Our Team
A dynamic mix of wisdom, compassion and
practical experience world wide
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Each member of our diverse intergenerational team shares a commitment to finding a new way of working together that
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How to Navigate this page and to get to know us better
The team tab shows the entire team in alphabetical order by first name. The additional tabs show people by specific areas of expertise. People are highlighted in one section and referenced in other sections based on their additional competencies. The links below help explain some of the unique aspects of our approach.
We are a team that spans the generations who have come together with a shared commitment to finding a new way of working that honors equally our common purpose and our individual interest. We each yearn to make a difference for ourselves and for future generations, by ushering in a new way of living and being together with each other and with the land that sustains us. There is a profound recognition that the sum of who we are together is greater than any one of us individually. We seek to forge new ways of working collegially, with practices that create more transparent communication and better access our individual talents as we embody our shared vision.
Our range of expertise is substantial. Our careers have included soil science, eco-therapy, finance, law, education, sales, technology, banking, art, health and nutrition, organizational development, ministry, coaching, catering, psychotherapy, and youth leadership development under the aegis of the United Nations. But our individual experience and training, significant as it is, is weaved together in a shared and multicolored tapestry held together by our common commitment to living a life of service, curiosity, awareness and respect. The gratitude we feel for how the earth and our friendships have nourished us inspires us to action to help regenerate a new balance and beauty in our relationships to each other and to the planet.
Our range of expertise is substantial. Our careers have included soil science, eco-therapy, finance, law, education, sales, technology, banking, art, health and nutrition, organizational development, ministry, coaching, catering, psychotherapy, and youth leadership development under the aegis of the United Nations. But our individual experience and training, significant as it is, is weaved together in a shared and multicolored tapestry held together by our common commitment to living a life of service, curiosity, awareness and respect. The gratitude we feel for how the earth and our friendships have nourished us inspires us to action to help regenerate a new balance and beauty in our relationships to each other and to the planet.
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Andrew Faust is a permaculture designer and consultant, an educator, and a business owner with a permaculture design certification from The Farm in Summertown, TN. He has studied at the School for Designing a Society, Gesundheit! Institute, and has taught permaculture design at The Center for Bioregional Living, The Open Center in New York, and Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont.
Andrew owns and operates “Edible Garden Design,” and “The Center for Bioregional Living, ” which provide permaculture consultation and instruction and natural landscaping services, and supplies vegetables to local restaurants and farmer’s markets. Andrew’s accomplishments include designing comprehensive ecologically intelligent landscapes, including wastewater treatment systems; sustainable forest management; restoration of stream corridors, wetlands and headwaters; designing and siting natural buildings; rotational grazing areas for dairy and meat production; orchard design and layout; path mowing regimes; managing exotics; vegetable garden designs; composting; management of native perennial wildflowers and grasses, and setting up a water quality monitoring system along the main stem of the Greenbrier River. Andrew has also taught at the Upattinas Open Community High School, in Glenmoore, PA, educating and inspiring high school students by teaching history, science, English and social studies through the lens of ecological literacy. Andrew was on the Board of the Regional Infrastructure for Sustaining Agriculture in Southeastern PA, the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, and the Upattinas Open Community School. |
Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn PhD is a teacher, researcher, and writer, whose work focuses on sustainability, design and innovation. In his teaching and writing, he has explored the use of new forms of media to address the challenges of effectively communicating complex environmental, scientific, and political issues, in order to encourage greater public participation, and a higher level of civic literacy Brandon has taught courses on “Sustainability Problems and Solutions” and “A Century o Environmental Thought,” at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and developed curricula on ecological literacy, sustainability, and asthma politics at RPI. He has written extensively on science, technology, and the environment, and has authored and co-authored articles published in scientific journals and online, and presented at professional conferences.
Brandon served as video editor of the Journal of Cultural Anthropology and the Capital District Community Gardens and as a critical media literacy educator at the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Brandon has been inspired by Natalie Jeremijenko's work using art and technology as a vehicle for social justice, and was an inaugural member of the Ecological Literacy Emersion Program at the Omega Institute. He is an avid outdoorsman and grew up tending the forest garden that provided natural healthy food for his family. As a young child he participated in a community organization initiative led by his mother that stopped the development of a coal fired generating facility in Rensselaer, New York.
Brandon served as video editor of the Journal of Cultural Anthropology and the Capital District Community Gardens and as a critical media literacy educator at the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Brandon has been inspired by Natalie Jeremijenko's work using art and technology as a vehicle for social justice, and was an inaugural member of the Ecological Literacy Emersion Program at the Omega Institute. He is an avid outdoorsman and grew up tending the forest garden that provided natural healthy food for his family. As a young child he participated in a community organization initiative led by his mother that stopped the development of a coal fired generating facility in Rensselaer, New York.
Clare Rosenfield M.A., M.S., LCSW, is a writer, artist, and poet who is dedicated to finding the true north of her being, centered in expressing pure-heartedness in life, art, poetry, and essays. She illustrated five of her poetry collections, plays the harp and sings in the Threshhold Choir for Hospice of Westchester (www.outskirtspress.com/ninsunwisemother). Clare and her late husband, Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean for 22 years of the Mailman School of Public Health, have been active in creating positive change throughout their lives. They lived in Nigeria and Thailand where Clare co-authored a book on Siamese temple paintings, learned to speak Thai, and begin her journey into Eastern teachings. She considers herself a spiritual kaleidoscope because of her love for seeing through the diverse lenses of many wisdom paths (Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Sufi, Quaker) and finding their essential unity.
As director of the Global Healing Foundation, she facilitates long distance healings for the planet and each other (www.globalhealingfoundation.org). She founded a form of holistic psychotherapy called Contact Healing (www.contacthealing.com), which teaches tools for self-healing and compassion. As a stress reduction expert, she offers guided relaxations, meditations and sound healing.
Clare is acutely aware of how we awaken together. Rather than pursuing a solo spiritual journey we must join together to impact consciousness worldwide and to co create a respectful, cooperative, and sustainable world. Our consciousness needs to grow to embrace all life and all species as our sisters and brothers. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren require this of us. We must be pro-active in saving the planet and in guiding our young to a meaningful, productive and regenerative lifestyle. Clare’s blog is www.inspiredponderingsbyclare.wordpress.com.
As director of the Global Healing Foundation, she facilitates long distance healings for the planet and each other (www.globalhealingfoundation.org). She founded a form of holistic psychotherapy called Contact Healing (www.contacthealing.com), which teaches tools for self-healing and compassion. As a stress reduction expert, she offers guided relaxations, meditations and sound healing.
Clare is acutely aware of how we awaken together. Rather than pursuing a solo spiritual journey we must join together to impact consciousness worldwide and to co create a respectful, cooperative, and sustainable world. Our consciousness needs to grow to embrace all life and all species as our sisters and brothers. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren require this of us. We must be pro-active in saving the planet and in guiding our young to a meaningful, productive and regenerative lifestyle. Clare’s blog is www.inspiredponderingsbyclare.wordpress.com.
Colin Riggs BSc has a background in electrical design, physics, business development, organic farm management, and intentional communities. He is a robotics engineer specializing in modeling physical systems, algorithm development for control and navigation systems, system analysis for control systems, and embedded software development. Colin has experience in the design; development, analysis, and testing of control and navigation systems for remotely and autonomously operated vehicles.
He was the lead engineer for: the control, navigation, management, and device software, for OpenSuite, a flexible suite of control navigation, visualization, and device software for mobile robotics ; the subsea software design, development, testing, integration, field trials, and post-analysis, of NOAA Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated underwater vehicle for deep-ocean research and exploration; the control, navigation, electrical system, build ship
integration, testing, and deployment, of Delores, an autonomous underwater system for surveying shipwrecks; and the design, development, testing, and
integration of the battery and battery management system of High-energy LiFePO4, a pressure-tolerant intelligent battery for autonomous
underwater vehicles. He developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the auto-heading system for NOAA Camera
Platform Upgrade, a Camera Platform for deep-ocean research and exploration.
He also developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the autopilot system, and developed the acoustic system
communications algorithms, for Penguin, a miniature autonomous vehicle.
He was the lead engineer for: the control, navigation, management, and device software, for OpenSuite, a flexible suite of control navigation, visualization, and device software for mobile robotics ; the subsea software design, development, testing, integration, field trials, and post-analysis, of NOAA Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated underwater vehicle for deep-ocean research and exploration; the control, navigation, electrical system, build ship
integration, testing, and deployment, of Delores, an autonomous underwater system for surveying shipwrecks; and the design, development, testing, and
integration of the battery and battery management system of High-energy LiFePO4, a pressure-tolerant intelligent battery for autonomous
underwater vehicles. He developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the auto-heading system for NOAA Camera
Platform Upgrade, a Camera Platform for deep-ocean research and exploration.
He also developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the autopilot system, and developed the acoustic system
communications algorithms, for Penguin, a miniature autonomous vehicle.
Corey Aldrich is the founder and owner of a freelance consultancy that focuses on all aspects of brand development, and business process management and development, with current projects involving cash flow analysis and market penetration, strategic market planning, 3rd party project team oversight, public relations, event planning, and front end visual brand design. Corey has a particular interest in not-for-profit arts, and has recently been working on a regional and local economic development initiative called Electric City Couture that focuses on the creation of a sustainable fashion movement in the Upstate New York Region.
Corey has a strong background in residential and commercial real estate, and for 10 years was Director of Market Development of a real estate development, management, and finance company, which focused on business actualization through all aspects of marketing and sales, including brand management and project oversight, and commercial and residential sales campaigns at the local and national level campaigns. His brand creation and management experience includes graphic and interior design, and networking and development, including work with the CEG (Center for Economic Growth), the NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), Leadership Tech Valley, and regional Chamber of Commerce organizations, involving vendor management and oversight, television, radio, print and electronic media campaigns, and contract negotiations and budget creation and oversight. Corey’s project oversight experience includes design, marketing and sales management on projects with individual budgets in excess of $200,000 and project values in excess of $15,000,000, and he has received numerous awards, including the 2009 Merit Award by Mature Media for the Schuyler Commons at Colonial Square, the 2009 Silver Award for Clubhouse Design by the National Home Builders Assoc., the 2008 Merit Award by the American Institute of Architects, Eastern New York Chapter for Excellence in Design for the United STEP 1 building in Malta, New York, and the 2008 Empire Award by the Public Relations Society of America, Capital Region Chapter for the Habitat for Humanity 24-Hour Blitz Build Project Media Campaign. Corey was interviewed for an article in the November, 2010 issue of “Green Building & Design” about the interior design components and project approach on United STEP 1, and was quoted in an article on the 801 Military Housing Transition program ‘Mission: Accomplished’ by Chris Wood.
