DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors at The Earth Elders carries the sacred responsibility of stewarding our mission with wisdom, integrity, and vision. These leaders bring together decades of experience, ancestral lineage, and deep commitment—guiding us toward justice, regeneration, and the protection of Earth’s most vulnerable and sacred places.
Julia Jackson
Steering Committee Chair
Julia has committed her life to identifying and amplifying necessary solutions and building a community that can mitigate the worst impacts of the ecosystem breakdown. In addition to Grounded, Julia is a Co-Founder of the Keystone Species Alliance, Executive Board Chair of Project, Regeneration, Chair of US Allies to Stop Ecocide, a board member of the California Department of Food and Agriculture & Earth League International. Julia is a 2nd-generation vintner of Jackson Family Wines.
illuminating a path to a better future for all.
Ken Kitatani
Co-Convenor
Ken "Masaaki" is a wisdom keeper of the Kannagara tradition, with over 25 years experience as a ceremonial leader. Since the start of the century, Ken has engaged leaders from across the UN, multilateral institutions and faith groups, to come together to heal Mother Earth.
He has been collaborating with Mindahi Bastida on the Five Earth Mandates for the best part of a decade. Ken's life exemplifies the enduring power of ancestral wisdom in a shifting world.
Ken is a gifted convenor, facilitator and servant leader who excels at building broad-based coalitions.
Tom York
Board Member
Tom York is an attorney with deep expertise in commercial lending, secured finance, corporate law, and intellectual property. A graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, Tom has built a strong career supporting businesses at every stage of growth, from formation and licensing to contracts, waivers, leasing, and financing.
He brings particular focus to enterprises in the sustainability, health, and wellness fields, guiding mission-driven organizations with both legal precision and a values-based approach.
As a Board Member of The Earth Elders, Tom offers not only his professional insight but also his dedication to advancing Indigenous stewardship and biocultural regeneration. His service reflects a belief that law, when aligned with purpose, can help restore balance between humanity and Mother Earth.
OUR TEAM
Behind every initiative of The Earth Elders is a dedicated team committed to honoring Indigenous leadership and advancing biocultural regeneration. Guided by the Council of Elders and supported by a circle of passionate organizers, storytellers, and advocates, our team works across cultures and continents to help protect what is sacred—for all life, now and for generations to come.
Mindahi Crescencio Bastida
Convenor
Mindahi was born in Tultepec, Mexico, Mindahi. He is a Ritual Ceremony Officer of the Otomi-Toltec people. He also holds a doctorate in Rural Development and was President of the Mexican Council of Sustainable Development.He is a tireless advocate of indigenous peoples on the world stage and was a key figure in the Earth Summit 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. As Director of the Original Nations Program at The Fountain, he called for greater harmony with nature and the protection of sacred sites- causes he continues to work hard for. Mindahi is also the author of the book Ancestors.
Stephen Vasconcellos
Executive Director
Stephen draws on Scottish, Portuguese, and Indian heritage. After working with leaders in more than 50 countries, mostly in the global south, he co-founded the charities Reboot the Future and Positive, launched Salt, a magazine for changemakers, and co-authored Imaginal Cells: Visions with Nobel prize winners Gore, Tutu and Yunus. More recently he published The Regenerative Enterprise with Niels de Fraguier. Stephen now uses his experience to catalyze networks to enable systems change. A descendant of Indian immigrant indentured labor, and working class Scots, he is passionate about decolonising our institutions, and restoring nature.
Lara Mastropasqua
Head of Partnerships
Lara is a global connector with 30 years experience in impact communications working with C-suite leaders and decision-makers in the private sector, the United Nations, and INGOs. As a skilled convener and a natural relationship-builder, Lara has worked with Heads of State of emerging markets to position their country brands globally, established the United Nations OCHA-IRIN Radio programme across Africa, created a public awareness campaign for Peace in Kenya, and has been on the board of Directors of two NGOs. She is also a skilled storyteller and recently created a television series which is already actioned by a major streamer in Hollywood.
Naomi Yui
Director of Finance
Naomi, born in Japan and based in New York since college, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) with extensive expertise in financial planning and managerial accounting. Currently at JP Morgan, she manages a $1bn budget and supports the Group’s CFOs.
A strategic thinker and gifted leader, Naomi is dedicated to her team and excels at finding efficient solutions. She has a passion for wellness and service, combining her analytical skills with a soulful approach to her work.
