Our Team
The PIVOTPoint Team is made up of powerful, compassionate humans. We all have top level wilderness safety & group facilitation experience. Learn more about the backbone of our work.
Matt Nannis
Founder
Matt Nannis started PIVOTPoint WNC in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s an accredited adventure program that works with teenagers through small groups and time outside. His program works with schools, juvenile justice, and community partners to run prevention and diversion programs. Matt is in long-term recovery. That experience led him into this work. What helped him then still shows up in how the programs are built now. Some of the teenagers he works with are dealing with real challenges. Others are opting into this alternative support model to build connection, awareness, and direction. The work meets them where they are and keeps things practical. Matt is interested in what actually helps. Less talk, more doing.
- Stories From the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
- Conversations with Red Cedar Transitions
- Hopestream: PIVOT Points – Recovery Is For Those Who Do It
- Nature Untold: Finding Your Pivot Point
- Stories From the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
- Mix 96.5 Asheville Area Focus Interview
- WLOS – WNC school tackles mental health issues through nature
- Finding New Waters: PIVOTPoint, Shame, and Recovery Through the Outdoors
- Crosstalk the Podcast: Middle of the Boat
Tai Kulenic
Program Director
Tai Kulenic, MPS, LCMHC, ATR. Tai has been a licensed psychotherapist and Registered Art Therapist for 20 years. Her work has included spending 2 summers in Africa doing art therapy with ex-child soldiers, as well as working in Sri Lanka doing crisis intervention work immediately after the deadly 2004 Tsunami. She believes that you cannot find the answers to life outside of yourself. She is passionate about creating spaces that encourages others to brave their truth and be the alchemist of their own story. Tai is currently training to be an Ordained Animal/Eco-spirituality Chaplain and believes that when we look at nature, it also looks at us, and she wants to cultivate that relationship in others. When she isn’t working, you will find her either hiking in the woods with her two English bulldogs, getting lost in the creative process, or exploring backroads.
Loui F. Lindsay
Community Liaison
Loui (he/him) is a native east coaster who was born with a passion for adventure and healing in the outdoors (land+water).
In 2021, Loui received his MS in Clinical Mental Health and Adventure Based Counseling from Prescott College. During his graduate studies, he focused his research on providing validating mental health care for adolescents in the LGBTQ+ community. Loui completed his internship rotation locally at SUWS of the Carolinas while working closely with the Seasons group (ages 10-14) in the Pisgah National Forest.
His approach involves being genuinely curious, gentle, and kind while also leaning deeply on the natural world as a catalyst for change. His repertoire of experiences is no mistake as he has intentionally cultivated and values each one. He’ll also be the first to share that out of all of his different roles in life, the most important ones to him are being a great Dad to his son and loving partner to his spouse.
Sean Haggerty
VP of Donor Relations
Hi! Thanks for reading a little bit about me. “Build Relationships” is a core mantra of mine and I even have that on a sign above my desk to remind me! I truly believe all of life’s challenges can be improved through relationships and connection. Reach out and prove me wrong. Yes, this is a trick to help us connect. Reach out anyways. Connection with others and connecting others.
When we are a part of these things, our world often feels safer, better, stronger–CONNECTED. These values matter to me and having harmony in an organization with my same values is a core personality to know about me. PIVOTPoint WNC brings those same values to the work we do with the youth we serve which connects us all in purpose and support of the next generation. I have spent over 30 years helping support adolescents in their development to ready them for productive adulthood. These relationships all matter to me.
As the VP of Donor and Public Relations for PIVOTPoint WNC, I get to build relationships with so many like minded and giving people. Together, we will positively impact the future of this next generation. I am excited to get to know you.
Reach out at my Calendly link below, or call/text me: (828) 243-1427. Let’s build a relationship and make an impact together.
