Indigeneity Program Director | Bioneers

Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program, previously served her Mojave-based tribe in several capacities, including as: first Executive Director at the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, a member of the tribal council, and Chair of the Chemehuevi Education Board and Chemeuevi Headstart Policy Council. Cara is also a highly accomplished photographer/artist.

Co-Founder and Lead Organizer | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust

Corrina Gould, born and raised in the village of Huichin (now known as Oakland CA), is the Tribal Chair for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation and co-founded and is the Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native-run organization; as well as of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led organization within her ancestral territory. Through the practices of “rematriation,” cultural revitalization and land restoration, the Land Trust calls on Native and non-Native peoples to heal and transform legacies of colonization and genocide and to do the work our ancestors and future generations are calling us to do.

Featured Afternoon Session | Krista Tippett, Host of On Being

Krista Tippett, a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, bestselling author, and former journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin, later studied theology at Yale Divinity School and eventually launched Speaking of Faith, which became On Being, a weekly national public radio show in 2003, that grew to over 400 stations across the U.S. and has received the highest honors in broadcasting, the Internet, and podcasting. In 2011, she created the Civil Conversations Project, and then The On Being Project. Among her many honors, she is a prestigious National Humanities Medalist, has received a Four Freedoms Medal of the Roosevelt Institute, holds honorary doctorates including from Yale and Middlebury College, and has published three books: Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living; Einstein’s God; and Speaking of Faith.

Activist and Entrepreneur

Azita Ardakani is a serial entrepreneur, social activist and human centered communication expert. Azita created Lovesocial in 2010, an award winning creative agency which developed human driven campaigns and strategies mapping organizational community behavior. In 2016 she launched Honeycomb Portfolio, an experimental investment vehicle. Honeycomb is driven by nature's intelligence and is looking to bridge our entrepreneurial, social and emotional economic frame by deferring to nature.

Founder | Our Bodhi Project

Sonali Sangeeta Balajee, an artist, organizer, and mindfulness/yoga instructor, is the founder of: the Spiritual Social Medicinal Apothecary (SSoMA), a spiritual and political project; and Our Bodhi Project, which focuses on healthy movement-building through enlivening the connection between social and spiritual wellness.  Sonali previously spent 13 years in U.S. local government, creating, leading, and managing social justice and racial equity initiatives and has had a long community organizing background focused on climate and racial justice, youth development, death-and-dying, and HIV/AIDS-related advocacy and service. She also currently serves on the boards of Bioneers and Worldtrust.

Senior Associate | Devoted Health

Odessa Flores-Vasquez, of Maya/Ojibwa ancestry, is a Native energy healer, dancer, singer, elder advocate and mental health practitioner who has spent her life “re-Indigenizing” rituals, ceremonies, and traditions to restore societal balance and promote collective and individual health. Currently, Odessa leads a movement of Elders in building and sustaining communities to reclaim their innate power as wisdom keepers and seven generation changemakers. Odessa is a key spiritual leader and Senior Associate at Devoted Health.

Professor of Pediatrics and Planetary Health | University of Western Australia

Susan L. Prescott MD, PhD., a pediatrician, immunologist, artist, and award-winning author, internationally recognized for her research into the early environmental determinants of health and disease, is: Professor of Pediatrics and Planetary Health at University of Western Australia; Adjunct Professor in Family and Community Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore; founding Director of the Nova Network; Editor-in-Chief of Challenges journal; and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the prestigious Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In addition to over 350 scientific publications, Susan is author of several books for the public, including: The Allergy Epidemic, Origins: Early-life solutions to the modern health crisis; and The Secret Life of Your Microbiome.

Associate Professor | University of New Mexico College of Nursing

Heidi Honegger Rogers, DNP, FNP C, APHN BC, FNAP, a clinician educator, is: Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Nursing; Director of Interprofessional Education for the UNM Health Sciences Center; and leader of the Planetary Health Task Force for the American Holistic Nurses Association. Her advocacy and scholarship centers on climate change and health, equity and justice, nature connection, wellbeing, and planetary health. She works with a number of organizations, including: Nurses for Planetary Health, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, the Global Consortium for Climate Change, Health Education Nurses Working Group, and the Planetary Health Alliance. Heidi is also a Facilitator with “the Work That Reconnects” and a certified “Nature and Forest Therapy Guide.”

