Angela Wild, MA, MPH, is the founder of Elemental Aquatics, a boutique private swim instruction business in North County San Diego, and The Water Safety Syndicate, a research-translation platform built to close the gap between drowning prevention research and frontline aquatic instruction. She also leads The Buoy Up Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding swimming access and supporting professional development within the aquatics field.

Angela holds a BA in Kinesiology from San Diego State University, an MA in Motor Learning and Control with a focus in Recreation Administration from CSU Long Beach, and an MPH in Community Health Promotion from CSU San Marcos. Her graduate work centered on mapping water competencies across physical, cognitive, and affective domains, and that framework continues to shape how she approaches instructor education and drowning prevention advocacy today.

Angela currently contributes as a stakeholder to the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan’s Water Safety, Water Competency and Swimming Lessons Working Group, work that has sharpened her focus on turning national-level water safety strategy into practical guidance for the instructors and organizations doing the work on the ground. She brings over 25 years of swim instruction experience to that effort, with particular attention to neurodiverse learners and evidence-based instructional practice.

As she joins the NDPA board, Angela is especially focused on strengthening the connection between drowning prevention research and the professionals delivering swimming instruction every day, ensuring the field’s growing evidence base actually reaches the people teaching in the water.