Organization and Leadership
The Transcaucasian Trail Association, Inc. (TCTA) is a non-profit corporation registered in Washington, D.C.
The TCTA currently supports two locally registered NGOs in the Caucasus, the Transcaucasian Trail NGO of Georgia and the Transcaucasian Trail Tourism Support NGO of Armenia, as well as an early-stage team in Azerbaijan that is currently working to establish an organization. These local organizations are coordinating the development of the trail in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan respectively. They are independent from the TCTA, but share the same vision.
In addition to financial support, the TCTA works to coordinate activities between the local NGOs and enable joint planning for the development of the trail, helping to ensure unity and consistency in the trail network and the experience for hikers. Want to learn more about our work? You can read our annual reports here.
Transcaucasian Trail Association Board of Directors
Laura Santos-Bishop
Board Chair
Laura is an Associate at Quinn Emanuel. Previously, she worked in Armenia and Georgia for several years as a Fulbright Fellow and school administrator. She has worked on trail crews in the U.S. and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Jon Saxe
Board Member
Jon is a career technology professional, He led worldwide organizations in telecom, investment banking, and most recently, at Google. He is currently active with universities, eco-climate causes, nonprofits, and tech advisory projects Jon holds a BS from Boston University and an MS from Stevens Tech. He is an avid skier, biker, hiker, and a very bad golfer.
Molly Dwyer
Board Member
Molly is the director of insights at PeakMetrics, a narrative intelligence start-up. Molly’s passion for Georgian wine developed while living in Washington, D.C., after her travels in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Molly spent a year in Kazan on an NSLI-Y scholarship before earning her politics degree at Princeton University.
Anastasia Edwards
Board Member
Anastasia is a citizen of both the UK and US. A graduate of Wesleyan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), she has been Tastings Editor of The World of Fine Wine magazine for fifteen years. Anastasia is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and has travelled and hiked in many parts of the world. During a recent TCT group hike to Armenia, she fell in love with the Caucasus and started learning Armenian almost as soon as her plane landed back home in London.
Liz Hansen Warner
Board Member
Liz is currently living in Wisconsin after spending almost 20 years in Denmark and the UK (and a stretch in NJ). She is the founder and co-director of the School Culture and Climate Initiative based at the Center for Human and Social Development at Saint Elizabeth University. She fell in love with the Caucuses (and the TCT!), during a visit to Svaneti in 2019. Liz loves the outdoors and adventures of all sorts – whether trekking to the North Pole (quite a story!), hiking the length of Offa’s Dyke in Wales, or hanging out in the high Caucasus mountains in Georgia. Liz holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in International Relations.
Ayka Agayeva
Board Member
Ayka Agayeva is the IT Operations & Programs Lead at Google. Ayka spent her childhood summers hiking through the mountains of Azerbaijan and shares the passion of TCTA for sharing the unique beauty of Caucasus Mountains with the world. She holds a B.S. in Information Systems from the University of Texas in Arlington.
Lizzie Schneider
Board Member
Lizzie is head of strategy and product operations at Google. Before joining Google in 2007, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Georgia. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Tom Allen
Board Member
Tom is one of the TCT’s co-founders, leading the Land Rover-sponsored Transcaucasian Expedition in 2016 to explore and map potential routes, stewarding the TCT’s development in Armenia between 2017 and 2023, and opening the trail’s first hikers’ hostel in Dilijan National Park. Now Expeditions & Fieldwork Manager at the Royal Geographical Society, he joined the board in 2026 and continues to maintain thru-hiker resources for the Armenian branch of the trail.
Interested in getting involved in the TCT and making a difference with your time, talents, and resources?
We’re seeking new board members! Learn more and apply here.
Transcaucasian Trail Association Staff & Advisors
Meagan Neal
Executive Director
Meagan has led the TCTA’s strategy, development, and communications in its mission to build and maintain the Transcaucasian Trail since 2020. She first joined the TCT as a 2018 volunteer and 2019 trail crew leader. Previously, she worked in development economics research at MIT’s Poverty Action Lab. She studied economics and Russian at Middlebury College.
Elizabeth Yancey
Chief Operating Officer
Elizabeth joined the TCT team in 2023 to manage our international outreach efforts. She taught English in Georgia from 2011–2013, returned to Georgia as a TCT volunteer in 2022, and then coordinated the TCT international volunteer program in Svaneti in summer 2023. She holds a B.A. in Geography and History and an MSc in Education.
Transcaucasian Trail Armenia Leadership
Ashot Davtyan
Director & Vice-President
Ashot first joined the TCT as the local volunteer coordinator for the Dilijan National Park trail building project in 2017. A former mountain guide and adventure tour organizer, he is now involved in trail development and educational projects with TCT’s partner organization Trails For Change. He holds a masters’ degree in finance management.