Creator | Grieve and Breathe

Amber Deylon, a council facilitator, is the creator of Grieve and Breathe, a sacred ceremony that combines ritual, council and breathwork to help participants release grief and trauma stored in their bodies. She completed her Death Midwifery training with Bridging Transitions founders, Birgitta Kastenbaum and Cheserae Scala, and currently assists them in supporting families and educational retreats. Amber, who is also a board member of The New Normal Charity, came to her calling after her own journey with grief transformed her life and permitted her to move from surviving to thriving.

Writer and Community Activist

Anneke Campbell, a writer and community activist who has worked as a midwife, nurse, English professor, yoga teacher and death educator; is the co-author (with Thomas Linzey) of: We The People: Stories from the Community Rights Movement in the U.S.; and editor of Nina Simons' book: Nature, Culture and the Sacred: One Woman Listens for Leadership. Anneke also co-produces and scripts videos for non-profit organizations, and writes essays and articles while completing a memoir on the intersection of history and politics in family life.

Co-Founder | Bridging Transitions

Birgitta Kastenbaum, co-founder of Bridging Transitions, offers conscious living and conscious dying education (including end-of-life doula/midwife training) and provides end-of-life support centering emotional, spiritual, and collective wellness. A community gatherer, she uses story and ritual to reconnect us to ourselves, each other, the natural world, and the sacred. Her work invites us to embrace new paradigms for dying, death, and grief that are rich in wonder and love. Bridging Transitions hosts a variety of community events, including End of Life Midwives In Conversation a free, virtual monthly offering.

Creator | Grieve and Breathe

Amber Deylon, a council facilitator, is the creator of Grieve and Breathe, a sacred ceremony that combines ritual, council and breathwork to help participants release grief and trauma stored in their bodies. She completed her Death Midwifery training with Bridging Transitions founders, Birgitta Kastenbaum and Cheserae Scala, and currently assists them in supporting families and educational retreats. Amber, who is also a board member of The New Normal Charity, came to her calling after her own journey with grief transformed her life and permitted her to move from surviving to thriving.

Co-Founder | Bridging Transitions

Birgitta Kastenbaum, co-founder of Bridging Transitions, offers conscious living and conscious dying education (including end-of-life doula/midwife training) and provides end-of-life support centering emotional, spiritual, and collective wellness. A community gatherer, she uses story and ritual to reconnect us to ourselves, each other, the natural world, and the sacred. Her work invites us to embrace new paradigms for dying, death, and grief that are rich in wonder and love. Bridging Transitions hosts a variety of community events, including End of Life Midwives In Conversation a free, virtual monthly offering.

Writer and Community Activist

Anneke Campbell, a writer and community activist who has worked as a midwife, nurse, English professor, yoga teacher and death educator; is the co-author (with Thomas Linzey) of: We The People: Stories from the Community Rights Movement in the U.S.; and editor of Nina Simons' book: Nature, Culture and the Sacred: One Woman Listens for Leadership. Anneke also co-produces and scripts videos for non-profit organizations, and writes essays and articles while completing a memoir on the intersection of history and politics in family life.

Executive Director and CEO | The Storydancer Project

Zuleikha is an international performer, educator and wellness pioneer, renowned for her Storydance performances, Rumi Concert collaborations with poet Coleman Barks and world musicians, and innovative teaching. Her humanitarian work and trainings in transformative self-care, through her non-profit organization, The Storydancer Project, have brought wellness, resilience and joy to thousands.

Founder | Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center

David Shaw, a whole systems designer, facilitator, educator, and musician, founded Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center, a partnership with the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” He supports communities locally and globally to transform their shared future through strategic dialogue and collective action.

Artistic Director | Kearny Street Workshop

Jason Bayani, MFA, a theater performer and author, is Artistic Director of the Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific-American arts organization in the country. A Kundiman Fellow, his published works include: Locus (a 2019 Norcal Book Award finalist) and Amulet. He has written for World Literature Today, Muzzle Magazine, Lantern Review, and other publications and performs regularly around the country. His first solo theater show was 2016’s Locus of Control.

