About

About Happy Camper Consulting, LLC

Strengthening the leadership, governance, and culture that sustain thriving camp organizations.

Our Mission
"To equip camp leaders to build healthy cultures that shape lives for generations."

When leadership is aligned and systems reinforce shared values, camps become places where staff thrive and campers flourish. When clarity fades, confusion and drift quietly take over. Healthy culture does not happen by accident. It is built intentionally.

At Happy Camper Consulting, we help leaders strengthen alignment, clarify expectations, and build foundations that can carry weight — not just for one season, but for the long term. Because when culture is healthy, everything else gets better.

Camp team gathered outdoors
Our Core Values

What Guides Our Work

Clarity Over Confusion

Confusion creates drift. Clarity creates alignment.

  • We define what matters.
  • We ask questions before offering answers.
  • We simplify complexity into usable frameworks.
  • We do not allow ambiguity to linger.

Culture Is Built on Purpose

Healthy cultures are not accidental. They are designed.

  • We connect stated values to observable behaviors.
  • We identify patterns early.
  • We address misalignment directly and respectfully.
  • We build systems that reinforce culture over time.

Leadership Shapes Everything

Strong culture begins with strong leadership.

  • We strengthen leaders because leaders shape people, systems, and outcomes.
  • We speak candidly.
  • We coach for growth, not dependency.
  • We equip leaders to lead with confidence and clarity.

Health Before Growth

Growth without health creates fragility.

  • We diagnose before prescribing.
  • We build foundations that can carry weight.
  • We prioritize sustainability over short-term momentum.
  • We measure long-term stability, not just activity.

Legacy Matters

What happens at camp echoes far beyond one summer.

  • We build systems that outlast personalities.
  • We document processes intentionally.
  • We think in decades, not just seasons.
  • We evaluate decisions through a generational lens.
Jeff Rorabaugh — Founder, Happy Camper Consulting
Founder Camp Leadership Advisor HCOM™ Architect
About Jeff Rorabaugh

A Life Shaped by Camp

For more than 32 years, my life and leadership have been shaped by the camp environment.

I have served in leadership, formation, and advisory roles across diverse camp models — including faith-based, nonprofit, multi-site, and international contexts. Through these experiences, I have walked alongside directors and boards navigating growth, transition, governance complexity, and generational change.

Camp leadership is deeply meaningful work. It deserves clarity that sustains mission across seasons — not just momentum for a single year.

The Origin

From Experience to Framework

Over time, I began to notice a consistent pattern:

Recurring camp challenges were rarely isolated incidents. They were often signs of misalignment between mission, leadership, governance, and structure.

Unclear authority boundaries. Values stated but not translated. Passion without measurable reinforcement. Growth without disciplined review.

The solution was not more activity. It was a clear framework.

That realization led to the development of the Healthy Camp Operating Model™ — a structured, transferable framework that integrates:

Healthy Camp Operating Model™

  • Value-Driven Management System
  • Core values translated into observable behaviors
  • Leadership and staff formation
  • Safety and accountability reinforcement
  • Measurable review rhythms
Real Results

Proven Across Diverse Camp Contexts

This framework has been implemented in varied camp environments, including multi-site initiatives and international settings, supporting leadership teams through transition, expansion, and structural realignment.

The Healthy Camp Operating Model™ has helped camps:

  • Strengthen board and director alignment
  • Reduce recurring operational friction
  • Reinforce cultural consistency
  • Develop leadership pipelines
  • Sustain mission integrity across leadership change

This work is not theoretical. It has been tested through real implementation.

International camp leadership team
Our Approach

Partnership Over Prescription

I do not replace leadership. I strengthen it.

Happy Camper Consulting exists to partner with directors and boards who care deeply about long-term health. Together, we clarify what matters most, design intentional frameworks, and implement systems that outlast personalities.

Structure protects joy.

Clarity strengthens mission.

Alignment reduces fatigue.

Healthy culture does not happen accidentally. It is built intentionally.

Why It Matters

The Heart Behind the Work

Camp should be a place of belonging, growth, safety, and fun.

Systems are not meant to sterilize that experience. They are meant to protect it.

My commitment is to help camps build sustainable clarity so that leadership transitions smoothly, staff are better equipped, boards govern wisely, and campers experience something meaningful and lasting.

Happy Camper Consulting is currently led by its founder and collaborates with trusted partners as needed.

Let's Talk

Start a Conversation

If you would like to explore how strengthening your camp's framework could support long-term leadership health, I would welcome the conversation.

Schedule a Conversation

No obligation. Just time with another leader who cares deeply about building healthy camps and happy campers.