Originally from New Jersey, Gordon earned a BA in English and Music from Swarthmore College. During two summers with the Forest Service, neither Latin nor French helped him communicate with Mexican sheepherders. Over the next several years he learned Spanish by traveling and studying in Latin America while completing an MFA in creative writing from the University of Florida. After teaching in Chile, he landed at Cranbrook, a boarding school outside Detroit, where he has taught English, led wilderness expeditions, coached Forensics, advised the literary magazine, and worked in the dorm. Thanks to summer vacations, he's visited more than 50 countries, including volunteering at ASSET The Gambia and the Tshume school, South Africa. A Kiva lender almost from day one, he's thrilled to get deeper into microfinance.