Education

• 1991, master of business administration, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
• 1978, bachelors of arts, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota

Expertise

Wilderness adventure travel, inclusion, and non-profit management 

Professional experiences

Wilderness Inquiry, Minneapolis, Minnesota

• Founder of non-profit Wilderness Inquiry, the oldest and most extensive outdoor education and travel program in the world for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Since 1978, Wilderness Inquiry has served more than 200,000 people on wilderness trips throughout the world, including thousands of people with disabilities such as quadriplegia, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis or traumatic brain injury.
• Pioneer of outdoor education programs and training curriculum that use the wilderness to facilitate greater acceptance of human diversity. Developer of training curriculum on the latest techniques for integrating all people into activities, facilities, and programs. Author of numerous articles.
• Creator of adaptive outdoor recreation equipment, such as one-armed paddles, that significantly increases mobility for persons with disabilities. Guide for more than 100 Wilderness Inquiry trips integrating people of all abilities, including those with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities. Trips have included kayaking in Costa Rica, British Columbia and Lake Superior, horseback trips in the Colorado Rockies, and canoeing in the Boundary Waters, the Everglades, Australia, Russia, Alaska and throughout Canada.
• Author of numerous articles, books and reports, Lais is the primary author of two Congressional studies regarding access to Wilderness and Federal recreational lands. Wilderness Inquiry is the only organization that has a formal agreement with all six federal land-management agencies to help make federal recreation land accessible to people with disabilities.

Honors

• Jim Renne Leadership Award, Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, May 2000
• Minnesota State Council on Disability Distinguished Service Award, November 1992
• St. John's University Alumni Achievement Award 1990
• Honored at the White House for service for people with disabilities, April 1989
• National Therapeutic Recreation Society Organization Citation for 1988

Topics

• Wilderness trips for people with disabilities, seniors and families 
• How to select and prepare for a wilderness adventure
• Vacations that enable personal/family growth
• Best wilderness trips for novices and advanced adventurers
• Traveling with special-needs children and adults
• Adaptive equipment for disabled wilderness adventurers
• Impact of motorized vehicles on the wilderness
• Improving wilderness and outdoor recreation access
• Therapeutic value of a wilderness adventure

Media Experience

Lais and Wilderness Inquiry have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine and CBS Sunday Morning, among many other travel, lifestyle and trade publications. Lais is a sought-after speaker on such topics as leadership, entrepreneurship, adventure travel, disability, diversity and non-profit management.

Revised November 2009