Founder and President

Steve Rosencranz founded The Woods Project in 2001 to provide opportunities for low income youth to develop the skills for life through a wilderness education program.   In 2008, he incorporated The Woods Project as a stand-alone entity to facilitate the continued growth of the program.   Steve comes from an entrepreneurial background, having founded two successful independent finance companies and co-founding a Grameen model micro-lending non-profit. He has led outdoor adventures for large groups for over 10 years and has backpacked and hiked all over the continental United States.   He and his wife Tricia live in Houston. His two daughters are grown and out of the nest and have been replaced by two foo foo dogs.

Director Of Operations and Programming

Andrea Mayes is the Director of Operations and Programming for The Woods Project. Mayes graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan. Right out of college, she entered the teaching profession through Teach For America, a national service corps committed to teaching two years in under-resourced communities and becoming life-long leaders to expand educational opportunities for all children. Mayes taught at Sherman Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District for three years. She is a driven individual who is passionate about empowering and shaping young adults with the belief that providing students with a bigger vision of the world will ultimately lead them to become self-sufficient leaders that see obstacles as opportunities.  Mayes spends her free time traveling, exploring parks, running, and biking, and is always looking for new outdoor adventures.

Club Program Manager

Phil Huffeldt is the Club Program Manager for the Woods Project.  After finishing a BA in Film Production at Occidental College with a strong minor in Marine Biology, Phil moved to Europe for three years.  In Copenhagen, Denmark, Phil worked for the Copenhagen Post, an English speaking newspaper there, as Art Editor and learned Danish on the side.  Since returning to his hometown of Houston, Texas, Phil has focused heavily on environmental work, most recently at the Council for Environmental Education, a non-profit dedicated to connecting children to nature.  Phil believes strongly in a substantial dose of the best kind of medicine, wilderness and self-discovery, and prescribes it to everyone, especially students.  As a dedicated outdoor advocate, Phil has seen many students learn leadership and life skills out in nature who go on to handle themselves and life’s challenges with gusto and self-confidence.  For fun, Phil loves making films, learning to sing and play guitar, traveling, and anything that gets him out into the wild and under the stars.