Patricia Thorndike Suriel, one of the founders of the DREAM Project,
is a native of Rochester, New York. She has 20 years of successful
experience as manager and owner of two small businesses in the tourism
industry in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic. She is a certified
preschool director with 12 years of experience teaching and directing
preschool programs in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.
Tricia was General Manager of Kinderhut, a children's ski school
in Breckenridge, Colorado. She later purchased this company with two
other partners and in 1993 she sold her share of Kinderhut and moved
to the Dominican Republic. She chose to make the Dominican Republic
her home after years of traveling -- mostly by bike, to 44 countries
on 6 continents. The allure of this gracious island nation and its
opportunities for multicultural living led her to establish Iguana
Mama, a mountain biking and adventure tour company in the North Coast
town of Cabarete. Iguana Mama grew quickly to achieve world-class
adventure tour company status. It's tours and projects have been highlighted
in articles in the New York Times, London Times, National Geographic
Adventure, TV documentaries, and hundreds of other media outlets.
Bilingual in English and Spanish, Tricia also established strong
ties to the local community and began her work in community service.
At the same time, she began promoting international awareness of the
DR by inviting and working with dozens of journalists from many countries.
She sold Iguana Mama in the spring of 2002, continuing as a consultant
for the new owners. With homes in Cabarete and Ithaca, New York, Tricia
and her family remain firmly planted in both cultures and communities.
