Team and Contributors
Collaborators Circle
Jul Bystrova is co-founder of the Inner Resilience Network and Director of the Era of Care project, which works with communities in crises. She has a 25 year history of community activism and a thriving private practice in trauma-informed mind-body healing work. She has served as an Interfaith Minister, an academic in Interdisciplinary research and a boots-on-the-ground activist. She is deeply passionate about cultural healing, interpersonal, psycho-spiritual topics and justice issues. She served on the Transition US Collaborative Design Council and is a member of the Transition Network's Inner Transition Circle. In 2018, She received the TUS Social Justice award for her support in raising awareness around equity in the Transition movement.
Diana Kubilos is a passionate activist, having co-founded a Transition chapter in her former home of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and now working on community resilience-related initiatives in her hometown of Ventura, CA. Diana is especially interested in the intersection between community resilience, and the building of systems of social justice, and community dialogue and collaboration.
Diana holds a Masters of Public Health, and worked for many years in social work and health education. She retrained several years ago in mediation and Nonviolent Communication, and is focused in the areas of compassionate parenting and conflict transformation. Diana is Latina (Mexican-American) and bilingual. In addition to her current residence and work in California, she has also lived and worked in Mexico, Brazil, and Malaysia.
Diana holds a Masters of Public Health, and worked for many years in social work and health education. She retrained several years ago in mediation and Nonviolent Communication, and is focused in the areas of compassionate parenting and conflict transformation. Diana is Latina (Mexican-American) and bilingual. In addition to her current residence and work in California, she has also lived and worked in Mexico, Brazil, and Malaysia.
astrid montuclard is a nonviolent climate justice activist training as a somatic therapist with the California Institute of Integral Studies. Rich with experiences as public health and mindfulness researcher with UC Davis and Zhejiang University (China), past core member & organizer with the East Point Peace Academy, and land-tender at the Possibility Alliance and Vine and Fig, astrid brings critical thinking to nature-based practices in support of individual and collective hero(ine)'s journeys amidst the climate-crisis-as-initiation. Trilingual, astrid will be translating Duane Elgin's Choosing Earth into French in 2022-2023.
Ikela Moniz-Lewis is Clinical Psychology PhD student at the University of New Mexico. He currently researches and clinically practices mindfulness-based interventions for the treatment of substance use disorders and reactive behaviors more generally. Though still early in his career, and in life generally, Ikela has a deep passion for utility of contemplative practice as a path to peace – both individually and collectively. It is his highest aspiration to use the opportunities available to him to advance the field of addiction treatment in the direction of greater compassion, equity, and efficacy – both in communities of which he is a part and beyond.
Suzanne Jones has spent the last two decades teaching families, employers/employees, teachers/students, activists, and members of co-ops and co-housing the skills of effective and compassionate communication. Her methods draw from her graduate work in Communication Studies and her study and experience of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication model
Mary Sage is a multi-passionate wellness practitioner, teacher, and coach, offering therapeutic bodywork, yoga, and meditation instruction. Grounded in technique but intuitively guided, Mary Sage creates a sacred space for wellbeing. She is a connector, drawing on knowledge that ranges from neuromuscular massage to herbalism. Mary Sage lives in St. Paul with her daughter, Metta and their dancing dog, Honey. She enjoys spending quality time in nature and creative manifestation.
Galen Meyers
Galen is a co-founder and facilitator for CAIPP.org where he helps equip groups, communities, and organizations to capture the social and business benefits of Cooperation Science, Ethical Design, and Humane Technology. He is a passionate, perpetual student of Life and the wholistic sciences, with an undergraduate background in math, physics, and biology. Galen is certified as a yoga and meditation instructor, a group facilitator, and a permaculture designer. He is proudly serving on the Collaborative Design Council for Transition US.
