Meet Our Directors

Kate Grenci, MEd, Camp Director

Kate Grenci is a dedicated youth development professional with over 20 years experience in youth-serving roles. Throughout her career, she has worked with young people in a variety of settings, beginning as a junior counselor at her childhood Girl Scout camp, eventually progressing to Assistant Director. Kate’s commitment to youth development led her to serve most recently as the Director and Property Manager for two Girl Scout day camps.

In addition to her work with Girl Scouts, Kate has held management roles in residential care programs with two prominent family service organizations in New England, enriching her understanding of youth and family dynamics. She later returned to Girl Scouts in a year-round program management capacity before her promotion to Director, bringing her broad experience back to the camp community.

Since 2016, she has volunteered with the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey (ACA NY & NJ), starting as an Accreditation Standards Visitor. She quickly became an active contributor to the Tri-State Camp Conference, beginning in 2017. She is a returning committee co-chair for the Conference, a position she has held since 2023. As an instructor for the New Director Orientation, Kate is committed to both sharing her expertise and learning from others in the field, a passion further nurtured as a conference presenter. Her volunteering and deep commitment to the camp industry led to her being elected to the Board of Directors for ACA NY & NJ in the fall of 2023. A passionate advocate for the camp industry, Kate is dedicated to engaging in ongoing dialogue about issues affecting the region and the camp community. She is deeply committed to preserving, promoting, and enhancing the quality of youth programming and the summer camp experience.

In the Girl Scout community, Kate spent four years serving on Girl Scouts USA’s Camp Program Advisory Subcommittee, further strengthening her leadership in the camp industry. Kate is also deeply invested in the study of customer experience and serves on the Advisory Council for Seton Hall University’s Customer Experience Certificate Program.

Kate holds a Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Salve Regina University. Her passion for youth development, combined with her expertise and leadership, earned her the Harold Breene Youth Education Award from ACA NY & NJ in 2022.

When not at camp, Kate enjoys spending time with her two dogs (Mac and Murphy), visiting with friends, cooking, and traveling.

Victor Heutz, Assistant Director

Victor grew up at camp spending 20 consecutive summers at Oak Crest Day Camp as a camper and a staff member. Victor has spent numerous summers in a variety of roles at camp. Victor earned his degree from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and quickly moved into Sports Management at Branchburg Sports Complex. During his time at BSC, Victor developed various youth development sports classes, hired and trained staff, oversaw overall facility operations, and ran and organized the summer programs.

Victor has always loved camp and feels right at home, he loves being outdoors and getting to know people. He has amazing experiences as a camper and staff member that keeps him coming back to camp. Victor uses his experiences to help pass on the joys of camp to all campers and staff members he meets!

While outside of camp, Victor enjoys watching and playing various sports. Victor is a huge sports fan and can often be seen rooting for his favorite teams the Yankees, Jets, and Celtics. When not cheering on his sports teams, Victor can be found spending time with his family and friends!

Jonathan M. Gold MBA, PhD

Owner/ Associate Director

Jonathan Gold, a Randolph resident since 1995,  received his MBA from Fordham University in 1987 and his Ph.D. from Walden University in 1996 with a dissertation on “Quality Management Systems in Summer Camping.”

He has over 40 years of experience in organized camping, beginning as a camper at Camp Becket in the Berkshires. He rose through the ranks as a camper and counselor there. Jonathan has been the owner/director of Oak Crest since 2002. A nationally recognized speaker and writer, he has become an authority on Quality Management in camping, speaking frequently at both the local and national, and international levels to both for-profit and not-for-profit camps. Most recently he was featured on the Fox Business Network, CNBC, NBC, and NJ New 12 on the Opening of summer camps in Summer 2020.  From 2005 to 2007 Jonathan served as the Program Director of the Tri-State Camp Conference, the largest gathering of summer camps in the world. In addition to running Oak Crest, he has worked at or been a director for 5 other summer camps, each one adding a unique dimension to his current leadership and management style. Jonathan also taught graduate and undergraduate courses in management and marketing at Caldwell University. Jonathan is also the President of NJ Camps Association, and founder of the Operation Blue Skies Program which helps the children of Police Officer Families in need.