Author, Professor, Climate Psychology Consultant

Leslie Davenport, Program Lead and on the core faculty of the Climate Psychology Certification at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), is a climate psychology consultant who works internationally to spearhead the intersectionality of climate, mental health, education, policy, and social justice to leverage the full range of human capacities to address the deep challenges of our time. Leslie’s work has appeared in the NY Times, Washington Post, Scientific American and other leading publications, and she has authored five books, including Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change. She is also an advisor to the Post Carbon Institute, Climate Mental Health Network, and One Resilient Earth.

Core Faculty, East West Psychology Department | California Institute of Integral Studies

Adrián Villaseñor Galarza, Ph.D., an “integral ecopsychologist,” international facilitator, teacher, author, and ritualist whose work weaves together the psycho-spiritual study of the Earth-human relationship, animist principles, and contemplative wisdom, is on the core faculty of the East West Psychology Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies, an adjunct at Naropa University, and founder of the Bio-alchemy Institute and Work That Reconnects Latin America.

Core Synergist | The Holomovement

Mariko Pitts had 20+ years’ experience in PR and marketing, including for one of the foremost agencies in Los Angeles, where she designed campaigns for many large corporations, but after a spiritual awakening in 2008, she shifted her career path away from campaigns that didn't serve humanity's best interests. Since then, she has served in directorial positions and on boards of a number of NGOs and led transformational coaching and training programs for 15+ years. She has designed many programs and events for conscious organizations around the world and was, most recently, Director of The UPLIFT Foundation and currently serves as “Core Synergist” of the Holomovement.

Co-Founder and President | Fundación por el Futuro

Emanuel Kuntzelman, an entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist and activist for social transformation who has founded and/or managed numerous organizations in Spain, the U.S. and the UK, is the co-founder and President of Fundación por el Futuro in Madrid, Spain, and a co-creator of the Global Purpose Movement and Purpose Earth. He is co-editor of the anthologies Purpose Rising (2017) and The Holomovement:  Embracing our Collective Purpose to Unite Humanity (2023).

Co-Founder | Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI)

William Keepin, Ph.D., co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI), a one-time a whistleblower in nuclear science policy, is a mathematical physicist whose research on efficient renewable energy strategies for abating global warming influenced international environmental policy. He has published widely on scientific and spiritual topics and co-convened seven international conferences to foster collaboration between religions and science. Will is also the author of five books, including: Song of the Earth: A Synthesis of Scientific and Spiritual Worldviews, and co-author, most recently of the collection: Gender Equity and Reconciliation: Thirty Years of Healing the Most Ancient Wound in the Human Family.

Executive Director | ILLUMINATE Film Festival

Téana David, MFA, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara, CA-based ILLUMINATE Film Festival, now in its 10th year, previously served as Director of Deepak HomeBase in New York City. Through her production company, Wise Planet Media, Téana has produced many short films on the topics of consciousness, ecology, and social impact. She is also a founding member of Artists for Amazonia, Board Vice President of the Tribal Trust Foundation, and a member of The Evolutionary Leader’s Circle.

Rex Lyons (Deho Wih Da Dih: “He Gets the Message Through”), Onondaga Nation Citizen, Eel Clan, a former world-class lacrosse player and coach with the Haudenosaunee Nationals and Rochester Knighthawks, currently sits on the board of the Haudenosaunee Nationals. A business consultant and retired tradesman, Rex is also an accomplished vocalist and guitarist and current President of the New York State Blues Festival. His most recent endeavor is co-creating a 501(c)(3) for the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Organization.

Member Chief | Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy

Oren Lyons, a Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan who serves as a Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy (i.e. the Haudenosaunee peoples), is an accomplished artist, social and environmental activist, and author; a Professor Emeritus at SUNY Buffalo; a leading voice at the UN Permanent Forum on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples; and the recipient of many prestigious national and international prizes including The UN NGO World Peace Prize. Oren also serves on the boards of several major nonprofit organizations and social enterprises; is founder and Principal of One Bowl Productions, a purpose driven film and TV production company; and is an All-American Lacrosse Hall of Famer and Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team.