Galen is a co-founder and facilitator for CAIPP.org where he helps equip groups, communities, and organizations to capture the social and business benefits of Cooperation Science, Ethical Design, and Humane Technology. He is a passionate, perpetual student of Life and the wholistic sciences, with an undergraduate background in math, physics, and biology. Galen is certified as a yoga and meditation instructor, a group facilitator, and a permaculture designer. He is proudly serving on the Collaborative Design Council for Transition US.
Jonathan Kabat is a lifelong explorer of relational dynamics which has led him on a quest to study how humanity can heal our relationship with the Living Earth. After decades of adventuring in wild places he turned his attention inward towards meditation. This led him to study transpersonal psychology in an effort to have an inclusive and holistic approach to relationships with all of life. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with a focus on complex relational trauma. Jonathan is the founder of Hotlum EcoRegeneration Camp, a place dedicated to the 'Participation in restoring and healing humanity's relationship to the Biosphere.' He lives in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the slopes of Mount Shasta in Siskiyou County with his two adventurous dogs.
Advisory Circle
Rob Wipond is a freelance creative nonfiction writer and community
issues journalist. In a volunteer capacity, he was involved with
Transition Victoria for many years, and then co-founded and became a board member of Building Resilient Neighbourhoods in British Columbia, Canada, where he also helped found the Legacy Housing Land Trust Society
and a community investment cooperative. He was the founding senior editor for Inner Compass Initiative/The Withdrawal Project, websites which inform people about safer withdrawal from psychiatric drugs. He
has also had a long-standing interest in research into non-ordinary states of consciousness, and in exploring alternative ways of understanding and responding to inner distress. He is currently working on a book about people's experiences of being coerced, detained, and forcibly treated under mental health laws. More information and writings are available at robwipond.com.
issues journalist. In a volunteer capacity, he was involved with
Transition Victoria for many years, and then co-founded and became a board member of Building Resilient Neighbourhoods in British Columbia, Canada, where he also helped found the Legacy Housing Land Trust Society
and a community investment cooperative. He was the founding senior editor for Inner Compass Initiative/The Withdrawal Project, websites which inform people about safer withdrawal from psychiatric drugs. He
has also had a long-standing interest in research into non-ordinary states of consciousness, and in exploring alternative ways of understanding and responding to inner distress. He is currently working on a book about people's experiences of being coerced, detained, and forcibly treated under mental health laws. More information and writings are available at robwipond.com.
Renae Hanson
My roots are in the northeastern wilderness watersheds of Minnesota and in the headwaters of the Mississippi where I was born. Now that I am living in Seattle, I am becoming part of new eco-kinship networks. In each place, I explore with others ways to protect and delight in our watersheds. Raised by a community of story-tellers, I have found stories to be ways to explore, discover, comfort, and embolden. What I learned from the wilderness woods and waters, I have tried to pass on. What I have learned from the stories my students and others offered to me has expanded my awareness. I am striving to discover new stories and new ways of telling old stories that more deeply recognize peoples and other beings indigenous to the lands I live on and to explore the choices made (and not made) by my settler ancestors and myself.
In Spring 2021, my book Watershed: Attending to Body and Earth in Distress, was published by the University of Minnesota Press; in 2022 it won the Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. Learn more at ranaehanson.com.
Ranae Lenor Hanson
Author - Watershed: Attending to Body and Earth in Distress
Website - ranaehanson.com
My roots are in the northeastern wilderness watersheds of Minnesota and in the headwaters of the Mississippi where I was born. Now that I am living in Seattle, I am becoming part of new eco-kinship networks. In each place, I explore with others ways to protect and delight in our watersheds. Raised by a community of story-tellers, I have found stories to be ways to explore, discover, comfort, and embolden. What I learned from the wilderness woods and waters, I have tried to pass on. What I have learned from the stories my students and others offered to me has expanded my awareness. I am striving to discover new stories and new ways of telling old stories that more deeply recognize peoples and other beings indigenous to the lands I live on and to explore the choices made (and not made) by my settler ancestors and myself.