Corey has a strong background in residential and commercial real estate, and for 10 years was Director of Market Development of a real estate development, management, and finance company, which focused on business actualization through all aspects of marketing and sales, including brand management and project oversight, and commercial and residential sales campaigns at the local and national level campaigns. His brand creation and management experience includes graphic and interior design, and networking and development, including work with the CEG (Center for Economic Growth), the NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), Leadership Tech Valley, and regional Chamber of Commerce organizations, involving vendor management and oversight, television, radio, print and electronic media campaigns, and contract negotiations and budget creation and oversight. Corey’s project oversight experience includes design, marketing and sales management on projects with individual budgets in excess of $200,000 and project values in excess of $15,000,000, and he has received numerous awards, including the 2009 Merit Award by Mature Media for the Schuyler Commons at Colonial Square, the 2009 Silver Award for Clubhouse Design by the National Home Builders Assoc., the 2008 Merit Award by the American Institute of Architects, Eastern New York Chapter for Excellence in Design for the United STEP 1 building in Malta, New York, and the 2008 Empire Award by the Public Relations Society of America, Capital Region Chapter for the Habitat for Humanity 24-Hour Blitz Build Project Media Campaign. Corey was interviewed for an article in the November, 2010 issue of “Green Building & Design” about the interior design components and project approach on United STEP 1, and was quoted in an article on the 801 Military Housing Transition program ‘Mission: Accomplished’ by Chris Wood.
Dan Martin MA, JD is a graduate of Cornell Law School and has practiced law since 1981. He is admitted to practice law in the State Courts of New York and New Jersey, the 2d and 3d Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. His fields of expertise include divorce and child custody, complex commercial litigation, and nationwide class actions. He has won several large monetary judgments on behalf of plaintiffs against large corporations, and achieved a significant settlement on behalf of consumers in a nationwide class action lawsuit. Dan has a Masters Degree in Counseling Services, and is the co-author of a text on the legal aspects of confidentiality in psychotherapy.
In 1983, Dan and his wife Jane started the Natural Baby Company, which began as a magazine for new parents, and ultimately grew into a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, which reached 3 million parents per year. Dan was principally involved in marketing of the catalog and the general oversight of the business, and negotiated the sale of the business in 1997 to an investor at a significant profit. Dan is also a writer and editor, and in 2006 published a novel "Journey Back."
In 1983, Dan and his wife Jane started the Natural Baby Company, which began as a magazine for new parents, and ultimately grew into a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, which reached 3 million parents per year. Dan was principally involved in marketing of the catalog and the general oversight of the business, and negotiated the sale of the business in 1997 to an investor at a significant profit. Dan is also a writer and editor, and in 2006 published a novel "Journey Back."
Emily Tompkins BSc is an organic farm manager, chef, and environmentalist. In March, 2009 she co-founded and managed an organic vegetable farm in Taneytown, MD, developing innovative crop strategies, calculating seed orders, managing customer relations, and distributing profits among workers. Emily is also a chef, who, in June, 2013, created a vegetarian menu, calculated the amount of food needed, purchased produce from local farms, and directed sous chefs in the preparation of 3 meal a day, for more than 20 staff and participants at an 8 day teen retreat.
Emily was an Eco-Rep at the University of Vermont, providing educational and outreach materials to raise student awareness and promote “green” campus living, and organizing meetings to educate students on campus related environmental issues. In September 2013 Emily completed an Earth Activist Training at Prospect Rock Permaculture where she received her Permaculture Design Certification.
Emily was an Eco-Rep at the University of Vermont, providing educational and outreach materials to raise student awareness and promote “green” campus living, and organizing meetings to educate students on campus related environmental issues. In September 2013 Emily completed an Earth Activist Training at Prospect Rock Permaculture where she received her Permaculture Design Certification.
Elaine Valdov PhD was the internationally elected Chairwoman of the “Executive Committee of NGOs Affiliated with the United Nations between 1996 and 2001. In that role she traveled worldwide and was instrumental in the development of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). Since 1988 she as been a representative to the United Nations, helping to promote compassion, justice and human rights, and an advocate for people and organizations throughout the world.
As President and Founder of “International Peace Ambassadors” and “Young Leaders Summits”, she brought young leaders into the UN and to venues throughout the world, and has helped guide thousands of young persons on their “Life Quest” for meaning, purpose, contribution and joy. Dr. Valdov has been a frequent speaker and has held multiple positions, at the United Nations including: Chair – Executive Committee of NGOs affiliated with the UN; Chair - UN NGO University for Peace Committee; Director – “World Week of Peace”; Director - Task Force on Women, Empowerment, and Gender Equality; Vice Chair – “Millennium NGO Forum”; Member of the Millennium NGO Forum Advisory Committee for ushering the world into the New Millennium. Dr. Valdov has also held many NGO positions, including: Secretary General – Medical Assembly at the UN; Secretary General and Co-Founder – Youth Assembly at the UN; Executive Director –World Water Organization; President and Founder – International Peace Ambassadors, International Institute for a Culture of Peace; International Young Leaders Summits; Yoga Peace Ambassadors / Yogis Without Borders and International Young Leaders Forums. She has created peace initiatives for UNESCO’s “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World” and the UN “Millennium Development Goals” (dealing with global issues of poverty and hunger, women’s empowerment and equality, health, education and the environment). Dr. Valdov is a psychotherapist and trauma counselor in NYC, coaching individuals and organizations on “Finding Your Role in Creating a Culture of Peace.” Following 9/11, she co-founded “Kids’ Corner” and was the Director of September 11 Family Relations, and helped to establish programs in the US and abroad to assist families dealing with disasters. |
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Howard Moody is an innovative teacher and facilitator, who for over 20 years has been offering his playshops, rapid interventions that unlock an organization’s energy and intelligence. Howard trained with the New Games Foundation, Project Adventure, and the Professional Play Leaders Association, and studied Original Play with Fred Donaldson. Howard has been a faculty member at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies for many years, and in 1985 co-founded the Adventure Game Theatre (AGT), an extraordinary interactive learning process, that has been featured on PBS and NPR. Combining experiential learning with creativity, improvisational theater, play, community building, mythology and storytelling , AGT brought magic into thousands of young lives. AGT later evolved into the Wayfinder Experience, created and now run by the young people that Howard helped train.
With the help of Wayfinder and Valarie Paradiz, Howard has adapted this work for use with students on the Autism spectrum, particularly those with Asperger’s syndrome. Howard is also a Senior Consultant with Idea Champions, a world leader in creativity, innovation, and brainstorming. He has provided programs for hundreds of organizations, in order to help transform the 21st century workplace into an environment that encourages people to be themselves and operate at the highest level of insight, creativity and teamwork. Howard works with Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations, and offers special educational packages for educators and schools. He has also been a consultant with the Disney Development project and Kidsports International.
With the help of Wayfinder and Valarie Paradiz, Howard has adapted this work for use with students on the Autism spectrum, particularly those with Asperger’s syndrome. Howard is also a Senior Consultant with Idea Champions, a world leader in creativity, innovation, and brainstorming. He has provided programs for hundreds of organizations, in order to help transform the 21st century workplace into an environment that encourages people to be themselves and operate at the highest level of insight, creativity and teamwork. Howard works with Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations, and offers special educational packages for educators and schools. He has also been a consultant with the Disney Development project and Kidsports International.
Jane Martin MA, LPC is a psychotherapist in private practice at Volition Wellness Solutions, in Skillman, NJ, working with children, teens and adults. She is the founder of Social Harmony, a school-based anti-bullying program which moves schools from punishment methods, to conflict resolution and healing techniques. With her daughter, Julia, she owns and operates ReTribe, an organization which runs Rite of Passage retreats for teens and adventure camps for children. She is on the faculty of Integration Concepts, and teaches breath work, and other transpersonal modalities.
In 1983, Jane and her husband, Dan, started the Natural Baby Company, which published a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, ultimately reaching 3 million parents per year. Natural Baby employed 80 workers, bought from 300 vendors, most of which were work-at-home businesses, and was featured on TV, radio, and in national magazines. Jane was a major voice in the Natural Parenting Movement, disseminating information about obstetrical interventions, toxins in baby products, nursing, circumcision, and alternative health options. Before Natural Baby, Jane worked as a computer programmer/analyst for Premark, owner of Rainbow Grocery one of the nation’s first health food grocery stores and a natural foods distributorship. Premark served health food stores and restaurants in Colorado. Jane's work included accounting, systems design and procurement.
In 1983, Jane and her husband, Dan, started the Natural Baby Company, which published a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, ultimately reaching 3 million parents per year. Natural Baby employed 80 workers, bought from 300 vendors, most of which were work-at-home businesses, and was featured on TV, radio, and in national magazines. Jane was a major voice in the Natural Parenting Movement, disseminating information about obstetrical interventions, toxins in baby products, nursing, circumcision, and alternative health options. Before Natural Baby, Jane worked as a computer programmer/analyst for Premark, owner of Rainbow Grocery one of the nation’s first health food grocery stores and a natural foods distributorship. Premark served health food stores and restaurants in Colorado. Jane's work included accounting, systems design and procurement.
John McMillin MD, PhD is a doctor and a regenerative social scientist, whose group, Land and Water Resources International (LAWRI), was instrumental in saving the people of the Ansokia Valley, Ethiopia in the1980s. Dr. McMillin and
his team not only distributed food, but also introduced interdependent fish farming and gardening techniques, and a regenerative agricultural program, that would restore the fertility of the valley’s soil and develop healthy farms and crop distribution systems to ensure that such a disaster would never happened again. Before his arrival, many had died of starvation, and most survivors were malnourished with bloated stomachs, essentially waiting to die. A 250-acre pilot farm served as a testing ground for new farming
methods and crops never before grown in the valley, A tree nursery raised fast-growing trees to control soil erosion, and created hundreds of jobs by employing people to pack tree seedlings. Nearly thirty years later, crops thrive in the valley and the trees are laden with oranges. Children are happy and well-fed and go to school. The local market sells locally grown produce. Amazingly, the local man-made tilapia fish ponds Dr. McMillin designed to supply high quality protein to thousands of residents have proved so successful that the valley now exports fish. To date, Ansokia’s farmers have planted 20 million trees.
