Trent Christensen
Trustee - Board Chair

Trent was born and raised in Des Moines, IA and attended the University of Iowa graduating with a BBA in finance.  After graduation, he moved to San Francisco and began working for a private equity firm and then later spent 8 years at a startup firm.  After 13 years in SF, he, his wife Sarah, and their son Henry, decided they were ready to try out a different lifestyle and moved aboard a sailing catamaran, named S/V Upside Up.  After almost 4 years, exploring the Eastern Caribbean Trent and his family found Del Mar Academy and permanently moved to Nosara for a new chapter of adventure.

Bram Shook
Founder

Bram grew up in Westport, CT. After graduating from San Diego State University, he stayed in San Diego for eight years working with a Fortune 500 Information Technology firm in sales and management. In 2001, Bram decided to trade in his suit and tie for shorts and flip flops and moved to Nosara where he immediately began working at Century 21 Nosara which he’s owned since 2006. Bram and his wife Jessica are co-founders of Del Mar Academy where their two children attend.

Hayley Macmillian-Ord
Founder

Hayley (with her husband and young daughter) moved from the Cayman Islands to Costa Rica in 2002 intending to move her private practice of Acupuncture and TCM to Nosara.  Both were put on hold as she turned her focus to co-founding Del Mar Academy and raising 3 children whom all attend DMA. Their daughter was the first IB graduate from Del Mar in 2018.  Currently she can be found supporting the different needs of Del Mar Academy as it continues to expand its programs and student or teaching Aerial Yoga classes at The Nosara Performing Arts Academy she co-founded with her friend Adrienne.

Jessica Sheffield Zamora
Founder

A Costa Rican Fulbright Scholar and Ashoka Fellow with a Master Degree in Environmental Resource Management and a Bachelor Degree in Marine Biology. She is a co-founder of Del Mar Academy and the founder of the Guardians of Nature Movement. In 2012, through an entrepreneurial competition, Jessica’s “Sustainable Homes ” idea was adopted and implemented nationwide. She is the author of The Guardian of Nature children’s book series.  Jessica is also a co-founder of the Nosara Recycling Association. She lives in Nosara with her husband, Bram and her children, Kai and Lucia. Jessica’s dream is to see the “Guardians of Nature” initiative and strategies be implemented worldwide.

Iain Ord
Founder

Born and raised in the UK, Iain owned a successful construction business in the Cayman Islands for 20 years prior to moving to Nosara full time in  2008. He is co-owner of Pacific design group here in Nosara and a co-founder of Del Mar Academy. When not building or renovating homes in Nosara, (Inky) can be found 3 times a week coaching the local NFC futbol team ‘Maniacs’ with his co-coach Bram.

Carlos Castro
Founder - Treasure

Carlos was born and raised in San José, Costa Rica and moved to Nosara in 2003. He has a Bachelor´s degree in Pharmacy and a Master of Science in Commercial Management in Marketing from the University of Barcelona, Spain.  He currently works for Century21 as a real estate agent. Carlos, his wife Natalia and their two young boys have made their home in Nosara and their oldest boy attends Del Mar Academy. He is one of the original co-founders of Del Mar Academy.

Andrés González
Trustee

Born and raised in San José, Costa Rica where he graduated from law school in 2003. Arrived for the first time in Nosara in the year of 1985, when he was only 6 years old and since then himself and his family fell in love with the town. In 1993 the family decided to build their second home in Guiones Beach. In the year of 2007 he decided  to move permanently  to Nosara and opened the law firm IBL Consultores, then in 2011 he converted his old family house into the Nosara Beach Hostel with the purpose of giving an affordable option for ticos and foreigners to come to surf at Playa Guiones without paying outrageous prices. Andres and his wife Alessandra have 2 young daughters and live permanently in Nosara.

José Guillermo Chavarría Sánchez
 Trustee

Born and raised in Costa Rica, attended DMA from 4th through 12th grade, graduated in 2019 with an IB bilingual diploma.

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering  and currently pursuing a Master’s in Project Management and Administration.

Jane Marchant
Trustee - Secretary

Born and raised in Switzerland, with an English Dad and a Dutch Mom, Jane graduated from physical therapy school in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1990. In 1995 she took off to Nosara, Costa Rica to experience a year living in a foreign (warm and tropical) country. Fast forward 5 years, and in 2000, after having worked as PA to Don and Amba Stapleton of the renowned Nosara Yoga Institute, she founded Nosara Wellness, a center for movement and healing therapies and gave birth to her first child. In 2006, Selina and her younger brother Silvan were part of the very first cohort of students attending DMA. A few years later, Jane became the first member of the DMA board of trustees who was not a founder. She served on the DMA board for 5 years and started the Financial Aid program at DMA. Selina and Silvan have both graduated from DMA, with a bilingual IB diploma and Jane is back on the board of trustees.  

Elizabeth Cundill
Trustee

Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Elizabeth and her family moved to Nosara in 2013. Her daughters Anna and Francesca started at DMA the same year. She has an undergraduate degree

from McGill University in Geography, specializing in Geography and Environment, as well as a

MBA from Concordia University in Montreal. Before moving to Nosara, she had a wonderful 15 year career as a consultant and project manager in the field of conservation, indigenous culture,

and land use. She sat on the Board of the Batshaw Foundation for at-risk youth, and founded “Game On”, a non-profit that collects and ships donated sports equipment to support kids hockey programs in arctic communities. After moving to Nosara, she founded Nosara Day Camp. In

2019, Elizabeth founded Mango Realty. Her husband, Vytas, runs Bantam Materials and Prevented Ocean Plastic, which sources and promotes recycled plastic for international manufacturers. Their daughter Francesca still goes to DMA.