Mo Fitzgerald
Lead Guide
Mo (she/her) is an energetic, grounding, and charismatic individual! She believes that connecting in a wilderness based setting can truly open up one’s sense of values, self worth, and own self identity. Mo’s leadership style is more nurturing based – believing that in order to create healing and fun there needs to be a sense of attunement, consistency, and security. She believes when these values are met that we are able to explore oneself while stretching out of our comfort zone. Mo received a degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism with a minor in Outdoor Leadership at Western Illinois University in 2017. After graduating, she volunteered as a Peace Corps Volunteer and spent two years in Senegal, West Africa. When she returned home, she began developing her passion for mental health by being a Wilderness Therapy Guide. Since working in wilderness therapy, Mo has devoted her work to being as growth mindset as possible. She is investing her time in creating new ideas, connecting with individuals, and opening her heart to her own personal growth. In her free time, Mo enjoys singing, cooking, doing yoga, running, and hiking with her dog!
Kyle Bishop
Guide
Kyle graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in leadership development in 2015. After graduating, he moved around from Colorado, Kentucky, and North Carolina, working with students in various outdoor environments.
He has been consistently impressed by how nature allows students to step out of their comfort zones, open up, and grow. In 2016, he started working in Western North Carolina on and off, leading backpacking trips and working in Outdoor Education. He fully moved into the area in 2023. From his experience working with students and his own personal journey, he has seen firsthand how important nature and adventure are for growth and healing. He spends his free time running, hiking, climbing, traveling, and reading.
Dan Horseman
Guide
Dan has a BS in Outdoor Education and Psychology, and he is a Certified Professional Life Coach. He worked in the Wilderness/Adventure Therapy field for almost 15 years, primarily working with teens and their parents. Dan loves using the natural world along with experiential and adventure-based activities to help his clients learn, grow, heal, and connect. Throughout his time working in mental health treatment programs, Dan has held a number of leadership positions including Program Director, Adventure Therapy Director, and Transitions Coordinator. He strives to build strong relationships with his clients that are based on trust, compassion, empathy, and providing
a non-judgmental space for his clients to be their authentic selves.
He spends most of his free time with his wife, two young boys, and their dog. He is an avid whitewater kayaker but loves all sorts of outdoor activities. Fun Fact: He hiked the entire
Appalachian Trail in 2013.
Raquel Leal
Guide
Raquel (she/her/hers) grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, where access to the outdoors was limited and city life was far more familiar than the benefits of nature. While attending Western Illinois University, she began to explore the outdoors with a sense of curiosity and wonder. There, she found a community of peers who introduced her to outdoor recreation. She built a community sharing her growing love for the natural world. This realization sparked the beginning of her journey into the wilderness, allowing nature to help shape the path ahead.
Raquel dedicated her career to outdoor education and youth development. She became a guide at a nonprofit leading inner-city youth through their local waterways, enriching their lives through nature. Afterwards. she was off to work as a guide in Haines, Alaska. Upon her return, she returned to helping teens develop healthy coping techniques through immersive nature-based experiences.
Outside of her professional life, Raquel has a deep love for long mountain hikes, camping, canoeing, and foraging, and she enjoys unwinding at live music shows. She also has a beloved cat named Sebastian, whom she adopted during her time in Alaska — a furry reminder of one of her greatest adventures.
Tim Gonino
Guide
Tim first started his career in mental health as a field guide at Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness in 2020. He went on to work in San Diego schools and homes as an Registered Behavior Technician, helping children (ages 2-17) with severe behavioral and language difficulties. Tim continued his exploration of mental health work in Hawaii, working as a staff residential treatment center. Tim returned to work at Blue Ridge in 2023 as a field guide and later became a field manager. He now facilitates after-school wilderness programming for a non-profit in Asheville, NC. He has been certified in multiple de-escalation training (CPI, PCS, and Aegis), ABA therapy, and is practiced in motivational interviewing.
Shannon Poulos
Guide
Hey, I’m Shannon! I’ve spent nearly a decade working in therapeutic recreation, focusing on the practical side of mental, emotional wellness, and nature. My academic background includes a Psychology degree from Carroll University in Wisconsin and a Master’s in Clinical Social Work from New Mexico Highlands University. I’ve worked the spectrum from wilderness therapy, youth shelters, treatment programs, and individual therapy. I am so happy to be a part of the Pivot Point team where I can bring my passion and experience to the table.
Outside of work, I prefer to stay active or outdoors. I’m a big fan of rafting, hiking, and gardening, and trying to catch as much live music as possible.