Dr. McMillin is an expert in generating nutrition from both soil and water, and has been feeding people and helping them regenerate their lives physically, culturally and economically for nearly 70 years, beginning in 1945, when as a 15 year old he helped his father provide life giving nutrition to survivors of the death camps in Eastern Europe. His capacity to maintain a positive attitude in the most trying of circumstances, and his post conventional interdisciplinary knowledge, that allows him to solve systemic problems in a comprehensive way, are unique. Though he is best known for his work to end the Ethiopian famine, he has also worked extensively in other parts of Africa, in the Caribbean, on the Indian subcontinent, and in the Pacific.
Dr. McMillin is an exemplar of a Solutionary, a master mentor, and a creative problem solver. His capacity to ameliorate some of the most daunting famines around the world for more than 50 years, stands as a guidepost for all of us as we face the future.
his team not only distributed food, but also introduced interdependent fish farming and gardening techniques, and a regenerative agricultural program, that would restore the fertility of the valley’s soil and develop healthy farms and crop distribution systems to ensure that such a disaster would never happened again. Before his arrival, many had died of starvation, and most survivors were malnourished with bloated stomachs, essentially waiting to die. A 250-acre pilot farm served as a testing ground for new farming
methods and crops never before grown in the valley, A tree nursery raised fast-growing trees to control soil erosion, and created hundreds of jobs by employing people to pack tree seedlings. Nearly thirty years later, crops thrive in the valley and the trees are laden with oranges. Children are happy and well-fed and go to school. The local market sells locally grown produce. Amazingly, the local man-made tilapia fish ponds Dr. McMillin designed to supply high quality protein to thousands of residents have proved so successful that the valley now exports fish. To date, Ansokia’s farmers have planted 20 million trees.
Dr. McMillin is an expert in generating nutrition from both soil and water, and has been feeding people and helping them regenerate their lives physically, culturally and economically for nearly 70 years, beginning in 1945, when as a 15 year old he helped his father provide life giving nutrition to survivors of the death camps in Eastern Europe. His capacity to maintain a positive attitude in the most trying of circumstances, and his post conventional interdisciplinary knowledge, that allows him to solve systemic problems in a comprehensive way, are unique. Though he is best known for his work to end the Ethiopian famine, he has also worked extensively in other parts of Africa, in the Caribbean, on the Indian subcontinent, and in the Pacific.
Dr. McMillin is an exemplar of a Solutionary, a master mentor, and a creative problem solver. His capacity to ameliorate some of the most daunting famines around the world for more than 50 years, stands as a guidepost for all of us as we face the future.
John Hunt is a naturalist who grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont. He has been enthralled with the natural world since childhood and has a passion for helping others strengthen their own connection to nature. John has studied with expert survivalists and trackers including Tom Brown and Susan Morse, and has also done extensive research on his own, including direct exploration of nature.
For the past 5 years, John has been mentoring youth of all ages in a wide variety of settings including summer camps, afterschool programs, outdoor education school and clubs. He is currently an outdoor educator at Earthwalk Vermont, and is the co-creator and director of ReTribe, LLC, a Vermont corporation that runs transformational programming, for children, teens, and young adults, including Rite of Passage retreats for teens, which incorporate mindfulness meditation, yoga, adventure game theater, breath work, and health education; and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for children ages 7-12. John has also been working with the Walden Project, an alternative high school program in Monkton, VT for the past four years as a visiting naturalist, and has been staff at iBme teen meditation retreats in Virginia.
He is certified in Healing Touch, Energy Medicine, and Integral Breath Therapy, is a poet and drummer, and has a strong meditation practice. Because of his deep love of the earth as Gaia, John has a passion for, and understanding of, sustainability issues on a worldwide, local and personal scale. He loves working with youth and helping them discover through nature their unique and beautiful power.
For the past 5 years, John has been mentoring youth of all ages in a wide variety of settings including summer camps, afterschool programs, outdoor education school and clubs. He is currently an outdoor educator at Earthwalk Vermont, and is the co-creator and director of ReTribe, LLC, a Vermont corporation that runs transformational programming, for children, teens, and young adults, including Rite of Passage retreats for teens, which incorporate mindfulness meditation, yoga, adventure game theater, breath work, and health education; and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for children ages 7-12. John has also been working with the Walden Project, an alternative high school program in Monkton, VT for the past four years as a visiting naturalist, and has been staff at iBme teen meditation retreats in Virginia.
He is certified in Healing Touch, Energy Medicine, and Integral Breath Therapy, is a poet and drummer, and has a strong meditation practice. Because of his deep love of the earth as Gaia, John has a passion for, and understanding of, sustainability issues on a worldwide, local and personal scale. He loves working with youth and helping them discover through nature their unique and beautiful power.
Judy Neil MA, PhD is an internationally recognized author, speaker, researcher, writer, teacher coach, and consultant who is committed to helping leaders, teams and organizations be on the leading edge of positive cultural change. She is the founder of the Spirit at Work Movement, and has worked with organizations including Pfizer, Unilever, Sennheiser, General Electric, General Dynamics, Hewlett-Packard and others. Judi is the Chairman of Edgewalkers International, and the retired Director of the Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, USA. She was the founder of The International Center for Spirit at Work, and the International Spirit at Work Awards.
Judi authored Edgewalkers: People and Organizations that Take Risks, Build Bridges and Break New Ground and co-authored The Spirit of Project Management with Alan Harpham. She is the editor of The Handbook for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace, and the co-founder of the Management, Spirituality and Religion Interest Group at the Academy of Management. She is also a co-founder of the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion and on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Management, Spirituality and Religion. Judi is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Haven, and Academic Director of the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program at the Graduate Institute.
Her new book Creating Enlightened Organizations, simplifies and organizes the best of what is going on in organizations at the individual, team and systems levels and provides guidance for putting it to practical use. It offers a radically new view of the purpose of business in society and provides examples of leading edge organizations that make a positive difference in the world.
Judi authored Edgewalkers: People and Organizations that Take Risks, Build Bridges and Break New Ground and co-authored The Spirit of Project Management with Alan Harpham. She is the editor of The Handbook for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace, and the co-founder of the Management, Spirituality and Religion Interest Group at the Academy of Management. She is also a co-founder of the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion and on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Management, Spirituality and Religion. Judi is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Haven, and Academic Director of the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program at the Graduate Institute.
Her new book Creating Enlightened Organizations, simplifies and organizes the best of what is going on in organizations at the individual, team and systems levels and provides guidance for putting it to practical use. It offers a radically new view of the purpose of business in society and provides examples of leading edge organizations that make a positive difference in the world.
Judith Hyde MA, MAT was the founder and executive director of The Child Protection Council of Northeastern Connecticut, the President of the Connecticut Children and the Courts Committee, the founder and executive director of The Children's Law Center of Connecticut, helped found the Women & Girls Fund of the Eastern Connecticut Community Foundation, and was the National Coordinator of Volunteers To End Slavery. She has been a tireless advocate for
children and families, as a child and family therapist specializing in child abuse and sexual abuse treatment, and as a senior researcher investigating the psychosocial rehabilitation of children rescued from slavery in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti and India, ultimately presenting her findings at a symposium sponsored by the US Department of Labor and in congressional testimony.
Judith did community school work with single mothers and their children, group work with parents of difficult children and survivors of child abuse, was an evaluator and in-home counselor for a state child development clinic, and a home-based counselor for parents of special education children. She received the Kangas Award for Child Advocacy, the United Services award, the AAUW Certificate of Achievement for efforts to improve opportunities for girls and women, and an award from the Connecticut Chapter of the National Task Force for Children’s Rights. She has published articles on “Day Care Teachers and Child Abuse”, “Physical and Mental Health Aspects of Rehabilitating Children Freed from Slavery,” and “Slavery Prevention in the Contemporary World” Judith has also been a mediator, taught French and English at the college level, and is an elder mentor in the Art of Mentoring program for culture repair through deep nature connection.
children and families, as a child and family therapist specializing in child abuse and sexual abuse treatment, and as a senior researcher investigating the psychosocial rehabilitation of children rescued from slavery in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti and India, ultimately presenting her findings at a symposium sponsored by the US Department of Labor and in congressional testimony.
Judith did community school work with single mothers and their children, group work with parents of difficult children and survivors of child abuse, was an evaluator and in-home counselor for a state child development clinic, and a home-based counselor for parents of special education children. She received the Kangas Award for Child Advocacy, the United Services award, the AAUW Certificate of Achievement for efforts to improve opportunities for girls and women, and an award from the Connecticut Chapter of the National Task Force for Children’s Rights. She has published articles on “Day Care Teachers and Child Abuse”, “Physical and Mental Health Aspects of Rehabilitating Children Freed from Slavery,” and “Slavery Prevention in the Contemporary World” Judith has also been a mediator, taught French and English at the college level, and is an elder mentor in the Art of Mentoring program for culture repair through deep nature connection.
Julia Martin is a community builder, and teacher, and is the co-creator and director of ReTribe, LLC, a Vermont corporation that runs transformational programming, for children, teens, and young adults, including Rite of Passage retreats for teens, which incorporate mindfulness meditation, yoga,, adventure game theater, breathwork, and health education, and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for children ages 7-12. Julia has been a staff member of the Wayfinder Experience, a fantasy roleplaying and improvisational theater camp for teens, and has directed theater programs for ages 7-17. She has a deep connection with nature, and imagination, and is passionate about helping teens to heal, grow, and transform.
Julia has planned and organized several large gatherings including Earth Fest at the University of Vermont in the spring of 2007, the Twin Oaks Communities Conference and Women’s Gathering in the summer of 2009, and a Michaelmas Harvest Festival in the fall of 2009. She also planned and implemented a 3 credit, two week, residential University of Vermont Homesteading course in the summer of 2010. Julia currently teaches movement to first through eighth graders at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School, in East Montpelier, VT, and also works with the school’s Social
Pathways Committee to help students and faculty work through conflict to heal and grow.
