The Pangaea Project

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Stephanie Tolk, MSW Co-Founder, Resource Development Officer At age 15, Stephanie Tolk was living in a small Connecticut town and surprised her family by announcing her desire to spend a summer abroad with AFS Intercultural Programs. Her travels up to that point included beachside destinations that all resembled one another, but it was the weekends in nearby New York City that offered her a glimpse into the complex, fascinating cultures beyond her neighborhood. That summer, she lived as an exchange student in Greece, and it was that experience that initially inspired a lifetime of travel to over 45 countries which has included a year abroad with AFS in the Netherlands, participation in Semester at Sea in college, service in the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, and months of independent travel and volunteerism. Stephanie immensely values the ways in which international travel awakens, awes, and enlightens those fortunate enough to go abroad, and she believes that all people should have access to participation in overseas programs. After returning from two years in West Africa, Stephanie knew that her future held two concrete components: she would work towards social change, and she would in some way share this remarkable world with others. While coalescing this knowledge into something concrete, Stephanie earned her Masters of Social Work and volunteered at various agencies in Portland to become a deeper part of the community. Her vision of The Pangaea Project is the natural progeny and perfect symbiosis of her innate sense of social justice and her respect for all people on the planet. Stephanie holds a Bachelors Degree in English with honors from the University of Michigan, a Masters of Social Work from Portland State University, and most notably, is the mother of a beautiful baby girl, Penelope. Joshua Mead, MSW Director of Programs Joshua Mead was given the valuable gift of developmental cross-cultural awareness by growing up in a bicultural household and interacting in the multi-cultural neighborhoods where he was raised. While studying political science with an emphasis in biology in college, Joshua traveled to Kenya for five months to study wildlife conservation and land-use management. It was while working with the Maasai on cultivation practices, irrigation issues, and wildlife conflicts, that Joshua’s worldview began to fundamentally change and his passion for working with people was bolstered. Joshua has happily called Portland home for the last eight years although he is loyal to his New England roots. He earned his Masters of Social Work in community-based practice and places high value on the insights that are produced from studying, working, interacting, and experiencing in cross-cultural environments. Committed to youth and families, Joshua has not only worked in direct services as a teacher, facilitator, mentor, tutor, and case manager, but has also sought to create change through program development.

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