Meri Grigoryan
Project Coordinator
Meri joined TCT Armenia in 2022. She works with the TCT & partner organization Trails For Change to coordinate Youth for Change trail building camps in several regions of Armenia. Before that, she worked at People in Need Armenia and helped develop the Legends Trail in Syunik, a 150km section of the TCT.
Liana Khitaryan
Tour Manager
Liana joined TCT in 2019. She organizes and manages the TCT supporters’ treks in Armenia– if you join us on the trail, you’ll meet her! She also works at our partner Trails For Change managing technical trail projects. When she’s not managing trail projects, she also works as a dentist, managing to somehow combine two exceptionally different spheres.
Transcaucasian Trail Georgia Leadership
Giorgi Jmukhadze
Technical Manager
Giorgi leads field project management and curriculum development for the TCT NGO of Georgia. He was an Earth Corps crew member in Seattle, Washington in 2018. Previously, he volunteered on TCT trail crews and for an ecological organization in Romania. He holds a B.A. in Food Technology.
Ia Iakobashvili
Partnerships Manager
Ia joined the TCT in 2019, which sparked her interest in a career in environmental conservation. Now based in Seattle, she played a key role in developing regional conservation corps in the Caucasus and led partnerships development in Georgia. Ia holds B.A. in Public Administration and MSc in Natural Resources.
Rima Beridze
Grants Manager
Rima joined the TCT team in 2022 as a Grants Manager. She also works at American Councils for International Education as Open World Program Assistant and at NGO Step Toward Success as a Director, where she promotes non-formal education for youth living in regional parts of Georgia. Rima has a Master’s degree in Law.
Transcaucasian Trail Azerbaijan Leadership
Nazrin Garibova
Regional Trail Manager
Nazrin joined the project as it commenced in Azerbaijan in 2021, and now focuses on the trail’s expansion and assessment. She holds a B.A. from the College of William & Mary and an M.A. in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES) from Stanford University. Outside of TCT, she finds other ways to be crushed by Caucasian slopes as a member of the Azerbaijani ski-mountaineering team.
Abuzar Aghazada
Program Manager
Abuzar joined the TCT team in 2022 and now leads the Caucasus Conservation Corps program in Azerbaijan. He is also a mountain guide, co-founder and director of an outdoor gear shop in Baku, and developing a dehydrated food startup in Azerbaijan. He holds a bachelors’ degree in environmental engineering.
Gunay Murshudova
Outreach Coordinator
Gunay joined the TCT team in 2023 to plan and manage our Caucasus Conservation Corps program in Azerbaijan. Her background includes an associate degree in finance, several years of HR management within the Mountain Resort Industry and the retail sector, and over seven years of expertise as a mountain guide in Azerbaijan.
Transcaucasian Trail Association Hikers’ Board
Matt Schultz
Hikers’ Board Chair
Matt Schultz is a Peace Corps Volunteer working in community economic development in Georgia. After volunteering on the trail in 2024, he was inspired by TCT’s mission and the passionate community surrounding the organization. Matt is an alumnus of the Critical Language Scholarship, the Fulbright Program, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a BA in French, Spanish, and political science.
Alexandra Koteva
Hikers’ Board Member
Alexandra is an avid explorer with a love for wild adventures and going off the beaten path. After studying abroad in Georgia, she backpacked across all 3 Caucasus countries, including multiple short sections of the TCT. Her favorite hiking food is the 40-cent hot dogs in Armenian bakeries. After her time in the region, she continued backpacking across Europe and North Africa for an additional 6 months. Currently, Alexandra works in international education.
Lea Geibel
Hikers’ Board Member
Harry Kuril
Hikers’ Board Member
Harry decided to hike the TCT in 2023 because he’d just finished his PhD in seismology, and needed to spend some time outside. Since then, he works making maps for many causes, ranging from conservation projects in the Amazon, to emergency humanitarian responses (with charity organisation MapAction). He aims to use this expertise to also support the TCT. For more information, see his blog about hiking and maps: hkuril.com.
Katya Guryeva
Hikers’ Board Member
Katya is a climate resilience professional based in London, but escapes to the mountains whenever she can. She has lived in several countries, including Armenia, where she first heard about the TCT. In 2024, she returned to try and run the length of the Armenian section of the trail, which was one of the best experiences of her life. She’s passionate about empowering and supporting other women to get on trails, and encouraging people to come and see the beautiful nature of the Caucasus for themselves.
Want to be part of the TCT?
We’re seeking new TCTA board members to help us grow the organization and work towards the trail’s sustainability. Learn more and apply here.
We’re also seeking alumni hikers and volunteers to join our new Hikers’ Board. Learn more and apply here.
Interested in volunteering? Check out our field-based and virtual volunteering opportunities.
Not sure yet? Go hike the trail and tell us what you think.
Want to help make more of the TCT possible? Join our global community and support our work with a donation today!