Julia has planned and organized several large gatherings including Earth Fest at the University of Vermont in the spring of 2007, the Twin Oaks Communities Conference and Women’s Gathering in the summer of 2009, and a Michaelmas Harvest Festival in the fall of 2009. She also planned and implemented a 3 credit, two week, residential University of Vermont Homesteading course in the summer of 2010. Julia currently teaches movement to first through eighth graders at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School, in East Montpelier, VT, and also works with the school’s Social
Pathways Committee to help students and faculty work through conflict to heal and grow.
Lazri DiSalvo MA, PhD (anticipated 2015) is a researcher, writer, teacher, and expert in cooperative forms of organization. His work focuses on international political economy, human rights, and conflict reconciliation. He received a research grant from the University of Connecticut Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and conducted field research, principally in Central America, on topics including: at-risk youth,; living conditions in indigenous communities; the impact of fair trade policies on agricultural production and the quality of life; and communication strategies for engaging displaced populations into the city planning process.
Lazri has taught courses at the University of Connecticut including, “Introduction to Comparative Politics, “Introduction to Non-Western Politics,” and “Introduction to Political Theory.” He has published and presented scholarly papers on, among others, the following: “Local Development Through Global Media”; “Fair Trade Regimes: Space, Welfare, and International Networks”; “Starved to Action: Food Crises and Domestic Agitation”; “Participatory Economic Rights: Exploring Parallels Between the Solidarity Economy and Economic Rights”; and ”Global Environmental Governance .
Lazri has taught courses at the University of Connecticut including, “Introduction to Comparative Politics, “Introduction to Non-Western Politics,” and “Introduction to Political Theory.” He has published and presented scholarly papers on, among others, the following: “Local Development Through Global Media”; “Fair Trade Regimes: Space, Welfare, and International Networks”; “Starved to Action: Food Crises and Domestic Agitation”; “Participatory Economic Rights: Exploring Parallels Between the Solidarity Economy and Economic Rights”; and ”Global Environmental Governance .
Lynnea Brinkerhoff MSOD is a Board Certified Coach, applied behavioral scientist, social action researcher, small business owner, hospitality manager, and ordained Interfaith Minister. With over 20 year’s experience as an individual coach to executives and emerging leaders, Lynnea has worked in Fortune 100 companies, non-profit educational organizations, and with fledgling entrepreneurs, focusing on those in transition. She is the creator of the first Eco-therapy program in the eastern United States and a founder of The Five Questions International Coaching Network. She has been a visiting faculty at St. Claret's College, Bangalore, India and is an adjunct professor in Organizational Development and Public Health at the University of New Haven.
Lynnea is currently working with Equine-based Coaching and Community Supported Agriculture and is Vice President of Flath & Associates, a human resource and organization development firm, in New Haven, CT. She authored a chapter on The Role of Individual Development in an Organizational Context in a seminal OD text, an article on Managing Polarities in the Field Guide for Change Leaders, and several articles on Equine Assisted Coaching in conjunction with her hands on work in this emerging field.
Lynnea’s work focuses on using Large Scale Change Methodologies to create sustainable ecosystems, in order to encourage a healthy relationship between nature and culture, nurture individual well-being, increase long term health, and build community. Lynnea employs a range of energy enhancement and stress management tools, to build autonomy, emotional maturity and alignment among leaders in business, non-profit and social venture projects.
Lynnea is currently working with Equine-based Coaching and Community Supported Agriculture and is Vice President of Flath & Associates, a human resource and organization development firm, in New Haven, CT. She authored a chapter on The Role of Individual Development in an Organizational Context in a seminal OD text, an article on Managing Polarities in the Field Guide for Change Leaders, and several articles on Equine Assisted Coaching in conjunction with her hands on work in this emerging field.
Lynnea’s work focuses on using Large Scale Change Methodologies to create sustainable ecosystems, in order to encourage a healthy relationship between nature and culture, nurture individual well-being, increase long term health, and build community. Lynnea employs a range of energy enhancement and stress management tools, to build autonomy, emotional maturity and alignment among leaders in business, non-profit and social venture projects.
Michael Pergola, MA, MBA, JD is a business executive, lawyer, coach, consultant, educator, organizational leader, and an ordained interfaith minister, with a wealth of in house corporate, technology, non-profit, and educational experience. He served six years as Chief Knowledge Officer for Risk at one of the largest banks in the country, practiced law at a major firm in Washington D.C., launched a real estate development firm to renovate high quality middle income properties, designed and served as general contractor in the renovation of classic homes, and has founded both business and nonprofit organizations.
Michael has taught high school, founded two software companies, served as a community organizer, ran a petroleum products distributor, and was a member of the Society for Organizational Learning, and the National Commission to End Domestic Violence. He is well versed in integral theory, and has taught a wide variety of courses including: Vision & Culture, Communications, Leadership, Organizational Learning, Creativity and Innovation, Integral Development, the Enneagram, Spiral Dynamics and Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life.
Michael’s work includes coaching leaders in a merger, facilitating an executive team in a new enterprise, curriculum development, strategic alliances, team building, merger integration, technology implementation, communications, and marketing. He has also facilitated strategic and scenario planning, and team building sessions, as both a leader and a consultant. He is trained in systems thinking, scenario planning, creativity & innovation, facilitation, conflict resolution, business process analysis, technology assessment, emotional intelligence, counseling, meditation and biofeedback. With a strong work ethic, a commitment to excellence, a flexible approach and a focus on long term value, Michael helps evoke untapped potential for creativity, innovation, and success.
Michael has taught high school, founded two software companies, served as a community organizer, ran a petroleum products distributor, and was a member of the Society for Organizational Learning, and the National Commission to End Domestic Violence. He is well versed in integral theory, and has taught a wide variety of courses including: Vision & Culture, Communications, Leadership, Organizational Learning, Creativity and Innovation, Integral Development, the Enneagram, Spiral Dynamics and Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life.
Michael’s work includes coaching leaders in a merger, facilitating an executive team in a new enterprise, curriculum development, strategic alliances, team building, merger integration, technology implementation, communications, and marketing. He has also facilitated strategic and scenario planning, and team building sessions, as both a leader and a consultant. He is trained in systems thinking, scenario planning, creativity & innovation, facilitation, conflict resolution, business process analysis, technology assessment, emotional intelligence, counseling, meditation and biofeedback. With a strong work ethic, a commitment to excellence, a flexible approach and a focus on long term value, Michael helps evoke untapped potential for creativity, innovation, and success.
Nathan Wytrwal has held a variety of positions at the Omega Institute and is skilled in many areas of industrial arts. He has traveled to Australia where he studied permaculture and the didgeridoo. Nathan is a tireless worker who has built houses, constructed rain gardens, farmed, welded and organized teams of people on a wide variety of community projects. His capacity to incorporate new knowledge and than turn that knowledge into practical application; and the breadth and depth of Nathan's understanding of both natural and human systems is a rare gift in such a young man.
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Mentors Make a Difference
Being seen and mirrored for who we truly are can help us understand and express our soul's true purpose in a way that almost nothing else can.
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Patti Pierson, MSc has spent nearly twenty years in the communications and public affairs arena, leading high profile communications campaigns for Fortune 500 technology companies and philanthropic foundations, including Microsoft, AOL, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At the Gates Foundation, she served as a program officer, where she evaluated funding proposals and worked with grantees to shape successful projects aimed at improving media reporting of developing world health issues. She also helped lead the establishment of a west coast presence for AOL’s philanthropic foundation, Netscape, Corp./AOL, Inc., including assessing local community needs and developing socially responsible projects that supported AOL’s strategic giving objectives.
Patti currently advises social change organizations, helping them to articulate their message and to secure and access grant funding to advance their missions. She has traveled extensively, and has provided pro bono marketing and communications assistance to clients in the United States, Ghana, Zambia, Guatemala, and Peru. Patti was a partner in Social Venture Partners in Seattle, Washington, where she evaluated funding requests related to early childhood education and related projects to better prepare future generations to respond to 21st century life.
Patti currently advises social change organizations, helping them to articulate their message and to secure and access grant funding to advance their missions. She has traveled extensively, and has provided pro bono marketing and communications assistance to clients in the United States, Ghana, Zambia, Guatemala, and Peru. Patti was a partner in Social Venture Partners in Seattle, Washington, where she evaluated funding requests related to early childhood education and related projects to better prepare future generations to respond to 21st century life.
Sarah Kerstin Gross is a seasoned food service entrepreneur, who for 35 years owned and operated a flourishing prepared foods, catering, and events planning business in Connecticut and New York. Her clients included Presidents Obama and Clinton, numerous Fortune 500 companies, as well as a multitude of businesses, non-profits and members of the private sector She presented a cutting edge look into “The Evolution of Grab & Go Food” to hundreds at the Natural Foods Convention and a lively hands on interactive workshop, “The Art of Passionate Presentation” at the National Catering Symposium.
Sarah is an evolutionary painter, who had fifty-six of her transformative paintings hanging at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, in Lenox Mass for 5 years, and whose works are part of numerous private collections. She is also a yoga teacher, an energy healer, incorporating a synthesis of modalities, a transformational coach, and a mesa-carrying Shaman practitioner in the Q’ero tradition of Peru where she co-facilitates yearly pilgrimages.
Sarah is an evolutionary painter, who had fifty-six of her transformative paintings hanging at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, in Lenox Mass for 5 years, and whose works are part of numerous private collections. She is also a yoga teacher, an energy healer, incorporating a synthesis of modalities, a transformational coach, and a mesa-carrying Shaman practitioner in the Q’ero tradition of Peru where she co-facilitates yearly pilgrimages.
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Social Entrepreneurship, Community Development,
Global Citizenship
John McMillin MD, PhD
is a doctor and a regenerative social scientist, whose group, Land and Water Resources International (LAWRI), was instrumental in saving the people of the Ansokia Valley, Ethiopia in the1980s. Dr. McMillin and his team not only distributed food, but also introduced interdependent fish farming and gardening techniques, a regenerative agricultural program that would restore the fertility of the valley’s soil, and develop healthy farms and crop distribution systems to ensure that such a disaster would never happened again.