Senior Producer | Bioneers

J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Senior Producer, affiliated with Bioneers since 1990, is a Brooklyn, NYC-based consultant, conference producer, copy-editor and writer. A former Program Director at the New York Open Center and a senior review team member for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge from 2010 to 2017, he has authored or edited several books, including Political Ecosystems, Delusions of Normality, Visionary Plant Consciousness, and, most recently, Animal Encounters.

Professor of Forest Ecology | University of British Columbia

Suzanne Simard, Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and author of the bestselling, Finding the Mother Tree, is a highly influential, researcher on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence, globally renowned for her work on how trees interact and communicate using below-ground fungal networks. Her work on forest resiliency, adaptability and recovery has far-reaching implications for how to manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change. Suzanne has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, presented around the world and communicated her work to a wide audience through interviews, documentary films and online talks.

Author and Activist

Aya de León, Berkeley’s current Poet Laureate, who has published ten novels and teaches creative writing UC Berkeley, co-founded Fighting Chance Books to provide a forum for writers who want to tell the story of how we can still save our planet. Aya and her work have been featured in a wide range of prominent publications, including The NY Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Ebony, and Def Poetry. Her social justice activism has spanned four decades, including working on climate, race, gender, harm reduction, and anti-nuclear issues. In 2022, she organized a groundbreaking online conference: “Black Literature vs. the Climate Emergency.”.

Founder | Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center

David Shaw, a whole systems designer, facilitator, educator, and musician, founded Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center, a partnership with the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” He supports communities locally and globally to transform their shared future through strategic dialogue and collective action.

Artistic Director | Kearny Street Workshop

Jason Bayani, MFA, a theater performer and author, is Artistic Director of the Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific-American arts organization in the country. A Kundiman Fellow, his published works include: Locus (a 2019 Norcal Book Award finalist) and Amulet. He has written for World Literature Today, Muzzle Magazine, Lantern Review, and other publications and performs regularly around the country. His first solo theater show was 2016’s Locus of Control.

Co-Founder | Climate Emotional Resilience Institute

Eva Jahn, LPC, a licensed psychotherapist working at the intersection of trauma, gender-based violence and climate distress is the co-founder of the Climate Emotional Resilience Institute and is an international experiential educator influenced by studies and work in climate psychology, experiential cross-cultural education, neuroscience, nature-based and contemplative mindfulness practices, group dynamics, and her dedication to Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects. As a faculty of the International Center for Mental Health & Human Rights she co-facilitates contemplative based trauma and resiliency training locally and internationally to communities on the frontlines.

Author, Professor, Climate Psychology Consultant

Leslie Davenport, Program Lead and on the core faculty of the Climate Psychology Certification at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), is a climate psychology consultant who works internationally to spearhead the intersectionality of climate, mental health, education, policy, and social justice to leverage the full range of human capacities to address the deep challenges of our time. Leslie’s work has appeared in the NY Times, Washington Post, Scientific American and other leading publications, and she has authored five books, including Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change. She is also an advisor to the Post Carbon Institute, Climate Mental Health Network, and One Resilient Earth.

Core Faculty, East West Psychology Department | California Institute of Integral Studies

Adrián Villaseñor Galarza, Ph.D., an “integral ecopsychologist,” international facilitator, teacher, author, and ritualist whose work weaves together the psycho-spiritual study of the Earth-human relationship, animist principles, and contemplative wisdom, is on the core faculty of the East West Psychology Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies, an adjunct at Naropa University, and founder of the Bio-alchemy Institute and Work That Reconnects Latin America.

Chair, Department of Humanistic Clinical Psychology | Saybrook University

Theopia Jackson, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and past President of The Association of Black Psychologists, Inc., contributed to the Adaptive Mind Project and The International Transformational Resilience Coalition Climate Change Mental Wellness and Resiliency Policy. She has held a number of leadership roles in higher education and is currently Chair of the Department of Humanistic Clinical Psychology degree program at Saybrook University in Pasadena. Dr. Jackson, whose practice is rooted in culturally grounded psychospiritual healing, liberation, and activism, has a long history of providing child, adolescent, and family therapy services, specializing in serving populations coping with chronic illness and complex trauma and is a key collaborator in establishing the Therapist-in-Residency Program, a clinical training program grounded in Black psychology.

