Do your 2026 Staff Application HERE
Get a career-worthy wage at a fun Day Camp.
Hiring for Summer now!
The Tribal Wisdom Academy slogan is:
“Preparing kids for any world future.”
Each Mentor at Tribal Wisdom Academy is trained to guide children in learning the primal technologies that are required for an authentic human childhood. We teach traditional skills to equip our students for adventures together in our camp’s forest Adventureland. As a Mentor, you will prepare kids for any world future with real skills, as did your ancestors! Staff training includes all of the skills that you will need to start your lifelong journey in becoming a valued Mentor in all that you do.
Our camp program is simply: “Historic human childhood in the woods where it all began”.
Tribal Wisdom Academy has re-created the natural habitat in which children can rediscover traditional social-emotional and physical growth. Every summer, our camp kids learn great life lessons in their own forest world.
As well, our camp staff tell us that they learn great parenting skills from working with our amazing camp kids. You are the next generation.
This job prepares YOU for your amazing future!
See 20 Camp Videos at: https://vimeo.com/tribalwisdomacademy
Fun job positions available in 2026:
One Saturday Maintenance Job ($25/hr) April or June thru August each year.
12 to 20 Camp Counselors ("Mentors") for ages 7 to 10, ($22/hr) in the main Treehouse Village.
One or two Master Mentors for ages 11 to 12, ($26/hr) in the Camp Alumni Village.
Activities Specialist ($25/hr) Target Range, Leathercrafter, Coppersmith, or Blacksmith Handle Maker.
Staff Support Director ($28) for staff and Mentors who are mostly college-age.
Tool Belt Treehouse Mentor ($25/hr)
Wooden Sword Master Crafter ($26/hr)
Blacksmith ($24/hr) Hot iron swords and copper axes!
(And no worries, we will train and support you to do these jobs).
Tribal Wisdom Academy LLC is designed, operated, and locally owned.
We look forward to hearing from you today.
Located in the cool California coastal mountains just 10-minutes from the town of Los Gatos, and 25-minutes to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and an easy drive to San Francisco.
Apply to work on approximately June 8 until either August 9th or 14th, 2026.
Paid Staff Training dates depend on the assigned position. The Mentor training dates will be on the weekend of June 6th and/or 7th.
This fun job is 24 to 40 hours per week for up to 10 weeks. Quick learners get more hours. Earn $5,000 to over $11,000 every summer!
The 2026 base pay is $22 per hour if candidate has some amount of camp experience.
And TWA has a competitive higher pay for Staff Supervisors, Maintenance, credentialed teachers, and for Experienced Program Specialists (as in Blacksmithing, or Leatherwork, Woodworking, Archery, Tomahawk Throwing or other target sports).
Returning Staff get an automatic $1 raise above the current pay rate.
No required weekends, and no overnights! (And after work, it's a short drive to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!). The summer sun sets after 8pm, so staff can have an epic California summer every afternoon and on all weekends.
Join our awesome team of Mentors and program specialists, who are mostly college students.
Work with a fun team!
View the easy online Job Application HERE
Each staff hired will get a signed Employment Agreement and a TWA Handbook that states their final employment and compensation agreements.
TRIBAL Wisdom VISION 2026
Allow children to have an actual childhood that is full of real adventures.
Guide children towards developing emotional intelligence through organic interactions with each other in a forest village experience.
Help parents create unstoppable self-directed lifelong learners.
Be a child’s sanctuary from the trends and arguments of adult society.
Support and uphold the traditions and values of each child’s parents.
Train kids to thrive in any world future with an intertwining of paleolithic survival skills and modern-day life-skills.
Connect children with how their soft and hard skills, resourcefulness, and grit can provide everything needed to survive and thrive.
Have a lot of fun, and pay our awesome teachers/mentors a career-worthy wage.
Learn cool skills with Camp Founder Ben Walker (like simple hand-drill fire-by-friction).
Experienced camp staff may also apply to become a TWA Camp Staff Director. Not an office job! The Camp Staff Directors circulate around to each program area and inspires quality program delivery. As a “Camp Staff Director”, you will get training and support from the Executive Director team. All staff have many layers of support that are designed to develop your employment life-skills.
We have 20-acres of private wild forest for our Big Kid day camp (ages 6 to 12), including a private redwood grove for summer staff camping. Join our fun team of college students for a summer of adventure with hundreds of great kids!
Click HERE to apply, and to talk about your summer plans. Our easy job application also works on a smart phone.
Tribal Wisdom Academy LLC is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions based on merit. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, age, medical condition, genetic characteristics or information, military and veteran status, and physical or mental disability, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state or local laws.