Before his arrival, many had died of starvation, and most survivors were malnourished with bloated stomachs, essentially waiting to die. A 250-acre pilot farm served as a testing ground for new farming methods and crops never before grown in the valley, A tree nursery raised fast-growing trees to control soil erosion, and created hundreds of jobs by employing people to pack tree seedlings. Nearly thirty years later, crops thrive in the valley and the trees are laden with oranges. Children are happy and well-fed and go to school. The local market sells locally grown produce. Amazingly, the local man-made tilapia fish ponds Dr. McMillin designed to supply high quality protein to thousands of residents have proved so successful that the valley now exports fish. To date, Ansokia’s farmers have planted 20 million trees. Dr. McMillin is an expert in generating nutrition from both soil and water, and has been feeding people and helping them regenerate their lives physically, culturally and economically for nearly 70 years, beginning in 1945, when as a 15 year old he helped his father provide life giving nutrition to survivors of the death camps in Eastern Europe. His capacity to maintain a positive attitude in the most trying of circumstances, and his post conventional interdisciplinary knowledge that allows him to solve systemic problems in a comprehensive way, are unique. Though he is best known for his work to end the Ethiopian famine, he has also worked extensively in other parts of Africa, in the Caribbean, on the Indian subcontinent, and in the Pacific.
Dr. McMillin is an exemplar of a Solutionary, a master mentor, and a creative problem solver. His capacity to solve some of the most daunting instances of famine around the world for over 50 years stands as a guidepost for all of us as we face the future.
Before his arrival, many had died of starvation, and most survivors were malnourished with bloated stomachs, essentially waiting to die. A 250-acre pilot farm served as a testing ground for new farming methods and crops never before grown in the valley, A tree nursery raised fast-growing trees to control soil erosion, and created hundreds of jobs by employing people to pack tree seedlings. Nearly thirty years later, crops thrive in the valley and the trees are laden with oranges. Children are happy and well-fed and go to school. The local market sells locally grown produce. Amazingly, the local man-made tilapia fish ponds Dr. McMillin designed to supply high quality protein to thousands of residents have proved so successful that the valley now exports fish. To date, Ansokia’s farmers have planted 20 million trees. Dr. McMillin is an expert in generating nutrition from both soil and water, and has been feeding people and helping them regenerate their lives physically, culturally and economically for nearly 70 years, beginning in 1945, when as a 15 year old he helped his father provide life giving nutrition to survivors of the death camps in Eastern Europe. His capacity to maintain a positive attitude in the most trying of circumstances, and his post conventional interdisciplinary knowledge that allows him to solve systemic problems in a comprehensive way, are unique. Though he is best known for his work to end the Ethiopian famine, he has also worked extensively in other parts of Africa, in the Caribbean, on the Indian subcontinent, and in the Pacific.
Dr. McMillin is an exemplar of a Solutionary, a master mentor, and a creative problem solver. His capacity to solve some of the most daunting instances of famine around the world for over 50 years stands as a guidepost for all of us as we face the future.
Judith Hyde MA, MAT
was the founder and executive director of The Child Protection Council of Northeastern Connecticut, the President of the Connecticut Children and the Courts Committee, the founder and executive director of The Children's Law Center of Connecticut, helped found the Women & Girls Fund of the Eastern Connecticut Community Foundation, and was the National Coordinator of Volunteers To End Slavery. She has been a tireless advocate for children and families, as a child and family therapist specializing in child abuse and sexual abuse treatment, and as a senior researcher investigating the psychosocial rehabilitation of children rescued from slavery in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti and India, ultimately presenting her findings at a symposium sponsored by the US Department of Labor and in congressional testimony.
Judith did community school work with single mothers and their children, group work with parents of difficult children and survivors of child abuse, was an evaluator and in-home counselor for a state child development clinic, and a home-based counselor for parents of special education children. She received the Kangas Award for Child Advocacy, the United Services award, the AAUW Certificate of Achievement for efforts to improve opportunities for girls and women, and an award from the Connecticut Chapter of the National Task Force for Children’s Constitutional Rights. She has published articles on “Day Care Teachers and Child Abuse”, “Physical and Mental Health Aspects of Rehabilitating Children Freed from Slavery,” and “Slavery Prevention in the Contemporary World” Judith has also been a mediator, taught French and English at the college level, and is an elder mentor in the Art of Mentoring program for culture repair through deep nature connection.
Judith did community school work with single mothers and their children, group work with parents of difficult children and survivors of child abuse, was an evaluator and in-home counselor for a state child development clinic, and a home-based counselor for parents of special education children. She received the Kangas Award for Child Advocacy, the United Services award, the AAUW Certificate of Achievement for efforts to improve opportunities for girls and women, and an award from the Connecticut Chapter of the National Task Force for Children’s Constitutional Rights. She has published articles on “Day Care Teachers and Child Abuse”, “Physical and Mental Health Aspects of Rehabilitating Children Freed from Slavery,” and “Slavery Prevention in the Contemporary World” Judith has also been a mediator, taught French and English at the college level, and is an elder mentor in the Art of Mentoring program for culture repair through deep nature connection.
Elaine Valdov PhD
was the internationally elected Chairwoman of the “Executive Committee of NGOs Affiliated with the United Nations between 1996 and 2001. In that role she traveled worldwide and was instrumental in the development of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). Since 1988 she as been a representative to the United Nations, helping to promote compassion, justice and human rights, and an advocate for people and organizations throughout the world.
As President and Founder of “International Peace Ambassadors” and “Young Leaders Summits”, she brought young leaders into the UN and to venues throughout the world, and has helped guide thousands of young persons on their “Life Quest” for meaning, purpose, contribution and joy. Dr. Valdov has been a frequent speaker and has held multiple positions, at the United Nations including: Chair – Executive Committee of NGOs affiliated with the UN; Chair - UN NGO University for Peace Committee; Director – “World Week of Peace”; Director - Task Force on Women, Empowerment, and Gender Equality; Vice Chair – “Millennium NGO Forum”; Member of the Millennium NGO Forum Advisory Committee for ushering the world into the New Millennium.
Dr. Valdov has also held many NGO positions, including: Secretary General – Medical Assembly at the UN; Secretary General and Co-Founder – Youth Assembly at the UN; Executive Director –World Water Organization; President and Founder – International Peace Ambassadors, International Institute for a Culture of Peace; International Young Leaders Summits; Yoga Peace Ambassadors / Yogis Without Borders and International Young Leaders Forums. She has created peace initiatives for UNESCO’s “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World” and the UN “Millennium Development Goals” (dealing with global issues of poverty and hunger, women’s empowerment and equality, health, education and the environment).
Dr. Valdov is a psychotherapist and trauma counselor in NYC, coaching individuals and organizations on “Finding Your Role in Creating a Culture of Peace.” Following 9/11, she co-founded “Kids’ Corner” and was the Director of September 11 Family Relations, and helped to establish programs in the US and abroad to assist families dealing with disasters.
As President and Founder of “International Peace Ambassadors” and “Young Leaders Summits”, she brought young leaders into the UN and to venues throughout the world, and has helped guide thousands of young persons on their “Life Quest” for meaning, purpose, contribution and joy. Dr. Valdov has been a frequent speaker and has held multiple positions, at the United Nations including: Chair – Executive Committee of NGOs affiliated with the UN; Chair - UN NGO University for Peace Committee; Director – “World Week of Peace”; Director - Task Force on Women, Empowerment, and Gender Equality; Vice Chair – “Millennium NGO Forum”; Member of the Millennium NGO Forum Advisory Committee for ushering the world into the New Millennium.
Dr. Valdov has also held many NGO positions, including: Secretary General – Medical Assembly at the UN; Secretary General and Co-Founder – Youth Assembly at the UN; Executive Director –World Water Organization; President and Founder – International Peace Ambassadors, International Institute for a Culture of Peace; International Young Leaders Summits; Yoga Peace Ambassadors / Yogis Without Borders and International Young Leaders Forums. She has created peace initiatives for UNESCO’s “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World” and the UN “Millennium Development Goals” (dealing with global issues of poverty and hunger, women’s empowerment and equality, health, education and the environment).
Dr. Valdov is a psychotherapist and trauma counselor in NYC, coaching individuals and organizations on “Finding Your Role in Creating a Culture of Peace.” Following 9/11, she co-founded “Kids’ Corner” and was the Director of September 11 Family Relations, and helped to establish programs in the US and abroad to assist families dealing with disasters.
Clare Rosenfield M.A., M.S., LCSW
is a writer, artist, and poet who is dedicated to finding the true north of her being, centered in expressing pure-heartedness in life, art, poetry, and essays. She illustrated five of her poetry collections, plays the harp and sings in the Threshhold Choir for Hospice of Westchester (www.outskirtspress.com/ninsunwisemother). Clare and her late husband, Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean for 22 years of the Mailman School of Public Health, have been active in creating positive change throughout their lives. They lived in Nigeria and Thailand where Clare co-authored a book on Siamese temple paintings, learned to speak Thai, and begin her journey into Eastern teachings. She considers herself a spiritual kaleidoscope because of her love for seeing through the diverse lenses of many wisdom paths (Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Sufi, Quaker) and finding their essential unity.
As director of the Global Healing Foundation, she facilitates long distance healings for the planet and each other (www.globalhealingfoundation.org). She founded a form of holistic psychotherapy called Contact Healing (www.contacthealing.com) which teaches tools for self-healing and compassion. As a stress reduction expert, she offers guided relaxations, meditations and sound healing.
Clare is acutely aware of how we awaken together. Rather than pursuing a solo spiritual journey we must join together to impact consciousness worldwide and to co create a respectful, cooperative, and sustainable world. Our consciousness needs to grow to embrace all life and all species as our sisters and brothers. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren require this of us. We must be pro-active in saving the planet and in guiding our young to a meaningful, productive and regenerative lifestyle. Clare’s blog is www.inspiredponderingsbyclare.wordpress.com.
As director of the Global Healing Foundation, she facilitates long distance healings for the planet and each other (www.globalhealingfoundation.org). She founded a form of holistic psychotherapy called Contact Healing (www.contacthealing.com) which teaches tools for self-healing and compassion. As a stress reduction expert, she offers guided relaxations, meditations and sound healing.
Clare is acutely aware of how we awaken together. Rather than pursuing a solo spiritual journey we must join together to impact consciousness worldwide and to co create a respectful, cooperative, and sustainable world. Our consciousness needs to grow to embrace all life and all species as our sisters and brothers. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren require this of us. We must be pro-active in saving the planet and in guiding our young to a meaningful, productive and regenerative lifestyle. Clare’s blog is www.inspiredponderingsbyclare.wordpress.com.
