Edna
Founder & CEO
Languages: English, Spanish
Edna’s first “abroad” experience was at nine years old. She spent 8-weeks with a host family in Germany to practice the language and learn the German culture. At 13, she experienced her first English Program at Southbourne School of English in Bournemouth, UK. Slowly she became a Group Leader for Mexican students and organized the activities and excursions. In time, she was part of the family business promoting and selling ESL programs and tours to the Mexican market. She took groups to the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Italy. Before Edna moved to Canada in 2009, she studied at Swiss Hotel Management School in Montreux, Switzerland and worked for big hotel chains such as Four Seasons Hotels and W hotels.
Both hotels shaped Edna to acquire exceptional customer service skills, greater attention to detail standards, and excellent event organizing quality. These skills are perfectly reflected in her camps. While in Canada, Edna also studied programs such as Arts and Entertainment Management at Capilano University and Product Management and Digital Marketing at BrainStation. The sum of all her skills and life experiences made Edna come up with the unique idea of launching The Urban Camp. With the present and future in mind, Edna wanted to create a fun, hip space to bring international students to Vancouver to learn innovative topics and start new and healthy habits with a wellness program. When Edna was ready to host her first summer camp in Vancouver, the pandemic hit and she had to pivot, coming up with the big idea of providing an online summer camp. Edna and her team has been educating students from México, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Ecuador, the US, and Canada for two years. In April 2022, Edna hosted her first camp in Vancouver; the rest is still being written for history.
When Edna is not working, she can be found discovering coffee shops and unique brunch spots, at the beach in the summertime or walking the seawall. Edna loves food and watching good international movies. You can also see her attending the city’s technology, entrepreneurship and networking events. She likes to support the local community and can’t wait to start giving back to it. These days The Urban Camp collaborates with some local startups and small businesses. Edna’s best ideas come from bus rides and walking in nature (believe it or not).