Meet Our Team

Ryan Wood is our Director of Operations - He is known as the brain of Live Different. Ryan has spoken to thousands of high school students across Canada, given leadership to our road teams since 2004, has lead multiple Hero Holiday trips, and along with his wife, Michelle, he is now based in Hamilton, Ontario. Ryan is known for 3 huge obsessions: his baby girls Amelia and Gracie, his hang-gliding career (ask him how his last landing of 2007 went!), and raw fish with scandalous amounts of wasabi!

Diane Ciarallo is our Programs/Office Administrator, which means she is always in the know. Diane has been with Live Different since September 2003, has held many different positions within the organization, and still strongly believes in the vision of Live Different! Diane is a proud Italian who loves traveling (whenever given the chance to escape the office), dancing, laughing (especially at Johnny Henderson's antics), high heels and ethnic food, but most of all loves seeing the looks on students faces when they come to the realization that they can make a difference in this world and there is a purpose for their lives! Diane lives in Hamilton, Ontario...by choice!

Cindy has been involved with Live Different for the past six years, as a valuable member of our team in a variety of capacities, including the High School teams, office administration, and student leadership programs. She has also been greatly impacted by her participation on various Hero Holiday trips, which have been integral to developing her perspective on social justice. Cindy has just completed a Master's Degree in International Development at Wycliffe College (University of Toronto), and she's surreptitiously eying Ph.D. studies in the near future...even though the thought of more school makes her want to curl up in a ball and sleep forever! Cindy is currently our Community Engagement Coordinator, which means there's a good chance you've talked to her on the phone or gotten an email from her before! She is also an avid fan of thrift store shopping, taking pictures of awkward Hamilton moments...and her favourite colour is sparkle!

Jonathon Henderson VIII is originally from St. Catharines, Ontario and he is the Road Team Leader for Team One. He likes to describe himself as a "low pressure system of humour from the east crashing into a high pressure system of passion and enthusiasm from the west, stirring up an epic hurricane of awesomeness". Jacked up on caffeine, he will jump into each day with an exuberant amount of in-your-face entertainment. He has been known to churn out some life-changing infomercials for useful products such as string, lint, and 1980's love ballad compilations. He loves long walks on short beaches, Easter candy, and being a part of Live Different. His life has been changed by the power of hope and he is determined to bring that with him wherever he goes. His antics never quit, along with his overwhelming desire to see this generation rise up and rock the face off of injustice.

Nettie is our Hero Holiday Administrator and Trip Facilitator in Dominican Republic and Haiti. Nettie helps to logistically plan our Hero Holidays, works with our parents, teams, and students, and also gives leadership during our Hero Holidays. Nettie is known for her kindness, her charming personality, and great love of yoga. Nettie dreams of beaches and of riding their waves - whether on a surf board or kiting - so long as it's the ocean! More importantly, Nettie loves working with our teams, meeting each person she emails with prior to the trip, and introducing them to all the communities that she works in throughout the year.

We like to call Frantzo our "Fixer" - and he has greatly earned this title! Frantzo has been working with our Live Different Hero Holiday teams since 2007. Any problem you have or need help with, he has a solution in either Creole, French, Spanish, English, and German. Frantzo, his wife, and their sons Junior and Grace-Lee live part-time in Dominican Republic and Haiti. Like many of us, Fantzo has a dream, and with this dream he hopes to see Haiti a thriving and prosperous nation. We like that dream, too!

Derek is located in Brandon, Manitoba, where he lives with his clan (his wife Becky and sons Daxton and Noah). Derek is a computer genius and a Wheat Kings hockey fan. However, he is a part of Live Different because he truly believes in the potential of each of our lives to be a part of hope and change. In a former life, Derek was a UFC contender, but due to an unnamed injury, he has decided to pursue his fame and fortune with Live Different instead.

Jamie began his journey with Live Different in 2010 as a young, quiet, long-haired band member. After playing guitar for multiple Live Different bands, he decided it was time to take things to the next level - it was time to drive the tour bus (and actually give leadership to one of our teams, speaking, driving and sometimes doing both). After very little thought, he packed up his backpack, snowboard and guitar, and moved to Hamilton to become the Team Two Leader. It was an obvious decision for him because he is passionate about traveling and pizza (which he will get a lot of in high school cafeterias this year!) and because he could fit all three of his worldly possessions his room at our staff housing.
Through his time with Live Different's Hero Holiday program, Jamie has seen first hand the change that is happening in youth across Canada. Ever since he began as a band member in 2010, he wants nothing more than to inspire youth to change their lives and change the world. He still isn't ready to cut his hair, though.

Heather loves playing hockey, and finding a suitable locaiton in Baja to create her own ice rink is proving to be more challenging than she thought! Before joining Live Different, Heather was a high school teacher in Canada, and is excited to be lead our Academy students during their time in Mexico. Heather is a hard core animal lover and can't imagine life without at least one pet. So for now, their dog, Maggie is an only child. Her favourite things in life are chocolate, sleeping in and running on the beach. However, she has found that you can't do all three at the same time, so she is focusing on learning how to multi-task better to make it happen!

Allison Towns spent the majority of her years growing up all over the Tri-City of Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo and had made a brief stop in Milton, Ontario to figure out what her newest adventure would be. Alli first encountered Live Different at a youth conference, and she was soon a part of Hero Holidays in both Dominican Republic and Thailand. Her world was turned upside down and right side up at the same time. As a recent graduate from the University of Waterloo, Alli was ecstatic (having to restrain her urge to hang up the phone and immediately break into a dance party) after receiving the life changing news that she would be a new member to the Live Different family, working alongside Team One. She is currently preparing to take on fresh and exotic things such as tour buses, high school gym stage set-ups and doing laundry on the fly.