In Spring 2021, my book Watershed: Attending to Body and Earth in Distress, was published by the University of Minnesota Press; in 2022 it won the Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. Learn more at ranaehanson.com.
Ranae Lenor Hanson
Author - Watershed: Attending to Body and Earth in Distress
Website - ranaehanson.com
Lisa Graysheild (bio forthcoming)
M. Rako Fabioner is a consultant, facilitator, and healer who creates learning environments for people to experience deeper connection, insight, and well-being. He is sought after for his powerful presence and capacity to support individuals and groups during times of transition. Rako has created transformative leadership programs as well as inclusivity and equity focused initiatives for businesses, universities, retreat centers, NGOs and other learning organizations for the past twenty years. He has trained and advised social entrepreneurs, cultural workers, activists, spiritual teachers, and political leaders within the USA, Central America, UK, and Middle East. Rako has also trained and worked closely with leadership from Google, Dignity Health, Adobe, Facebook, Skywalker Ranch, Impact Hub, IONS, and Climate Action Network International. Rako is a founding member of the Guild of Future Architects and Salmon Nation, as well as a core advisor to the How We Deepen, New Stories and Retreat Center Collaboration change networks. He can be reached at mark@rako.life. http://www.rako.life/
PAST CONTRIBUTORS
Scott Brown is a visionary peacemaker, transpersonal psychologist, and life and relationship coach who guides individuals and groups into the deepest levels of personal and collective healing and resilience. His integrated approach brings together psychology, spirituality, nature-based healing, and transformational activism. He is a leading advocate for bringing the principles and practices of restorative justice to bear on the full range of social issues and is the author of Active Peace: A Mindful Path to a Nonviolent World.
Kaat Vander Straeten is a long-time community organizer with a Transition focus and a certified permaculture designer in MetroWest Boston, where she founded several organizations for local resilience. Her passion for helping families take care of their deceased is nourished by her love of empowering personal choice-with-responsibility, her service to a regenerative and grief-literate culture, and a concern for social justice. Kaat was trained by Peg Lorenz in after-death body care and has helped several families take care of their loved ones at home.
Kaat works with Peaceful Passage at Home, a group of home funeral guides and advocates based in eastern and central Massachusetts.
Kaat works with Peaceful Passage at Home, a group of home funeral guides and advocates based in eastern and central Massachusetts.
Richard Edelman is a weaver of transformative arts, a multidisciplinary synthesizer, and a scholar of psychotherapy and spiritual consciousness, a husband, father, and grandfather, a scholar, social activist, meditation teacher, guide, and visionary. He works with culture creators, including creative artists, entrepreneurs, helping professionals, and activists, as well as individuals, families, groups, and communities. His work focuses on liberating, healing, and celebrating biospheric consciousness. Richard’s recent activism has been on helping individuals and communities liberate and heal themselves from spiritual abuse. As a climate activist, he works towards low cost community-based climate trauma and resilience services with a mutual aid focus informed by evolutionary consciousness. He is writing a book introducing his concept of Toxic Enculturation and how we can liberate and heal ourselves from it. www.livingartswisdom.com
PAST CONTRIBUTORS to discussions and resources
Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, creates art for individual, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human.
Bayo Akomolafe
An academic, poet and philosopher, Bayo has dedicated his life to mediating between the spiritual and the scientific. Raised as a Christian in the hyper-religious Nigerian capital of Lagos, he studied Psychology and then while researching for his PhD spent 7 years lecturing at Nigeria's Covenant University. In 2016, he co-founded The Emergence Network, an alliance of people, initiatives and communities using art, research and ritual to reframe some of the world's interlocking social and environmental problems. First and foremost, though, he is a father. In his book ‘These wilds beyond our fences: Letters to my daughter on humanity’s search for home', addressed to his daughter Alethea, Bayo explores some of life’s most pressing questions related to race, culture and belonging through the lens of fatherhood. By exploring the world at its ‘Aleathean edges', he reminds the reader how wondrous, philosophically and spiritually significant everyday occurrences can be — both when you are a small human discovering the world for the first time, and when you are the adult who helps to guide them on their way.
