Created By Community

Pádraig Barry has been involved with The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp since 1997, but began his career with our sister camp, Barretstown, in Ireland in 1995. Since then, he has been a Woodshop Supervisor, Assistant Camp Director (Residential Life), Chief Program Officer for five years and since 2019, Chief Strategy Officer. 

Pádraig’s experience with the SeriousFun Network includes working in Lesotho and Eswatini, supporting new camp development, as well as roles domestically and internationally, providing him with a valuable network and a global perspective. He holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Connecticut, a History degree from Eastern Connecticut State University, and a degree in History and Sociology from Maynooth University in his native Ireland. 

Hilary Axtmayer has been involved with The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp since 2001. Over the years she has served as a counselor, Executive Camp Director and most recently as Chief Program Officer, a role she has been in since 2019. She was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in Spring of 2026. 

In her time as Chief Program Officer, Hilary oversaw all programming, delivering more than 40,000 healing experiences annually. She has driven DEI initiatives, navigated organizational responses to major crises including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ashford site fire, and led strategic expansion into the Mid-Atlantic. 

Char Curry has been an integral part of Camp’s Finance and Human Resources Teams since 1990, when she joined the organization as a part-time accountant. As both Camp and her responsibilities grew, she began working full time becoming the Controller, and then the Director of Human Resources. Today Char serves as Hole in the Wall’s Chief Human Resource Officer, where she oversees oversight of all staffing and employee matters. Over the years she has been a dedicated volunteer across all Camp programming and at numerous development events. 

Prior to joining Hole in the Wall, Char was a tax accountant at Deliotte, Haskins & Sells. 

Robin Farrell joined the Hole in the Wall staff in March 2021 and is responsible for the oversight of all revenue sources and fundraising initiatives. 

Robin came to Camp following her successful campaign at the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut. She previously served as the director of development at Madison Country Day School and Madison Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin, and prior to that held fundraising positions at Wisconsin Public Television and other institutions.  

Dr. Dave Nelson has been involved with The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp since 1998.  He worked as a volunteer physician during the summer program for 20 years before becoming Camp’s medical director in 2019. He has also participated as a site visitor in the accreditation process of member camps in the SeriousFun Children’s Network. 

Dr. Dave is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He splits his time between Camp and the University of Vermont Medical Center where he is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine. In addition to seeing pediatric patients in the emergency department, Dr. Dave is active in teaching, research and emergency preparedness.