MTC Surf team

Our Team

Meet the people who plan surf days, train volunteers, teach ocean safety, and stay in touch with families.

Santa Barbara MTC Surf volunteers and participants — Photo by Skylar Alves

Founder & CEO

Elle Miller

Elle is an avid surfer and surf instructor from Ventura. She has been teaching surf for the past 12 years alongside professional surfer, personal inspiration, and Ventura local Mary Osborne. She has also worked closely with the nonprofit organization A Walk On Water (AWOW), where she learned how to manage their social media platforms and had the privilege of participating in one of their highly successful surf therapy events. Through difficult times in her life, she has been fortunate to have surfing as an outlet. For Elle, surfing has become a way to heal from loss and build confidence. She founded MTC Surf in Ventura and has built the organization with support from family, friends, mentors, coaches, and volunteers. Her work centers on consistent, compassionate support for foster, adoptive, and kinship families and young people affected by trafficking.

Listen here · 52 min

Surfing for Freedom with Elle Miller

Elle talks with Life with People about founding MTC Surf, foster care, and the role surfing has played in her own life.

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Read Elle's Shoutout LA interview Follow Elle on Instagram

San Diego Program Director

Gaia Hinds

Gaia is a UC San Diego graduate from Malibu with a bachelor's degree in marine biology. She has spent years surfing, playing water polo, scuba diving, and lifeguarding, including more than three years as a Junior Lifeguard Instructor. At MTC Surf, Gaia teaches ocean safety and supports young surfers in San Diego.

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Product Donations & Marketing Director

Claire Stanton

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Claire Stanton is a passionate surfer born and raised in the local surf community of Ventura, CA. Claire offers expertise in marketing and product donations to the MTC Surf team. She has worked alongside Elle Miller for over 9 years providing surf lessons and brings joy and laughter to every surf event. Inspired by her uncle John Villela, one of the founders of Revolution Board Co., Claire grew up surfing as a competitive shortboarder and longboarder with the Scholastic Surf Series (SSS), National Scholastic Surf Association (NSSA), and Western Surf Association (WSA). She has considered the ocean her second home for as long as she can remember and is passionate about sharing the joy she has found through surfing with foster youth.

Secretary & Board Member

Jennifer Miller

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Jennifer Miller brings a heart for service to More Than Conquerors Foundation. As an attorney for 24 years with a practice focused on protecting the youth in our community, Jennifer is inspired by the spirit and possibilities that positive experiences can have in a child’s life. With three children of her own, Jennifer has watched them grow up in the surf community and witnessed first-hand the impact that the ocean can play in a child’s life. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys travel, boating and playing with her Labradors on the beach.