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Business, Finance, Real Estate, Operations
Michael Pergola, MA, MBA, JD
is a business executive, lawyer, coach, consultant, educator, organizational leader, and an ordained interfaith minister, with a wealth of in house corporate, technology, non-profit, and educational experience. He served six years as Chief Knowledge Officer for Risk at one of the largest banks in the country, practiced law at a major firm in Washington D.C., launched a real
estate development firm to renovate high quality middle income properties, designed and served as general contractor in the renovation of classic homes, and has founded both business and nonprofit organizations.
Michael has taught high school, founded two software companies, served as a community organizer, ran a petroleum products distributor, and was a member of the Society for Organizational Learning, and the National Commission to End Domestic Violence. He is well versed in integral theory, and has taught a wide variety of courses including: Vision
& Culture, Communications, Leadership, Organizational Learning, Creativity and Innovation, Integral Development, the Enneagram, Spiral Dynamics and Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life.
Michael’s work includes coaching leaders in a merger, facilitating an executive team in a new enterprise, curriculum development, strategic alliances, team building, merger integration, technology implementation, communications, and marketing. He has also facilitated strategic and scenario planning, and team building sessions, as both a leader and a
consultant. He is trained in systems thinking, scenario planning, creativity & innovation, facilitation, conflict resolution business process analysis, technology assessment, emotional intelligence, counseling, meditation and biofeedback. With a strong work ethic, a commitment to excellence, a flexible approach and a focus on long term value, Michael helps evoke untapped potential for creativity, innovation, and success.
estate development firm to renovate high quality middle income properties, designed and served as general contractor in the renovation of classic homes, and has founded both business and nonprofit organizations.
Michael has taught high school, founded two software companies, served as a community organizer, ran a petroleum products distributor, and was a member of the Society for Organizational Learning, and the National Commission to End Domestic Violence. He is well versed in integral theory, and has taught a wide variety of courses including: Vision
& Culture, Communications, Leadership, Organizational Learning, Creativity and Innovation, Integral Development, the Enneagram, Spiral Dynamics and Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life.
Michael’s work includes coaching leaders in a merger, facilitating an executive team in a new enterprise, curriculum development, strategic alliances, team building, merger integration, technology implementation, communications, and marketing. He has also facilitated strategic and scenario planning, and team building sessions, as both a leader and a
consultant. He is trained in systems thinking, scenario planning, creativity & innovation, facilitation, conflict resolution business process analysis, technology assessment, emotional intelligence, counseling, meditation and biofeedback. With a strong work ethic, a commitment to excellence, a flexible approach and a focus on long term value, Michael helps evoke untapped potential for creativity, innovation, and success.
Jane Martin MA, LPC
is a psychotherapist in private practice at Volition Wellness Solutions, in Skillman, NJ, working with children, teens and adults. She is the founder of Social Harmony, a school-based anti bullying program which moves schools from punishment methods, to conflict resolution and healing techniques. With her daughter, Julia, she runs ReTribe, an organization which runs Rite of Passage retreats for teens and adventure camps for children. She is on the faculty of Integration Concepts, and teaches breathwork, and other transpersonal modalities.
In 1983, Jane and her husband, Dan, started the Natural Baby Company, which published a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, ultimately reaching 3 million parents per year. Natural Baby employed 80 workers, bought from 300 vendors, most of which were work-at-home businesses, and was featured on TV, radio, and in national magazines. Jane was a major voice in the Natural Parenting Movement, disseminating information about obstetrical interventions, toxins in baby products, nursing, circumcision, alternative health, etc. Before Natural Baby Jane worked as a computer programmer/analyst for Premark, which owned Rainbow Grocery, one of the first health food grocery stores, and a natural foods distributorship serving health food stores and restaurants in Colorado. She worked in the accounting
department and helped purchase and set up a computer system.
In 1983, Jane and her husband, Dan, started the Natural Baby Company, which published a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, ultimately reaching 3 million parents per year. Natural Baby employed 80 workers, bought from 300 vendors, most of which were work-at-home businesses, and was featured on TV, radio, and in national magazines. Jane was a major voice in the Natural Parenting Movement, disseminating information about obstetrical interventions, toxins in baby products, nursing, circumcision, alternative health, etc. Before Natural Baby Jane worked as a computer programmer/analyst for Premark, which owned Rainbow Grocery, one of the first health food grocery stores, and a natural foods distributorship serving health food stores and restaurants in Colorado. She worked in the accounting
department and helped purchase and set up a computer system.
Lynnea Brinkerhoff MSOD
is a Board Certified Coach, applied behavioral scientist, social action researcher, small business owner, hospitality manager, and ordained Interfaith Minister. With over 20 year’s experience as an individual coach to executives and emerging leaders, Lynnea has worked in Fortune 100 companies, non-profit educational organizations, and with fledgling entrepreneurs, focusing on those in transition. She is the creator of the first Eco-therapy program in the eastern United States and a founder of The Five Questions International Coaching Network. She has been a visiting faculty at St. Claret's College, Bangalore, India and is an adjunct professor in Organizational Development and Public Health at the University of New Haven.
Lynnea is currently working with Equine-based Coaching and Community Supported Agriculture and is Vice President of Flath & Associates, a human resource and organization development firm, in New Haven, CT. Lynnea authored a chapter on The Role of Individual Development within an Organizational Context in a seminal OD text, an article on managing polarities in the Field Guide for Change Leaders, and several articles on Equine Assisted Coaching in conjunction with her hands on work in this emerging field.
Lynnea’s work focuses on using Large Scale Change Methodologies to create sustainable ecosystems, in order to encourage a healthy relationship between nature and culture, nurture individual well-being, increase long term
health, and build community. Lynnea employs a range of energy enhancement and stress management tools, to build autonomy, emotional maturity and alignment among leaders in business, non-profit and social venture projects.
Lynnea is currently working with Equine-based Coaching and Community Supported Agriculture and is Vice President of Flath & Associates, a human resource and organization development firm, in New Haven, CT. Lynnea authored a chapter on The Role of Individual Development within an Organizational Context in a seminal OD text, an article on managing polarities in the Field Guide for Change Leaders, and several articles on Equine Assisted Coaching in conjunction with her hands on work in this emerging field.
Lynnea’s work focuses on using Large Scale Change Methodologies to create sustainable ecosystems, in order to encourage a healthy relationship between nature and culture, nurture individual well-being, increase long term
health, and build community. Lynnea employs a range of energy enhancement and stress management tools, to build autonomy, emotional maturity and alignment among leaders in business, non-profit and social venture projects.
Corey Aldrich
is the founder and owner of a freelance consultancy that focuses on all aspects of brand
development, and business process management and development, with current projects involving cash flow analysis and market penetration, strategic market planning, 3rd party project team oversight, public relations, event planning, and front end visual brand design. Corey has a particular interest in not-for-profit arts, and has recently been working on a regional and local economic development initiative called Electric City Couture that focuses on the creation of a sustainable fashion movement in the Upstate New York Region.
Corey has a strong background in residential and commercial real estate, and for 10 years was Director of Market Development of a real estate development, management, and finance company, which focused on business actualization through all aspects of marketing and sales, including brand management and project oversight, and commercial and residential sales campaigns at the local and national level campaigns. His brand creation and management experience includes graphic and interior design, and networking and development, including work with the CEG (Center for Economic Growth), the NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), Leadership Tech Valley, and regional Chamber of Commerce organizations, involving vendor management and oversight, television, radio, print and electronic media campaigns, and contract negotiations and budget creation and oversight.
Corey’s project oversight experience includes design, marketing and sales management on projects with individual budgets in excess of $200,000 and project values in excess of $15,000,000, and he has received numerous awards, including the 2009 Merit Award by Mature Media for the Schuyler Commons at Colonial Square, the 2009 Silver Award for Clubhouse Design by the National Home Builders Assoc., the 2008 Merit Award by the American Institute of Architects, Eastern New York Chapter for Excellence in Design for the United STEP 1 building in Malta, New York, and the 2008 Empire Award by the Public Relations Society of America, Capital Region Chapter for the Habitat for Humanity 24-Hour Blitz Build Project Media Campaign. Corey was interviewed for an article in the November, 2010 issue of “Green Building & Design” about the interior design components and project approach on United STEP 1, and was quoted in an article on the 801 Military Housing Transition program ‘Mission: Accomplished’ by Chris Wood.
development, and business process management and development, with current projects involving cash flow analysis and market penetration, strategic market planning, 3rd party project team oversight, public relations, event planning, and front end visual brand design. Corey has a particular interest in not-for-profit arts, and has recently been working on a regional and local economic development initiative called Electric City Couture that focuses on the creation of a sustainable fashion movement in the Upstate New York Region.
Corey has a strong background in residential and commercial real estate, and for 10 years was Director of Market Development of a real estate development, management, and finance company, which focused on business actualization through all aspects of marketing and sales, including brand management and project oversight, and commercial and residential sales campaigns at the local and national level campaigns. His brand creation and management experience includes graphic and interior design, and networking and development, including work with the CEG (Center for Economic Growth), the NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), Leadership Tech Valley, and regional Chamber of Commerce organizations, involving vendor management and oversight, television, radio, print and electronic media campaigns, and contract negotiations and budget creation and oversight.
Corey’s project oversight experience includes design, marketing and sales management on projects with individual budgets in excess of $200,000 and project values in excess of $15,000,000, and he has received numerous awards, including the 2009 Merit Award by Mature Media for the Schuyler Commons at Colonial Square, the 2009 Silver Award for Clubhouse Design by the National Home Builders Assoc., the 2008 Merit Award by the American Institute of Architects, Eastern New York Chapter for Excellence in Design for the United STEP 1 building in Malta, New York, and the 2008 Empire Award by the Public Relations Society of America, Capital Region Chapter for the Habitat for Humanity 24-Hour Blitz Build Project Media Campaign. Corey was interviewed for an article in the November, 2010 issue of “Green Building & Design” about the interior design components and project approach on United STEP 1, and was quoted in an article on the 801 Military Housing Transition program ‘Mission: Accomplished’ by Chris Wood.