Professor of Writing and Media Arts | Bard College/Simon’s Rock

Jennifer Browdy Ph.D. is a professor of writing and media arts at Bard College/Simon’s Rock and the global Bard Open Society University Network. She is the publisher of Green Fire Press and co-host of the online writers’ community, Birth Your Truest Story. Her award-winning books include: Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future, The Elemental Journey of Purposeful Memoir, and What I Forgot ...And Why I Remembered. She publishes two Substack newsletters: Writing to Right the World and The Spirit of Education.

Writer and Community Activist

Anneke Campbell, a writer and community activist who has worked as a midwife, nurse, English professor, yoga teacher and death educator; is the co-author (with Thomas Linzey) of: We The People: Stories from the Community Rights Movement in the U.S.; and editor of Nina Simons' book: Nature, Culture and the Sacred: One Woman Listens for Leadership. Anneke also co-produces and scripts videos for non-profit organizations, and writes essays and articles while completing a memoir on the intersection of history and politics in family life.

Co-Founder | Bridging Transitions

Birgitta Kastenbaum, co-founder of Bridging Transitions, offers conscious living and conscious dying education (including end-of-life doula/midwife training) and provides end-of-life support centering emotional, spiritual, and collective wellness. A community gatherer, she uses story and ritual to reconnect us to ourselves, each other, the natural world, and the sacred. Her work invites us to embrace new paradigms for dying, death, and grief that are rich in wonder and love. Bridging Transitions hosts a variety of community events, including End of Life Midwives In Conversation a free, virtual monthly offering.

Creator | Grieve and Breathe

Amber Deylon, a council facilitator, is the creator of Grieve and Breathe, a sacred ceremony that combines ritual, council and breathwork to help participants release grief and trauma stored in their bodies. She completed her Death Midwifery training with Bridging Transitions founders, Birgitta Kastenbaum and Cheserae Scala, and currently assists them in supporting families and educational retreats. Amber, who is also a board member of The New Normal Charity, came to her calling after her own journey with grief transformed her life and permitted her to move from surviving to thriving.

Creator | Grieve and Breathe

Amber Deylon, a council facilitator, is the creator of Grieve and Breathe, a sacred ceremony that combines ritual, council and breathwork to help participants release grief and trauma stored in their bodies. She completed her Death Midwifery training with Bridging Transitions founders, Birgitta Kastenbaum and Cheserae Scala, and currently assists them in supporting families and educational retreats. Amber, who is also a board member of The New Normal Charity, came to her calling after her own journey with grief transformed her life and permitted her to move from surviving to thriving.

Writer and Community Activist

Anneke Campbell, a writer and community activist who has worked as a midwife, nurse, English professor, yoga teacher and death educator; is the co-author (with Thomas Linzey) of: We The People: Stories from the Community Rights Movement in the U.S.; and editor of Nina Simons' book: Nature, Culture and the Sacred: One Woman Listens for Leadership. Anneke also co-produces and scripts videos for non-profit organizations, and writes essays and articles while completing a memoir on the intersection of history and politics in family life.

Co-Founder | Bridging Transitions

Birgitta Kastenbaum, co-founder of Bridging Transitions, offers conscious living and conscious dying education (including end-of-life doula/midwife training) and provides end-of-life support centering emotional, spiritual, and collective wellness. A community gatherer, she uses story and ritual to reconnect us to ourselves, each other, the natural world, and the sacred. Her work invites us to embrace new paradigms for dying, death, and grief that are rich in wonder and love. Bridging Transitions hosts a variety of community events, including End of Life Midwives In Conversation a free, virtual monthly offering.

