About Smaller Earth Group
We're a growing international group of brands guided by a shared set of values, purpose and vision. Each brand has a different story, but they've all had similar roads - their success is due to the passion and dedication of people who dared to make a difference.
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From a back bedroom in Liverpool we've come pretty far.
We started our journey in 1999 when a young camp counselor named Chris Arnold arrived back home to Liverpool, England, after spending an incredible summer at camp in America. Inspired by his experience, Chris made a decision that would change his life. With help and guidance from Dave Robinson, a close friend who had originally told Chris about summer camp, the Camp Leaders brand was born.
2007 brought with it the launch of our cultural exchange umbrella brand Smaller Earth. It was clear that life-changing experiences were not just limited to America. With our values in mind, we expanded to new territories and introduced a range of international travel programmes all connected by that common theme; to positively impact.
As we continued to grow, we established Smaller Earth Group to provide a head office platform focused on expanding our brand portfolio whilst offering strategy, support and centralised services such as marketing, operations and accounting.
From then, we have expanded across 14 countries and developed new brands such as Cleversteam, a technology company, with a now market leading cultural CRM.
In 2018, Smaller Earth partnered with NYQUEST, the market leader of international summer camp staffing in Canada to create a joint venture, Camp Canada.
After two unprecedented years of pandemic and the most challenging time in the history of the company, Smaller Earth Group have rebuilt its brands from the ground up, focusing on innovation and delivering an exceptional customer experience.
Dave Robinson (left), Sam Cote (middle) and Chris Arnold (right) at Camp Lincoln & Lake Hubert
Smaller Earth Group in numbers
Smaller Earth Group is on track to grow at faster rate than at any time in its history, delivering record-breaking participant numbers and financial performance.
Learn more about our brands
From the North West coast in England to the South Island of New Zealand. Smaller Earth Group strives to build the best brands in cultural exchange.
We inspire people to go further.
Fuelled by talented, passionate people who are committed to our purpose, values and vision we've expanded to more than a dozen countries across 5 continents.
Although we're made up of unique individuals from all over the world, we're all driven by one common purpose - to inspire people to go further. It’s the foundation upon which we build our work each day and it is a purpose that we all believe in.
Self-Development
Passion
Innovation
Excellence
Ambition
Resilience
Our values are the standards we set for ourselves. They influence the decisions we make, and guide us to do what's right, instead of what's easy.
We've been on a long journey, but it's not over yet. We believe we can make a positive impact on a global scale. By living our purpose and staying true to our values, we can achieve our vision: to be global leaders in life-changing cultural exchange.
Meet the team
Our team is made up of passionate, dedicated individuals from all around the world. They all bring something unique to the table - but it's their willingness to work together that truly makes Smaller Earth what it is.
Iza Gyuricza is the Chief Executive Officer of Smaller Earth Group. She has nearly two decades of experience at Smaller Earth in key leadership roles and is responsible for the company's strategic growth. Born in Hungary, Iza now resides in the UK. She is analytical, focused, and driven to achieve business objectives with a hands-on approach.
Dean Maddocks is the Chief Marketing Officer at Smaller Earth Group. He has over 10 years of experience working with marketing, sales and strategic planning teams. Dean's role includes leading marketing, strategy, technology and innovation for the company.
Alex Fekete is a Sales Director at Smaller Earth Group and has been with Smaller Earth since 2005. He is responsible for developing exciting new Smaller Earth programmes, as well as developing our commercial strategy. Alex often travels the world to find new business and build new brands.
Ross Beale is the Chief Technology Officer at Smaller Earth Group. With a rich background in product-focused software engineering, Ross specializes in developing both web and mobile platforms. His responsibilities encompass building and mentoring the technology team, as well as driving innovation and our technology strategy.
Natalie is an International Financial Controller professional with over 15 years of experience in the industry. She joined Smaller Earth Group in September 2017, and has been working on a global level across all of our business units. With a love for travel and adventure, Natalie is always looking for new opportunities to explore.
Andy is Operations Director of Smaller Earth Group and has been with the company for nearly two decades across multiple offices and leadership roles. Andy has an analytical mind and is our crisis management expert. In his spare time he is passionate about live music and travels all over the world to attend festivals.
Michael is the Operations Director at Smaller Earth Group and has been with the company for over 15 years. Michael is in charge of operational efficiency of our group brands alongside managing our technology developments. He's detail-orientated, analytical, and has a depth of industry knowledge.
Ryan Brown is the Director of Resort Leaders. He sets the strategy and vision for Resort Leaders and is a key member of Smaller Earth Group's leadership team. Ryan is passionate about hospitality, travel and helping others reach their goals.
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Ivy Cohen-Altman is Camp Leaders Director. She sets the strategy and vision for the Camp Leaders brand. She also co-ordinates our global Camp Leaders recruitment offices, and works closely with our US camp client base. Ivy has an unmatched camp experience, having both attended and worked at camp for many years.
Jonathan Nyquist is the founder and director of Camp Canada. His love for camping stems from his childhood summers spent in Canada. He is constantly energized by the impact that camping has on people's lives and believes it's ability to foster a strong sense of community.
Dave Robinson is the co-founder of Smaller Earth. He has been involved in the development and implementation of our purpose, values and vision since Smaller Earth's inception. Now a Non-Executive Director, Dave acts as a key advisor involved in policymaking, planning and monitoring our executive directors.
Bastian has been with the company since 2007. As a former CEO of Smaller Earth, his passion and drive has played a key part in the company’s global expansion. Now in the role of Chair, Bastian is responsible for working with our board to ensure the long-term growth of the company.
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Jack has been shaping Smaller Earth Group's visual identity since joining in 2017. With a passion for branding and creative campaigns, Jack plays a key role in strategising, designing, and maintaining the visual standards of our brands.
Mike has been with Smaller Earth since 2018 across a variety of roles. As Senior Marketing Specialist, he helps manage various country websites, email marketing campaigns, and other areas of content marketing (which is a passion of his outside of work, too).
Byran is Smaller Earth Group's Digital Content Producer, leading the video marketing strategy for all brands. With experience in offline and online marketing, as well as in TV and film production, he drives creative video projects from concept to delivery.
Josh takes charge of all paid media & digital advertising for all Smaller Earth Group brands. He manages and optimises the ongoing paid strategy whilst working with a range of country offices to help them hit key KPIs for registrations and deposits.
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Daniel has been a central part of the Finance team at Smaller Earth Group for 7+ years. Holding a degree in Accounting and Finance, he manages and analyses the company accounts across business units, contributing to the businesses efficiency.
Anna is the newest addition to our Finance team at Smaller Earth Group. She analyses our business accounts and assists in our daily operations. With a passion for travel and adventure, Anna has a wealth of camp experience, having worked at summer camps in both Canada and the USA.