An academic, poet and philosopher, Bayo has dedicated his life to mediating between the spiritual and the scientific. Raised as a Christian in the hyper-religious Nigerian capital of Lagos, he studied Psychology and then while researching for his PhD spent 7 years lecturing at Nigeria's Covenant University. In 2016, he co-founded The Emergence Network, an alliance of people, initiatives and communities using art, research and ritual to reframe some of the world's interlocking social and environmental problems. First and foremost, though, he is a father. In his book ‘These wilds beyond our fences: Letters to my daughter on humanity’s search for home', addressed to his daughter Alethea, Bayo explores some of life’s most pressing questions related to race, culture and belonging through the lens of fatherhood. By exploring the world at its ‘Aleathean edges', he reminds the reader how wondrous, philosophically and spiritually significant everyday occurrences can be — both when you are a small human discovering the world for the first time, and when you are the adult who helps to guide them on their way.
Aleisa Myles
Aleisa has been a dedicated member of Transition Town Media (TTM) since 2010. Aleisa is a clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, PA. She practices psychoanalytic psychotherapy with survivors of childhood and adult trauma, and addresses themes of spirituality, sexuality, and social justice and equity. Aleisa holds a Psy.D. from the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University, where she now serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor. She presents seminars and workshops on diversity, racism, and psychoanalysis. Aleisa has a lifelong dedication to understanding and bringing transformative change to the typically unrecognized oppression of children and young people, known as childism.
Aleisa has been a dedicated member of Transition Town Media (TTM) since 2010. Aleisa is a clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, PA. She practices psychoanalytic psychotherapy with survivors of childhood and adult trauma, and addresses themes of spirituality, sexuality, and social justice and equity. Aleisa holds a Psy.D. from the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University, where she now serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor. She presents seminars and workshops on diversity, racism, and psychoanalysis. Aleisa has a lifelong dedication to understanding and bringing transformative change to the typically unrecognized oppression of children and young people, known as childism.
Shanti Tula is a desi Midwestern pixie, cross-pollinator, and jack of many trades. Given that she is a cynical idealist and pessimistic optimist, you will generally find that Shanti’s feet are rooted down into the ground while her head is floating up in the clouds and stars of the sky. She embraces every opportunity to do all the things, learn all the things, and be all the things, because to her, this world is a place of untold marvels, whether she looks right under her nose or travels across the globe. Perpetually fascinated by the human condition, Shanti is always game to explore the infinite universes of the diverse individuals, systems, and societies she encounters on her life journey, including yours, whenever she has the fortune to meet you. Whether she is working in healthcare, education, business, or technology, the thing that gets Shanti out of bed every morning is her delight in creatively solving problems through multidisciplinary collaboration and her passion for helping people to unleash their full potential. These days, Shanti is particularly jazzed about applying tools from the fields of mindfulness, embodiment, conflict management, design thinking, psychology, nonviolent communication, and authentic relating to her growing practice with group facilitation/coaching aimed toward personal + professional development and community organization.
Tobin McKee
Tobin is a Middleway Method Somatic Educator, and co-founder of Middleway Network, fostering the creation of new, free wellness training and educational resources for all people, giving special attention to underserved populations. Tobin also serves as a Core Team Member at Cooperation Humboldt, dedicated to building a Solidarity Economy on the North Coast.
Tobin is a Middleway Method Somatic Educator, and co-founder of Middleway Network, fostering the creation of new, free wellness training and educational resources for all people, giving special attention to underserved populations. Tobin also serves as a Core Team Member at Cooperation Humboldt, dedicated to building a Solidarity Economy on the North Coast.