Ann has been an independent risk management consultant since 2008 working with schools and camps to identify, assess, and mitigate exposure to risk in their wilderness, travel, and experiential programs. Ann’s work now includes the valuable combination risk management and legal consulting, informed by a 20+ year career as an independent school and outdoor educator. Since 1986, Ann has held positions in independent schools as classroom teacher, administrator, school counselor, varsity coach, and student adviser.
Ann’s consulting work includes reviewing and assessing off-campus programming to identify areas of legal and risk exposure and making recommendations based on industry-preferred practices and legal compliance.
Ann’s law practice focuses on recreation, tort, education, and employment law, in federal and state courts. She is admitted to practice law in New Mexico and Colorado as well as in Federal District Court in New Mexico, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Immigration Court.
Ann has been a regular speaker and presenter at education and camp conferences. She is a trustee for the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education, an education non-profit which facilitates character development in schools, served two terms on the American Camp Association National Standards Commission, and was an accreditation visitor for the Association of Experiential Education and independent schools accrediting bodies.
Ann has trekked extensively in the Nepal and Indian Himalaya including in June 2018, cycling from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal, with a side pedal to Everest Base Camp. Ann has also led treks to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, is an avid cyclist, loves rafting and hiking in the desert southwest, and is a two-time graduate of the National Outdoor Leadershop School (NOLS), including the NOLS Instructors Course.
McCollum is a regular presenter at national conferences including:
The Children’s Law Institute
Wilderness Risk Management Conference
National Business Officers Association