Wandi Steward

Wandi Steward is an avid outdoor enthusiast who grew up camping, canoeing and horseback riding in the Midwest with the Girl Scouts, 4-H Club and Youth Conservation Corps. She also performed African-dance with the renowned Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, and studied Tae Kwon Do with the Choi Brothers.

After exploring several majors, including engineering and dance, Wandi earned degrees in aeronautics and aviation from Parks College of Aviation, Engineering and Technology, at Saint Louis University.

Just a few years into her aviation career, as airport operations and emergency manager for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport, Wandi discovered a new passion.

She fled the airport to plan and organize components of the Beijing Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games, Shanghai Special Olympics World Summer Games, Doha (Qatar) Asian Games, Shanghai Formula One racing and others. Globetrotting around the planet led to a resurrection of her camping skills with sleepovers on the Giza Plateau, the Great Wall of China and Mt. Everest.

Wandi believes space is the ultimate outdoor adventure, and has nurtured partnerships for the NASA-endorsed Traveling Space Museum since 2010. She promotes science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) by organizing Space Days at schools and festivals around the nation. With interactive simulators, and replicas of actual NASA space equipment, the Traveling Space Museum inspires children of all ages to EXPLORE!

A certified Wilderness First Responder, High & Low Ropes course facilitator and archery instructor, Wandi is currently an outdoor skills trainer for the Girl Scout leaders of Historic Georgia. Additionally, she is a skier, hiker and mountain biker and also enjoys sailing and kayaking. She is an active member of Keeping It Wild – Atlanta, the Atlanta African American Adventurers, Hartfield’s Hikers and Denver’s Beckwourth Doers. She is dedicated to helping others get out and get active in their local, state and national parks.

A recent graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School’s (NOLS) Wilderness Horse-packing course, she aspires to walk with the elephants in the Maasai Mara and climb baobab trees on the island nation of Madagascar.

Wandi is energetic, enthusiastic and an engaging speaker as she captivates her audiences with vivid stories of her experiences.