Katy Wheelock, Vive’s founder, is an experienced trip organizer and leader, having designed and led multiple student exchanges and educational trips to Senegal, Quebec, and France in her role as middle and high school teacher over the last three decades.
Katy lived for two years in Senegal in the late 1990s as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal where she studied African Literature and African Civilizations. Katy’s current work benefits from her diverse experiences in Senegal and many other francophone countries with refugee work for the International Organization for Migration, peace-keeper training for the African Union, as well as teaching and volunteering with various language programs and a Senegalese homeless children’s shelter. Katy’s professional and personal connections provide a foundation for rich experience for Vive’s participants.
Matou Diallo, Vive’s Senegal Country Director, is a Senegalese teacher of French in the USA. He also serves as Vive’s Trip Director for our 4-week Global Service Learning student projects in Senegal. His wealth of experience teaching French and Wolof, his cross-cultural expertise, and decades of leadership and training with volunteers and students touring and studying in Senegal makes him the perfect fit for Vive.
His family opened their home to Peace Corps volunteers as part of their training when he was younger. Later, Matou became a language trainer himself. His firsthand experience with cross-cultural and linguistic training for the School for International Training (SIT) and CIEE, as well as serving as a leader on other tours and study abroad programs have led him to be a top expert in this field.
Katie Klein, Vive’s Assistant Trip Leader, is a high school French teacher who lives for languages, travel, and meaningful connections. She studied abroad in Senegal during college and has returned many times to visit her beloved host family—including her goddaughter. Senegal completely stole her heart and continues to shape her life and teaching.
Katie earned her Master’s in Teaching Foreign Language from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and speaks French, Spanish, and Wolof. She’s also dabbled in Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Swahili, Swedish, Japanese… and the list keeps growing!
She’s helped lead international trips, worked in educational travel, and even toured the world with a community choir. Through it all, her goal has stayed the same: to help students experience the beauty, depth, and diversity of the Francophone world.
She’s beyond excited to help others discover the warmth and wonder of Senegal with Vive!