Brian | YCA 2/19/26 Brian | YCA 2/19/26

Liz Schmidt

Board Director/Secretary, Maritime Compliance & Human Risk Lead

Board Treasurer / Maritime Capacity Lead

Liz Schmidt brings over 15 years of specialized experience at the intersection of maritime operations and nonprofit leadership to her role as Treasurer for Boats Without Borders. Her dual expertise ensures that BWB remains fiscally lean, operationally transparent, and strategically prepared for the rapid-response demands of the hurricane season.

Currently serving as the Operations Director at Shipyard Supply USA and Executive Director for the Women Offshore Foundation, Liz possesses a deep understanding of the maritime industry alongside supply chains and large-vessel logistics. As an experienced Board Treasurer (The Local Octopus Foundation) and a nonprofit founder (WaterSmart FL), Liz provides the robust financial oversight required to manage international humanitarian funds. Her background in grant writing to support capacity building and strategic financial planning allows BWB to scale its frameworks with professional-grade accountability.

Liz’s commitment to our mission is rooted in her early career with the American Red Cross, in Service to Armed Forces and Disaster Relief Operations. This foundational experience in traditional disaster response, combined with her later work on the US National Water Safety Plan, aligns strongly with BWB’s goal of bridging the early response gap. Her expertise in drowning prevention and water safety protocols further strengthens Boats Without Borders' commitment to safe navigation in disaster zones.

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Liz is dedicated to transforming maritime capacity into a strategic regional asset, ensuring that when the next storm strikes, the maritime community is fiscally and operationally ready to act as a first line of hope.

Johanna Savad 10/15/25 Johanna Savad 10/15/25

Kylie Schischka

Co-Founder, Director of Strategy

Kylie is an entrepreneur, investor, and solo sailor with 23,000 nautical miles at sea and a passion for harnessing private resources to create global impact. She began her career as a veterinary medical doctor in emergency response before moving into business and real estate investment, spending over a decade acquiring apartment communities and winning national and local awards in Houston. A member of Abundance 360, a global community of entrepreneurs and business leaders harnessing breakthrough technologies, Kylie also has extensive nonprofit experience, including serving as a lead organizer of the Hurricane Beryl Boaters Aid Response ‘Operation Cruisers Aid’. She now brings her combined expertise in business, strategy, and seafaring to guide Boats Without Borders in mobilizing yachts and crews for rapid disaster relief.

Johanna Savad 10/14/25 Johanna Savad 10/14/25

Mike Pail

Co-Founder, Director of Technology

Mike started his career as an electrical engineer, later running his own business for 15 years before retiring and moonlighting in marine electrical system consulting. A lifelong believer in using technology to make things work better, he has always focused on using technology so that people can focus on what only people can do. With over 18,000 nautical miles of sailing experience, he brings firsthand knowledge of life on the water to every project he undertakes.

Mike used this mindset and background in Operation Cruisers’ Aid, where he drew on his experience to quickly create the systems needed to coordinate volunteers and resources without adding overhead.

With Boats Without Borders, Mike will be taking a technology leadership role in the creation of the organization, applying the same approach to build a lean structure where technology quietly keeps operations running smoothly, letting the mission and the people driving it take center stage.

Johanna Savad 10/13/25 Johanna Savad 10/13/25

Bryony Palmer

Co-Founder, Executive Director & Field Health Intelligence Coordinator

Bryony is a Registered Nurse specialising in low-resource and bluewater medicine, and a seasoned offshore sailor with over 15,000 nautical miles and a transatlantic crossing under her belt. Her humanitarian experience includes working in camps for externally displaced people, visiting victims of torture in illegal detention, and serving as a Somerset Emergency Volunteer for flood recovery efforts. During hurricane season she holds sessions on haemostasis, wound management and prolonged field care in anchorages for sailors.

Bryony brings deep practical experience to the intersection of seamanship, austere healthcare, and humanitarian aid. She drew on this background during Operation Cruisers' Aid, where she triaged resource needs, coordinated the disaster assessment crews, and liaised with government agencies and NGOs to provide vital intelligence on public health risks. At Boats Without Borders, Bryony will lead on operations, and during hurricane responses coordinate disaster needs assessments, triaging aid delivery according to need and urgency, and managing intelligence communications with government agencies and partner organisations. Her unique combination of bluewater medicine, humanitarian service, and offshore sailing experience strengthens our mission to deliver effective, adaptable, and timely aid to communities in crisis.

Johanna Savad 10/12/25 Johanna Savad 10/12/25

Brian Currier

Board Chair, Marketing & Community Lead

Brian Currier is a serial e-commerce entrepreneur and lifelong boater with more than 14 years of full-time cruising experience and over 45,000 nautical miles under the keel. His professional journey has always blended marketing, community building, and adventure. After college, he built and scaled many profitable e-commerce stores, developing a repeatable template for success through strategic SEO and brand positioning. This skillset rolled into the marine industry where he founded a marina marketing firm that he successfully grew and sold. Since then, he has co-founded several initiatives at the intersection of technology and the cruising lifestyle, including the Young Cruisers Association and the Sea People App, and currently serves on the board of the Chasing Bubbles Foundation, where he continues his commitment to empowering others to chase their own adventures on the water and in life.

At Boats Without Borders, Brian oversees the organization’s marketing strategy and brand growth. His focus is on amplifying awareness through storytelling and collaboration with a global fleet of mission-driven cruisers. By blending his marketing expertise with his passion for life at sea, Brian helps expand Boats Without Borders’ reach and impact—uniting the boating community around purpose, connection, and the shared belief that adventure can be a force for good.

Johanna Savad 10/11/25 Johanna Savad 10/11/25

Liz Baugh

Board Director/Secretary, Maritime Compliance & Human Risk Lead

Liz began her medical career in 1999 when she joined the Royal Navy, training as an independent medical practitioner to serve on small warships and with frontline Royal Marines units. After completing her military and medical training, she went straight to sea, serving on multiple vessels, each with its own distinct challenges in crew health, logistics, and clinical autonomy. Her early deployments included NATO operations in the Mediterranean and humanitarian missions in Sierra Leone, where she delivered medical support in complex and often austere environments.

Her shoreside appointments focused on managing the medical preparedness of task groups deploying on operations and commissioning medical facilities for new naval builds - work that demanded precision, foresight, and an unwavering commitment to operational readiness.

After leaving military service, Liz transitioned into the commercial shipping and maritime training sectors. It wasn’t long before she realised she missed life at sea and the unique challenges of delivering healthcare in remote and expeditionary settings. Having worked on both the operational and corporate sides of the industry, she developed a strong interest in bridging the gap between ship and shore, ensuring that the commercial realities of shipping never compromise the welfare, safety, and resilience of those on board.

Today, Liz brings this blend of operational experience, governance insight, and specialist expertise in remote and expedition medicine to her role on the board. She is a firm advocate for collaboration, clear communication, and building unified strategies for crew health, welfare, and compliance excellence across multiple vessels and shore-based teams.