Nathan Wytrwal
has held a variety of positions at the Omega Institute and is skilled in many areas of industrial arts. He has traveled to Australia where he studied permaculture and the didgeridoo. Nathan is a tireless worker who has built houses, constructed rain gardens, farmed, welded and organized teams of people on a wide variety of community projects. His capacity to incorporate new knowledge and than turn that knowledge into practical application; and the breadth and depth of Nathan's understanding of both natural and human systems is a rare gift in such a young man.
Dan Martin MA, JD
is a graduate of Cornell Law School and has practiced law since 1981. He is admitted to practice law in the State Courts of New York and New Jersey, the 2d and 3d Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. His fields of expertise include divorce and child custody,
complex commercial litigation, and nationwide class actions. He has won several large monetary judgments on behalf of plaintiffs against large corporations, and achieved a significant settlement on behalf of consumers in a nationwide class action lawsuit. Dan has a Masters Degree in Counseling Services, and is the co-author of a text on the legal aspects of confidentiality in psychotherapy.
In 1983, Dan and his wife Jane started the Natural Baby Company, which began as a magazine for new parents, and ultimately grew into a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, which reached 3 million parents per year. Dan was principally involved in marketing of the catalog and the general oversight of the business, and negotiated the sale of the business in 1997 to an investor at a significant profit. Dan is also a writer and editor, and in 2006 published a novel "Journey Back."
complex commercial litigation, and nationwide class actions. He has won several large monetary judgments on behalf of plaintiffs against large corporations, and achieved a significant settlement on behalf of consumers in a nationwide class action lawsuit. Dan has a Masters Degree in Counseling Services, and is the co-author of a text on the legal aspects of confidentiality in psychotherapy.
In 1983, Dan and his wife Jane started the Natural Baby Company, which began as a magazine for new parents, and ultimately grew into a mail order catalog of natural products for babies, which reached 3 million parents per year. Dan was principally involved in marketing of the catalog and the general oversight of the business, and negotiated the sale of the business in 1997 to an investor at a significant profit. Dan is also a writer and editor, and in 2006 published a novel "Journey Back."
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Education, Academic, Experiential Learning & Play
Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn PhD
is a teacher, researcher, and writer, whose work focuses on sustainability, design and innovation. In his teaching and writing, he has explored the use of new forms of media to address the challenges of effectively communicating complex environmental, scientific, and political issues, in order to encourage greater public participation, and a higher level of civic literacy. Brandon has taught courses on “Sustainability Problems and Solutions” and “A Century of Environmental Thought,” at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and developed curricula on ecological literacy,
sustainability, and asthma politics at RPI. He has written extensively on science, technology, and the environment, and has authored and co-authored articles published in scientific journals and online, and presented at professional conferences. Brandon served as video editor of the Journal of Cultural Anthropology and the Capital District Community Gardens and as a critical media literacy educator at the Sanctuary for Independent Media.
Brandon has been inspired by Natalie Jeremijenko's work using art and technology as a vehicle for social justice, and was an inaugural member of the Ecological Literacy Emersion Program at the Omega Institute. He is an avid outdoorsman and grew up tending the forest garden that provided natural healthy food for his family. As a young child he participated in a community organization initiative led by his mother that stopped the development of a coal fired generating facility in Rensselaer, New York.
sustainability, and asthma politics at RPI. He has written extensively on science, technology, and the environment, and has authored and co-authored articles published in scientific journals and online, and presented at professional conferences. Brandon served as video editor of the Journal of Cultural Anthropology and the Capital District Community Gardens and as a critical media literacy educator at the Sanctuary for Independent Media.
Brandon has been inspired by Natalie Jeremijenko's work using art and technology as a vehicle for social justice, and was an inaugural member of the Ecological Literacy Emersion Program at the Omega Institute. He is an avid outdoorsman and grew up tending the forest garden that provided natural healthy food for his family. As a young child he participated in a community organization initiative led by his mother that stopped the development of a coal fired generating facility in Rensselaer, New York.
Judy Neil MA, PhD
is an internationally recognized author, speaker, researcher, writer, teacher coach, and consultant who is committed to helping leaders, teams and organizations be on the leading edge of positive cultural change. She is the founder of the Spirit at Work Movement, and has worked with organizations including Pfizer, Unilever, Sennheiser, General Electric, General Dynamics, Hewlett-Packard and others. Judi is the Chairman of Edgewalkers International, and the retired Director of the Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, USA. She was the founder of The International Center for Spirit at Work, and the International Spirit at Work Awards.
Judi authored Edgewalkers: People and Organizations that Take Risks, Build Bridges and Break New Ground and co-authored The Spirit of Project Management with Alan Harpham. She is the editor of The Handbook for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace, and the co-founder of the Management, Spirituality and Religion Interest Group at the Academy of Management. She is also a co-founder of the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion and on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Management, Spirituality and Religion. Judi is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Haven, and Academic Director of the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program at the Graduate Institute.
Her new book Creating Enlightened Organizations, simplifies and organizes the best of what is going on in organizations at the individual, team and systems levels and provides guidance for putting it to practical use. It offers a radically new view of the purpose of business in society and provides examples of leading edge organizations that make a positive difference in the world.
Judi authored Edgewalkers: People and Organizations that Take Risks, Build Bridges and Break New Ground and co-authored The Spirit of Project Management with Alan Harpham. She is the editor of The Handbook for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace, and the co-founder of the Management, Spirituality and Religion Interest Group at the Academy of Management. She is also a co-founder of the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion and on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Management, Spirituality and Religion. Judi is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Haven, and Academic Director of the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program at the Graduate Institute.
Her new book Creating Enlightened Organizations, simplifies and organizes the best of what is going on in organizations at the individual, team and systems levels and provides guidance for putting it to practical use. It offers a radically new view of the purpose of business in society and provides examples of leading edge organizations that make a positive difference in the world.
Lazri DiSalvo MA, PhD (anticipated 2015)
is a researcher, writer, teacher, and expert in cooperative forms of organization. His work focuses on international political economy, human rights, and conflict reconciliation. He received a research grant from the University of Connecticut Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and conducted field research, principally in Central America, on topics including: at-risk youth,; living conditions in indigenous communities; the impact of fair trade policies on agricultural production and the quality of life; and communication strategies for engaging displaced populations into the city planning process.
Lazri has taught courses at the University of Connecticut including, “Introduction to Comparative Politics, “Introduction to Non-Western Politics,” and “Introduction to Political Theory.” He has published and presented scholarly papers on, among others, the following: “Local Development Through Global Media”; “Fair Trade Regimes: Space, Welfare, and International Networks”; “Starved to Action: Food Crises and Domestic Agitation”; “Participatory Economic Rights: Exploring Parallels Between the Solidarity Economy and Economic Rights”; and ”Global Environmental Governance .
Lazri has taught courses at the University of Connecticut including, “Introduction to Comparative Politics, “Introduction to Non-Western Politics,” and “Introduction to Political Theory.” He has published and presented scholarly papers on, among others, the following: “Local Development Through Global Media”; “Fair Trade Regimes: Space, Welfare, and International Networks”; “Starved to Action: Food Crises and Domestic Agitation”; “Participatory Economic Rights: Exploring Parallels Between the Solidarity Economy and Economic Rights”; and ”Global Environmental Governance .
Julia Martin
is a community builder, and teacher, and is the co-creator and director of ReTribe, LLC, a Vermont corporation that runs transformational programming, for children, teens, and young adults, including Rite of Passage retreats for teens, which incorporate mindfulness meditation,
yoga,, adventure game theater, breathwork, and health education, and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for children ages 7-12. Julia has been a staff member of the Wayfinder Experience, a fantasy roleplaying and improvisational theater camp for teens, and has directed theater programs for ages 7-17. She has a deep connection with nature, and imagination, and is passionate about helping teens to heal, grow, and transform.
Julia has planned and organized several large gatherings including Earth Fest at the University of Vermont in the spring
of 2007, the Twin Oaks Communities Conference and Women’s Gathering in the summer of 2009, and a Michaelmas Harvest Festival in the fall of 2009. She also planned and implemented a 3 credit, two week, residential University of Vermont Homesteading course in the summer of 2010. Julia currently teaches movement to first through eighth graders at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School, in East Montpelier, VT, and also works with the school’s Social
Pathways Committee to help students and faculty work through conflict to heal and grow.
yoga,, adventure game theater, breathwork, and health education, and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for children ages 7-12. Julia has been a staff member of the Wayfinder Experience, a fantasy roleplaying and improvisational theater camp for teens, and has directed theater programs for ages 7-17. She has a deep connection with nature, and imagination, and is passionate about helping teens to heal, grow, and transform.
Julia has planned and organized several large gatherings including Earth Fest at the University of Vermont in the spring
of 2007, the Twin Oaks Communities Conference and Women’s Gathering in the summer of 2009, and a Michaelmas Harvest Festival in the fall of 2009. She also planned and implemented a 3 credit, two week, residential University of Vermont Homesteading course in the summer of 2010. Julia currently teaches movement to first through eighth graders at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School, in East Montpelier, VT, and also works with the school’s Social
Pathways Committee to help students and faculty work through conflict to heal and grow.
Howard Moody
is an innovative teacher and facilitator, who for over 20 years has been offering his playshops, rapid interventions that unlock an organization’s energy and intelligence. Howard trained with the New Games Foundation, Project Adventure, and the Professional Play Leaders Association, and studied Original Play with Fred Donaldson. Howard has been a faculty member at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies for many years, and in 1985 co-founded the Adventure Game Theatre (AGT), an extraordinary interactive learning process, that has been featured on PBS and NPR. Combining experiential learning with creativity, improvisational theater, play, community building, mythology and storytelling , AGT brought magic into thousands of young lives. AGT later evolved into the Wayfinder Experience, created and now run by the young people that Howard helped train.
With the help of Wayfinder and Valarie Paradiz, Howard has adapted this work for use with students on the Autism spectrum, particularly those with Asperger’s syndrome. Howard is also a Senior Consultant with Idea Champions, a world leader in creativity, innovation, and brainstorming. He has provided programs for hundreds of organizations, in order to help transform the 21st century workplace into an environment that encourages people to be themselves and operate at the highest level of insight, creativity and teamwork. Howard works with Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations, and offers special educational packages for educators and schools. He has also been a consultant with the Disney Development project and Kidsports International.
