About Us

This is the place where curiosity comes to play

Welcome to the smartest decision you’ll ever make. Created by the founder of the Discovery Channel, Discovery Retreats inspires you to challenge and revitalize your mind, body, and spirit. Set at Gateway Canyons Resort and nestled into the red rocks of Western Colorado, it’s here where you can connect with great minds of our time and soak in life’s thrilling explorations. Within these majestic canyons, ideas flow as freely as the river that runs through them.

Leadership Team

John Hendricks | Founder, Discovery Retreats; Founder and Chairman, Discovery Communications

John S. Hendricks is the Founder and Chairman of Discovery Communications, the world’s number one nonfiction media company. Hendricks created Discovery Channel in 1985 as the first cable network in the United States designed to provide high quality documentary programming enabling people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity.

 

For nearly 25 years, Hendricks has been the driving force behind Discovery’s dramatic growth, including the expansion of Discovery Communications from its core property, Discovery Channel, to current global operations in more than 170 countries and territories reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers. Under Hendricks’ leadership, Discovery’s stable of networks now encompass more than 100 networks of distinctive programming representing 27 entertainment brands including TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Planet Green and HD Theater. Discovery’s other properties include Discovery Education, Discovery Commerce and a portfolio of digital services including HowStuffWorks.com.

 

In September 2009, Discovery announced that Hendricks is leading the development of a new landmark original series, "CURIOSITY:  The Questions of Life," scheduled to premiere on Discovery Channel in late summer of 2011.  Inspired by Hendricks' vision, CURIOSITY will tackle the fundamental questions and underlying mysteries of our time through 60 one-hour episodes spread over five years. The series will be complemented by educational content for schools, deep-dive online content and themed knowledge retreats called Discovery Retreats. These events will take place at the incredible resort Hendricks' built in southwestern Colorado, which provides a unique, leisure-time destination for individuals who share a passion for learning, a thirst for adventure and a desire to live an inspired life.

 

A visionary in the media industry, Hendricks has been honored with a Primetime Emmy Award and with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences highest honor, the Governors Award, for conceiving the TLC series, Great Books. The Ark Trust named him a recipient of the Genesis Award for lifetime achievement for his efforts in raising awareness around the globe about animal issues. Hendricks also has been recognized as the first corporate leader to receive the National Education Association’s Friend of Education award for “innovations in education and technology and greatly expanding educational opportunity for America’s schoolchildren.”

 

Hendricks serves on the board of directors of a number of non-profit organizations including the United States Olympic Committee and is Chairman of the National Forest Foundation.

 

Before 1985, Hendricks founded and served as president of the American Association of University Consultants (AAUC), a private consulting organization that specializes in television distribution, marketing and fundraising for educational programs and services. Hendricks holds a B.A. in history (magna cum laude, 1974) and an honorary doctorate (1991) from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.