, design, campaign coordination, and future planning. He often commutes by bike to the Venture office and enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time with family. Together with his wife, Krista, they parent two children, Alaithia and Jotham. Aaron and his family desire to relocate to Thailand in three to five years and work with refugees and hill-tribe cultures.

Penthai Thewin, Foundation Coordinator and Director, Venture Community Center

Penthai coordinates all the classes, activities, and services in the Venture Community Center. Located near Chaing Mai in Ban Pong, Thailand, the Venture Community Center provides education and activities for young students and Basic English classes for adults. Penthai taught for eight years in Thai and international schools. He holds a Business English and Tourism degree from Rajamangkala University in Chaing Mai. A Christian from a young age, Penthai felt a vocational call to fight human trafficking in Thailand. In addition to coordinating the Venture Community Center, he works with the Protection Section, a Thai organization working to protect children from becoming victims of human trafficking. He is also a member of World Concern’s San Jai Network—an anti-human-trafficking organization based in Thailand. He enjoys biking in Thailand, delving into a good book, and constructing new thought-provoking lesson plans.

Josh Iniguez, Tour Director

Josh manages every aspect of Venture's tours from training leaders, organizing details, safety training, and dealing with the road bumps along the way. While studying International Relief and Development at North Central University, Josh biked down the East coast and fell in love with the Venture’s vision. Josh went on to lead the first team to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, and has facilitated over 20 cross-country domestic and international cycling and hiking trips since. An avid snowboarder, you can often find him catching air off abandon buildings' rooftops in the Twin Cities. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Kristina and his two dogs.

George Carr, Accountant & Sponsorship Coordinator

George studied Business Administration at North Central University where he met his wife Ali. Venture became close to his heart in 2007 when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with Josh Iniguez to raise money for street children in Uganda. At the office George handles accounting, sponsorship, community relations, and other administrative duties. George loves everything soccer. When he’s not pouring over debits and credits you can find him playing soccer, coaching, playing FIFA, and cheering on his beloved Gunners of Arsenal FC.

Ben Skoda, Communications Coordinator

Ben first became part of the Venture Community cycling on the Northern Tour, from Seattle to New York City, in 2010. His passion for sharing his experiences through the written word was kindled on that tour, and he has since been published on several advocacy and justice-related blogs and web magazines. Ben co-led the Just+Hope New York and Present:Hope cycling tours in 2011. That first tour started Ben down a road that led him to resign his job as a Special Education Coordinator and eventually join the Venture Team as Communications Coordinator. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Sarah, a teacher who met Ben just after he returned from his first tour, impressed by his calf muscles. They are part of a growing Venture community in Chicago, where past and present participants, friends, and adventurers rally around Venture's values in the Windy City.

Shannon Jones, Tour Coordinator

Shannon has been involved in Venture since 2008. She began hosting the Ride:Well tour at her home church in Texas and since has ridden her bike, Lazarus, 3/4 of the way around the US with Venture. When she is not riding her bike with Venture she can be found helping coordinate tours, talking with trip participants and dreaming of future adventures. She had a variety of life experiences from living in Prague, teaching art in an inner-city school, working in a transitional living facility with women out of prison and off the street, to pioneering a few community homes. Her hobbies include people watching, coffee drinking, woodworking, npr listening, traveling and trying new things. She lives in Minneapolis in a community house.

Laurel Anderson, Assistant to Executive Director

Laurel has been an intern with Venture Expeditions since June of 2012. She is currently studying business, and enjoys spending her free time visiting museums, coffee shops and bookstores in Minneapolis. She also loves hiking and riding her bike around the lakes in the city. Laurel has biked over 3,000 miles with Venture to help aid Venture’s work in Northern Thailand and Eastern Burma. Her motivation for her participation in Venture’s trips is fueled by David’s depiction of sacrifice in 2 Samuel 24.

Emma Miernicki, Assistant to Co-Founder & Accountant

While studying Social Work at Augsburg College, Emma felt God call her to dedicate her life and career to the advocacy of the oppressed and underserved people of the world. She believes God has given us all a role in His story of Biblical Justice. Born and raised in Nordeast Minneapolis she can often be found running around many of its beautiful lakes or frequenting its local book stores and farmers markets. This summer she’ll be hiking with the 5 Summits Tour in Colorado and biking with the Global Venture Tour across Minnesota.

Jaclyn Howard, Assistant to Communications Coordinator

Jaclyn has been working with Venture Expeditions since May 2011 as the media associate. Jaclyn attended Columbia College Chicago and graduated in December 2012 with her degree in marketing and journalism. She is actively engaged in the Venture Chicago community and other activities around the city. In her free time, she likes to travel, visit coffee shops around the city, and play badminton.