Founder | Kahakulei Institute

Kevin Kahakula’akea John Fong, the founder, in 2021, of the Kahakulei Institute (“a team of bold leaders who work to weave people and possibilities into communities of belonging, healing and reconciliation”), is a cultural translator, facilitator and transformative justice advocate who previously founded and directed the Clinical HIV Program and Teen Clinic in Oakland and the organizational design firm, Elemental Partners. Kevin, who served on numerous boards, including for Within Our Lifetime, a national network to eliminate racism; is a featured host on the CNBC News series, Changing the Narrative, and is the author of: The Five Elements: An East Asian Approach to Achieve Organizational Health, Professional Growth, and Personal Well-Being.

Founder | Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center

David Shaw, a whole systems designer, facilitator, educator, and musician, founded Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center, a partnership with the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” He supports communities locally and globally to transform their shared future through strategic dialogue and collective action.

Artistic Director | Kearny Street Workshop

Jason Bayani, MFA, a theater performer and author, is Artistic Director of the Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific-American arts organization in the country. A Kundiman Fellow, his published works include: Locus (a 2019 Norcal Book Award finalist) and Amulet. He has written for World Literature Today, Muzzle Magazine, Lantern Review, and other publications and performs regularly around the country. His first solo theater show was 2016’s Locus of Control.

Executive Director and CEO | The Storydancer Project

Zuleikha is an international performer, educator and wellness pioneer, renowned for her Storydance performances, Rumi Concert collaborations with poet Coleman Barks and world musicians, and innovative teaching. Her humanitarian work and trainings in transformative self-care, through her non-profit organization, The Storydancer Project, have brought wellness, resilience and joy to thousands.

Project Lead | RIVER

Erin Matariki Carr, of Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Awa descent, lives in her traditional homelands in Aotearoa/New Zealand and works in law and policy, with a focus on the interface between Indigenous and Western legal systems and methodologies. She previously worked as Manager of Planning & Design to create and implement policies under the world-first legislation conferring legal personhood to the Te Urewera rainforest. Matariki is currently a project lead at RIVER, where she focuses on the constitutional transformation movement in Aotearoa with a number of other teams, including Tūmanako Consultants and Te Kuaka NZA.

Co-Director | For Freedoms & Center for Justice at UCLA

Claudia Peña, Executive Director of For Freedoms, an artist collective that centers art and creativity as a catalyst for transformative connection and collective liberation, serves on the faculty at UCLA School of Law and in that school’s Gender Studies Department. She is also the founding Co-Director of the Center for Justice at UCLA, home of the Prison Education Program, which creates innovative courses that enable faculty and students to learn from and alongside currently incarcerated participants. Claudia has devoted her life to justice work through community organizing, transformative and restorative justice, consciousness-raising across silos, coalition-building, teaching, advocacy through law and policy, and the arts.

Professor of Transformative Studies | California Institute of Integral Studies

Jeanine M. Canty, Ph.D., a professor of Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies whose teaching intersects issues of social and ecological justice, ecopsychology, and the process of worldview expansion and change, is the editor of and a contributor to the books: Ecological and Social Healing: Multicultural Women’s Voices; and Globalism and Localization: Emergent Approaches to Ecological and Social Crises. Her most recent book is: Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing our Collective Narcissism and Healing our Planet.

Founder | Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center

David Shaw, a whole systems designer, facilitator, educator, and musician, founded Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood Center, a partnership with the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” He supports communities locally and globally to transform their shared future through strategic dialogue and collective action.

Artistic Director | Kearny Street Workshop

Jason Bayani, MFA, a theater performer and author, is Artistic Director of the Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific-American arts organization in the country. A Kundiman Fellow, his published works include: Locus (a 2019 Norcal Book Award finalist) and Amulet. He has written for World Literature Today, Muzzle Magazine, Lantern Review, and other publications and performs regularly around the country. His first solo theater show was 2016’s Locus of Control.

President | International Bateson Institute

Nora Bateson, President of the International Bateson Institute, is the creator of “Warm Data” theory and practices, an approach to information science that studies the “interrelationships that integrate elements of a whole system.” Shewrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her late father, the immensely influential, revered and renowned thinker, Gregory Bateson. A recipient of the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (in 2019), Nora Bateson is also the author of a new book, Combining.