With the help of Wayfinder and Valarie Paradiz, Howard has adapted this work for use with students on the Autism spectrum, particularly those with Asperger’s syndrome. Howard is also a Senior Consultant with Idea Champions, a world leader in creativity, innovation, and brainstorming. He has provided programs for hundreds of organizations, in order to help transform the 21st century workplace into an environment that encourages people to be themselves and operate at the highest level of insight, creativity and teamwork. Howard works with Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations, and offers special educational packages for educators and schools. He has also been a consultant with the Disney Development project and Kidsports International.
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Communications, Social Networking, Technology
Patti Pierson MSc
has spent nearly twenty years in the communications and public affairs arena, leading high profile communications campaigns for Fortune 500 technology companies and philanthropic foundations, including Microsoft, AOL, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At the Gates Foundation, she served as a program officer, where she evaluated funding proposals and worked with grantees to shape successful projects aimed at improving media reporting of developing world health issues. She also helped lead the establishment of a west coast presence for AOL’s philanthropic foundation, Netscape, Corp./AOL, Inc., including assessing local community needs and developing socially responsible projects that supported AOL’s strategic giving objectives.
Patti currently advises social change organizations, helping them to articulate their message and to secure and access grant funding to advance their missions. She has traveled extensively, and has provided pro bono marketing and communications assistance to clients in the United States, Ghana, Zambia, Guatemala, and Peru. Patti was a partner in Social Venture Partners in Seattle, Washington, where she evaluated funding requests related to early childhood education.
Patti currently advises social change organizations, helping them to articulate their message and to secure and access grant funding to advance their missions. She has traveled extensively, and has provided pro bono marketing and communications assistance to clients in the United States, Ghana, Zambia, Guatemala, and Peru. Patti was a partner in Social Venture Partners in Seattle, Washington, where she evaluated funding requests related to early childhood education.
Colin Riggs BSc
has a background in electrical design, physics, business development, organic farm management, and intentional communities. He is a robotics engineer specializing in modeling physical systems, algorithm development for control and navigation systems, system analysis for control systems, and embedded software development. Colin has experience in the design; development, analysis, and testing of control and navigation systems for remotely and autonomously operated vehicles.
He was the lead engineer for: the control, navigation, management, and device software, for OpenSuite, a flexible suite of control navigation, visualization, and device software for mobile robotics ; the subsea software design, development, testing, integration, field trials, and post-analysis, of NOAA Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated underwater vehicle for deep-ocean research and exploration; the control, navigation, electrical system, build ship integration, testing, and deployment, of Delores, an autonomous underwater system for surveying shipwrecks; and the design, development, testing, and integration of the battery and battery management system of High-energy LiFePO4, a pressure-tolerant intelligent battery for autonomous underwater vehicles. He developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the auto-heading system for NOAA Camera Platform Upgrade, a Camera Platform for deep-ocean research and exploration.
He also developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the autopilot system, and developed the acoustic system communications algorithms, for Penguin, a miniature autonomous vehicle.
He was the lead engineer for: the control, navigation, management, and device software, for OpenSuite, a flexible suite of control navigation, visualization, and device software for mobile robotics ; the subsea software design, development, testing, integration, field trials, and post-analysis, of NOAA Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated underwater vehicle for deep-ocean research and exploration; the control, navigation, electrical system, build ship integration, testing, and deployment, of Delores, an autonomous underwater system for surveying shipwrecks; and the design, development, testing, and integration of the battery and battery management system of High-energy LiFePO4, a pressure-tolerant intelligent battery for autonomous underwater vehicles. He developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the auto-heading system for NOAA Camera Platform Upgrade, a Camera Platform for deep-ocean research and exploration.
He also developed the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic numerical model for the development of the autopilot system, and developed the acoustic system communications algorithms, for Penguin, a miniature autonomous vehicle.
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Food, Agriculture & Nature
Andrew Faust
is a permaculture designer and consultant, an educator, and a business owner with a permaculture design certification from The Farm in Summertown, TN. He has studied at the School for Designing a Society, Gesundheit! Institute, and has taught permaculture design at The Center for Bioregional Living, The Open Center in New York, and Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont.
Andrew owns and operates “Edible Garden Design,” and “The Center for Bioregional Living, ” which provide permaculture consultation and instruction and natural landscaping services, and supplies vegetables to local restaurants and farmer’s markets. Andrew’s accomplishments include designing comprehensive ecologically intelligent landscapes, including wastewater treatment systems; sustainable forest management; restoration of stream corridors, wetlands and headwaters; designing and siting natural buildings; rotational grazing areas for dairy and meat production; orchard design and layout; path mowing regimes; managing exotics; vegetable garden designs; composting; management of native perennial wildflowers and grasses, and setting up a water quality monitoring system along the main stem of the Greenbrier River.
Andrew has also taught at the Upattinas Open Community High School, in Glenmoore, PA, educating and inspiring high school students by teaching history, science, English and social studies through the lens of ecological literacy. Andrew was on the Board of the Regional Infrastructure for Sustaining Agriculture in Southeastern PA, the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, and the Upattinas Open Community School.
Andrew owns and operates “Edible Garden Design,” and “The Center for Bioregional Living, ” which provide permaculture consultation and instruction and natural landscaping services, and supplies vegetables to local restaurants and farmer’s markets. Andrew’s accomplishments include designing comprehensive ecologically intelligent landscapes, including wastewater treatment systems; sustainable forest management; restoration of stream corridors, wetlands and headwaters; designing and siting natural buildings; rotational grazing areas for dairy and meat production; orchard design and layout; path mowing regimes; managing exotics; vegetable garden designs; composting; management of native perennial wildflowers and grasses, and setting up a water quality monitoring system along the main stem of the Greenbrier River.
Andrew has also taught at the Upattinas Open Community High School, in Glenmoore, PA, educating and inspiring high school students by teaching history, science, English and social studies through the lens of ecological literacy. Andrew was on the Board of the Regional Infrastructure for Sustaining Agriculture in Southeastern PA, the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, and the Upattinas Open Community School.
Sarah Kerstin Gross
is a seasoned food service entrepreneur, who for 35 years owned and operated a flourishing prepared foods, catering, and events planning business in Connecticut and New York. Her clients included Presidents Obama and Clinton, numerous Fortune 500 companies, as well as a multitude of businesses, non-profits and members of the private sector She presented a cutting edge look into “The Evolution of Grab & Go Food” to hundreds at the Natural Foods Convention and a lively hands on interactive workshop, “The Art of Passionate Presentation” at the National Catering Symposium.
Sarah is an evolutionary painter, who had fifty-six of her transformative paintings hanging at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, in Lenox Mass for 5 years, and whose works are part of numerous private collections. She is also a yoga teacher, an energy healer, incorporating a synthesis of modalities, a transformational coach, and a mesa-carrying Shaman practitioner in the Q’ero tradition of Peru where she co-facilitates yearly pilgrimages.
Sarah is an evolutionary painter, who had fifty-six of her transformative paintings hanging at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, in Lenox Mass for 5 years, and whose works are part of numerous private collections. She is also a yoga teacher, an energy healer, incorporating a synthesis of modalities, a transformational coach, and a mesa-carrying Shaman practitioner in the Q’ero tradition of Peru where she co-facilitates yearly pilgrimages.
Emily Tompkins BSc
is an organic farm manager, chef, and environmentalist. In March, 2009 she co-founded and managed an organic vegetable farm in Taneytown, MD, developing innovative crop strategies, calculating seed orders, managing customer relations, and distributing profits among workers. Emily is also a chef, who, in June, 2013, created a vegetarian menu, calculated the amount of food needed, purchased produce from local farms, and directed sous chefs in the preparation of 3 meal a day, for more than 20 staff and participants at an 8 day teen retreat.
Emily was an Eco-Rep at the University of Vermont, providing educational and outreach materials to raise student awareness and promote “green” campus living, and organizing meetings to educate students on campus related environmental issues. In September 2013 Emily completed an Earth Activist Training at Prospect Rock Permaculture where she received her Permaculture Design
Certification.
Emily was an Eco-Rep at the University of Vermont, providing educational and outreach materials to raise student awareness and promote “green” campus living, and organizing meetings to educate students on campus related environmental issues. In September 2013 Emily completed an Earth Activist Training at Prospect Rock Permaculture where she received her Permaculture Design
Certification.
John Hunt
is a naturalist who grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont. He has been enthralled with the natural world since childhood and has a passion for helping others strengthen their own connection to nature. John has studied with expert survivalists and trackers including Tom Brown and Susan Morse, and has also done extensive research on his own, including direct exploration of nature.
For the past 5 years, John has been mentoring youth of all ages in a wide variety of settings including summer camps, afterschool programs, outdoor education school and clubs. He is currently an outdoor educator at Earthwalk Vermont, and is the co-creator and director of ReTribe, LLC, a Vermont corporation that runs transformational programming, for children, teens, and young adults, including Rite of Passage retreats for teens, which incorporate mindfulness meditation, yoga, adventure game theater, breath work, and health education; and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for
children ages 7-12. John has also been working with the Walden Project, an alternative high school program in Monkton, VT for the past four years as a visiting naturalist, and has been staff at iBme teen meditation retreats in Virginia.
He is certified in Healing Touch, Energy Medicine, and Integral Breath Therapy, is a poet and drummer, and has a
strong meditation practice. Because of his deep love of the earth as Gaia, John has a passion for, and understanding of, sustainability issues on a worldwide, local and personal scale. He loves working with youth and helping them discover
through nature their unique and beautiful power.
For the past 5 years, John has been mentoring youth of all ages in a wide variety of settings including summer camps, afterschool programs, outdoor education school and clubs. He is currently an outdoor educator at Earthwalk Vermont, and is the co-creator and director of ReTribe, LLC, a Vermont corporation that runs transformational programming, for children, teens, and young adults, including Rite of Passage retreats for teens, which incorporate mindfulness meditation, yoga, adventure game theater, breath work, and health education; and the Coyote Clan wilderness adventure camp for
children ages 7-12. John has also been working with the Walden Project, an alternative high school program in Monkton, VT for the past four years as a visiting naturalist, and has been staff at iBme teen meditation retreats in Virginia.
He is certified in Healing Touch, Energy Medicine, and Integral Breath Therapy, is a poet and drummer, and has a
strong meditation practice. Because of his deep love of the earth as Gaia, John has a passion for, and understanding of, sustainability issues on a worldwide, local and personal scale. He loves working with youth and helping them discover
through nature their unique and beautiful power.
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