People
A Sampling of Our Current Associates…
Below you can explore a sampling of current Gaia University associates. Read about why they chose Gaia University and their wide-ranging learning and unlearning adventures!
Grifen Hope was born in New Zealand in 1976 and grew up in an alternative community. Immersed in patterns of sustainability, he developed a repertoire of basic values, knowledge and skills for living simply and designing resilient systems. As a teenager, Grifen discovered permaculture and later began exploring regenerative design with an international community of people with a shared vision for a different future.
After completing a degree in Resource and Environmental Planning from Massey University, Grifen shifted away from his formal career pathway, opting instead to apply his planning skills through the Taranaki Environmental Education Trust. Grifen learned his trade here and began practicing as a teacher, designer and...
Kimberly Walsh is an organic farmer, weaver, and human rights & eco-social justice advocate. She co-founded Wild Meadows Farm, which integrates organic practices, biointensive methods, and permaculture ethics and principles into the design and management of 200 acres of mixed forests, sloping meadows and cover cropped fields. She also serves as the Executive Director of the non-profit organization, Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society (CHEARS), which uses education, arts and research as experiential learning tools to connect people to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Kim chose Gaia University for its flexibility, eco-centered approach to learning and support network of actionists. As a neo-rural settler, Kim is...
Ravenel is an enthusiastic nomad, passionate about social networking, community development and cross-cultural communication. Amid the Willapa Hills, in South Bend, Washington, USA, she is currently working to establish the city's first community garden in the hopes that it will become both a multi-functional community space and a shining example of sustainability. Following the BP oil spill, Ravenel self-organized the collection of natural fibers to assist the ecological public charity, Matter of Trust.
Prior to enrolling in Gaia University Ravanel attended Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, where she studied Spanish and environmental science. After writing a research paper on ecovillages, she was inspired to suspend...
Gabriel Vieira is an edgewalker, integrating imagination, play, and spiritual consciousness with practical skills for effective world change. Passionately pursuing healthy and honest interpersonal relationships, Gabriel studies the art of loving and the use of boundaries, structures, and design to deepen intimacy and trust, opening doors to the synergistic possibilities of human connection.
Having taken circus classes from a young age, Gabriel values performance and the experience of embodied living. Integrating tools from many spiritual paths, healing arts, and dance and theater exercises, Gabriel works to bring wholeness and health to himself and others. Gabriel sees himself as a part of a miraculous living earth, and is committed to...
Coco Gordon, aka SuperSkyWoman, is a holocaust survivor who emigrated to New York City in 1939. An artist/poet/publisher and certified permaculture designer, she now lives and teaches permaculture design in Colorado.
Coco has vast and varied experience across the spectrum of art and ecosocial design. She is a Transition Town Lyons Initiator in Colorado, growing permaculture-certified forces by teaching permaculture for Parks & Recreation and at Willow Way, promoting “Do Local Daily" and offering Nature WalkTalks. She is also active writing innovative interactive books as eco-commentary, sponsored by her watermark, Press, Papers & Permaculture.
In 1986 Coco won the Susan B. Anthony Award for her project, WindowPeace....
Ron McCorkle is an advocate for collaborative socialstructures. He believes that an esoteric connection between ourselves and the universe is essential in order to understand the most beneficial ways of living. "When we know ourselves, we will know everything else". Ron is a neighborhood advocate in the City of Roanoke, VA. He has a mission to empower decision making at the neighborhood lever, rather than at the city level. He has started The Urbiculture Foundation, which was created to inspire and empower people to become a part of decision making at the local level. He wants to spark the interest of people by showing a glimpse of the light outside of the box.
Ron is a social entrepreneur. He has started...
Nicole Vosper is a permaculture designer, gardener and community organizer based in Somerset, UK. She came to Gaia University having avoided the traditional university system; her life experience had made her realise that life is too short to dedicate energy to anything she is not 100% passionate about. From the age of ten Nicole's dominant life interest has been working to end animal exploitation, a journey which has taken her around the world and to prison and back. In prison, however, she was given the opportunity to complete a permaculture design course via distance learning while working in the prison gardens.
This experience completely changed her life and perspective, and Nicole now seeks to integrate her passions for animal and...
Will Szal has been transforming culture from dull brittle homogeny into vibrant resilient diversity since 1990, when he entered the planet. Will is based in New England [through the past, present, and future].
Rather than being a disconnected individual, Will interprets his place in this universe more from his community experiences. As people get to know him, they often describe him as having attributes of a child and a sage simultaneously. He does not view his perspective as a liability, but rather attributes these qualities to the loving environment in which be was brought up. Much of the development that individuals normally need to pass through their lifetimes was already completed by others in Will's community before he was born and...
Marissa Evans joined Gaia University for an inspiring network and supportive structure to actualize her visions. Passionate about self-directed learning, Marissa reclaimed her education when she began unschooling at sixteen. She left her hometown in Massachusetts to travel and study with LEAPNOW Transforming Education based in California. This year long experience imparted tools for empowerment, skillful communication, living in integrity, and stepping into adulthood with authenticity.
The following year Marissa attended a Gaia University orientation at the Farm in TN. Introduced to the strange and wonderful world of action learning, she began exploring ways of merging creative flow with clearly articulated goals, imagination with...
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