Co-Founder | Greenpeace International and Hollyhock Educational Institute

Rex Weyler, a co-founder of Greenpeace International in 1979, Director of the original Greenpeace Foundation and Editor of the organization's first newsletter/magazine, Greenpeace Chronicles, served on campaigns to preserve rivers and forests, and to stop whaling, sealing, nuclear weapons, and toxic dumping. Rex is also the founder of the Hollyhock Educational Institute and an ecologist, author, and journalist. His books include Blood of the Land, a history of Indigenous American nations, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and Greenpeace: The Inside Story.

Full Spectrum Labs | Co-Founder and Curator

Taj James, co-founder and Curator at Full Spectrum Labs, a Principal with Full Spectrum Capital Partners, and co-founder and a Senior Advisor at Movement Strategy Center, is a father, poet, strategist, designer, and philanthropic and capital advisor. Taj seeks in his work to connect community stewards with capital stewards in order to bring financial value into alignment with sacred values in ways that build community wealth.

Author and Activist

Aya de León, Berkeley’s current Poet Laureate, who has published ten novels and teaches creative writing UC Berkeley, co-founded Fighting Chance Books to provide a forum for writers who want to tell the story of how we can still save our planet. Aya and her work have been featured in a wide range of prominent publications, including The NY Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Ebony, and Def Poetry. Her social justice activism has spanned four decades, including working on climate, race, gender, harm reduction, and anti-nuclear issues. In 2022, she organized a groundbreaking online conference: “Black Literature vs. the Climate Emergency.”.

Woman Stands Shining

Pat McCabe, (aka “Woman Stands Shining”), of Diné ancestry, was adopted into the Lakota spiritual way of life. She is currently beginning the stewardship of a piece of land at one of the four sacred mountains of her people, as part of the “Rematriation Movement.” McCabe, a proud grandmother, has long spoken and taught widely, nationally and internationally, sharing cultural and spiritual insights.

Abundant Beginnings | Founder

Shayna Cureton is the co-founder of Abundant Beginnings, a project that centers Black children and families and seeks to create liberated learning and activist communities as direct antidotes to the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Shayna, who has led the creation of hundreds of radical child-centered spaces as Director of Abundant Beginnings’ Forest Freedom School and camp programs, is a recipient of the Community Partner Award from Our Family Coalition, and a YBCA 100 honoree.

Co-Founder and Chief Relationship Strategist | Bioneers

Nina Simons, co-founder of Bioneers and its Chief Relationship Strategist is also co-founder of Women Bridging Worlds and Connecting Women Leading Change. She co-edited the anthology book, Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, and most recently wrote Nature, Culture & The Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership. An award-winning social entrepreneur, Nina teaches and speaks internationally, and previously served as President of Seeds of Change and Director of Strategic Marketing for Odwalla.

Co-Founder | Bridging Transitions

Birgitta Kastenbaum, co-founder of Bridging Transitions, offers conscious living and conscious dying education (including end-of-life doula/midwife training) and provides end-of-life support centering emotional, spiritual, and collective wellness. A community gatherer, she uses story and ritual to reconnect us to ourselves, each other, the natural world, and the sacred. Her work invites us to embrace new paradigms for dying, death, and grief that are rich in wonder and love. Bridging Transitions hosts a variety of community events, including End of Life Midwives In Conversation a free, virtual monthly offering.

Creator | Grieve and Breathe

Amber Deylon, a council facilitator, is the creator of Grieve and Breathe, a sacred ceremony that combines ritual, council and breathwork to help participants release grief and trauma stored in their bodies. She completed her Death Midwifery training with Bridging Transitions founders, Birgitta Kastenbaum and Cheserae Scala, and currently assists them in supporting families and educational retreats. Amber, who is also a board member of The New Normal Charity, came to her calling after her own journey with grief transformed her life and permitted her to move from surviving to thriving.

Writer and Community Activist

Anneke Campbell, a writer and community activist who has worked as a midwife, nurse, English professor, yoga teacher and death educator; is the co-author (with Thomas Linzey) of: We The People: Stories from the Community Rights Movement in the U.S.; and editor of Nina Simons' book: Nature, Culture and the Sacred: One Woman Listens for Leadership. Anneke also co-produces and scripts videos for non-profit organizations, and writes essays and articles while completing a memoir on the intersection of history and politics in family life.

Co-Creator & Stewardship Lead | The Shelterwood Collective

Nikola Alexandre, Co-Creator & Stewardship Lead of the Shelterwood Collective, is a Black queer forester with MA degrees in both Forestry and Business Administration from Yale who founded Conservation International’s Ecosystem Restoration Program. After attending a nature-based healing gathering following the Pulse massacre, Nikola committed his life to tending the earth and reclaiming land stewardship as a way of nurturing a future for the communities he belongs to, which led to his co-founding the Shelterwood Collective in Sonoma County.

Founding Director | Ancestral Guard

Sammy Gensaw III is a leader in environmental and cultural preservation in his Yurok community. Director of the Ancestral Guard, a nonprofit focused on teaching traditional fishing and farming methods to Indigenous youth, his approach is deeply rooted in food sovereignty, cultural preservation, community resilience, and self-sufficiency. Gensaw's activist journey began in his early teens with the Klamath Justice Coalition, the largest dam removal and river restoration project in history, and his contributions to restoring Native American foodways are featured in the documentary film, Gather.

Co-Founder | Enowkin Centre

Jeannette Armstrong, Ph.D. (lax̌lax̌tkʷ) from the Penticton Indian Band, a fluent speaker and knowledge keeper of Syilx Okanagan and its oral histories, is an Associate Professor and the Coordinator of Interior Salishan Languages programs at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. She collaborates with other Salish-speaking groups to re-establish Indigenous languages and historical relationships through food harvesting ceremonies, gatherings, and the protection of water and land practices. A recipient of the Eco Trust USA Buffett Award in Indigenous Leadership, Jeannette serves on the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife and is a lifetime Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an officer of the Order of Canada.

Co-Founder and Chief Relationship Strategist | Bioneers

Nina Simons, co-founder of Bioneers and its Chief Relationship Strategist is also co-founder of Women Bridging Worlds and Connecting Women Leading Change. She co-edited the anthology book, Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, and most recently wrote Nature, Culture & The Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership. An award-winning social entrepreneur, Nina teaches and speaks internationally, and previously served as President of Seeds of Change and Director of Strategic Marketing for Odwalla.

Facilitator | Spiral Journey International Facilitation Development Program

Mutima Imani is a social justice activist, life coach, and a Master Trainer and Facilitator of the transformational process, the “Work That Reconnects,” which was co-originated by Joanna Macy in the late 1970s. She is also a Facilitator with the Spiral Journey International Facilitation Development Program, which has trained over 250 practitioners from all over the world. Mutima, who holds a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration, has over three decades of experience working to motivate employees to increase their creativity and productivity and in healing conflicts that divide communities and teams.

Associate Professor | University of New Mexico College of Nursing

Heidi Honegger Rogers, DNP, FNP C, APHN BC, FNAP, a clinician educator, is: Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Nursing; Director of Interprofessional Education for the UNM Health Sciences Center; and leader of the Planetary Health Task Force for the American Holistic Nurses Association. Her advocacy and scholarship centers on climate change and health, equity and justice, nature connection, wellbeing, and planetary health. She works with a number of organizations, including: Nurses for Planetary Health, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, the Global Consortium for Climate Change, Health Education Nurses Working Group, and the Planetary Health Alliance. Heidi is also a Facilitator with “the Work That Reconnects” and a certified “Nature and Forest Therapy Guide.”

Co-Director | Spiral Journey Work That Reconnects Facilitator Development Program

Constance Washburn, MA, an educator, community organizer and program designer, has been practicing “the Work That Reconnects” since 1994 and is Co-director of the International Spiral Journey facilitator development. Program. A founding member of the Elders Action Network and The Passageways to Elderhood Alliance, Washburn served as Education Director at the Marin Agricultural Land Trust and Marin Organic for almost 20 years and co-founded and directed the Marin Agriculture and Education Alliance. With backgrounds in Education and Theater, she is also a mindfulness meditation instructor in the Vajrayana Tradition and a longtime yoga practitioner.