Kristen Dawn
Head of Communications
Kristen Dawn heads our communications efforts and brings a wealth of experience in not for profit communications, having held similar roles in communications, digital engagement and marketing in a diverse array of organizations including children’s charities, and the wider education sector. Kristen is a mum of three grown up boys with indigenous roots. She divides her time between her passions; storytelling and communications, making art, and healing others as a cranial sacral practitioner. Kristen expresses her mission as choosing to create stories of love, art from beyond, silence to connect, and space to expand.
Elena Pardo Castillo
Intercultural Education
Elena is an educator, cultural manager, and promoter of intra- and intercultural education who works across both urban centres and rural areas in the Cusco Region of Peru. Elena is the director of CEPROSI (Centre of Promotion of Holistic Health). She is a speaker at regional, national, and international congresses, forums, and events. Elena is a the organiser of WUATUNAKUY, an international seed gathering festival held for the last 19 years at the Raqchi Ceremonial Center, Cusco, Peru, on the June solstice. She is also a member of the Ecoversities network and the Watunakuy Ayllu at the Latin American level.
Rachel Kearl
BioCultural Development Steward
Rachel works at the intersection of relational strategy, resource development, and narrative design in support of Earth-aligned systems and initiatives. With two decades of experience in holistic healing, cultural bridging, and community organizing, her approach centers on attuning to place, people, and purpose to help translate vision into grounded structure. She supports bioregional funding frameworks, ecological rights campaigns, and global partnerships through a blend of strategic insight, deep listening, and the often-unseen work of quiet field stewardship. Her focus is on building trust, coherence, and resourcing pathways that reflect the values of reciprocity, regeneration, and long-term cultural resilience.
Xiye Bastida
Youth Empowerment
Xiye is a Mexican changemaker and member of the Indigenous Otomi community, gained prominence as a leading organizer of Fridays for Future in New York City. She is a tireless advocate of indigenous causes.
Bastida co-founded Re-Earth Initiative, prioritizing inclusivity and intersectionality within the climate movement. Recognized with the "Spirit of the UN" award in 2018, she is a powerful advocate for youth and indigenous issues on global platforms like the UN and WEF. Named a Time 100 leader in 2023, she continues to inspire action for a fairer world.
Bodhi Patil
Ocean Advisor
Bodhi Patil is a UN-recognized, award-winning GenZ ocean-climate “Solutionist” dedicated to planetary stewardship. He has been featured by the United Nations, Economist Impact, Apple, and has presented to world leaders at over 12 global climate conferences including COP28, as a core member of the Wisdom Keepers Delegation. Bodhi is the Founder & CEO of Inner Light, empowering a generation to build resilience from the inside out for the wellbeing of nature and human health. He accelerates Intergenerational Collaboration to build impactful bridges between hundreds of environmental organizations, governments, and communities for mother nature.
Dom Loomes
Researcher, Partnerships
Dom is an ecological anthropologist, photographer and environmentalist. His work explores the nexus between culture, land-based knowledge, and nature-relationships. His research is routinely cited in academic circles in addition the Kyoto Journal, Japan. His works have led him into in Border Violence Monitoring with participatory visual ethnographic fieldwork in the Balkans. His MSc in Anthropology at ISCTE University spans Indigenous Human Rights, Language Ecology, Transcalar Design and Plant Life in Guinea Bissau. His advocacy extends to both human and more-than-human realms, striving for a fairer world.
Lucy Martens
Director, Producer
Lucy, a passionate storyteller, bridges cultures worldwide. Her documentaries, featured on BBC Storyville, PBS, and National Geographic Learning, echo diverse voices. Co-producing "Out of the Ashes" with Sam Mendes earned her a 2011 Grierson Award. Lucy is integral to Ripple Effect Images, empowering women and children through storytelling. As a co-founder of Le Ciel Foundation, she reintegrates primordial wisdom, epitomized in "The Twelve," a documentary about indigenous Elders. Her work spans NGOs, highlighting solutions for global challenges in food, water, health, education, energy, economic empowerment, and climate.
Melanie Pyne
Co-Director, Creative Producer
Melanie works to produce stories enshrined with visual-auditory impact, rooted in co-cultivated storytelling, and justice for our living world. As PR Lead for Minga Indigena, she aided in establising the world's first Loss and Damage Fund for colonial reparations in Scotland, amassing campaign visibility across 19 countries worldwide. As an Ethnoecologist and journalist for Artists+AlliesxHebron, Union Magazine, Melanie contributed to legislative reports on Fortress Conservation for H2:a Counter-Surveillance project streamed across 5 European major arts institutions. Guest lecturer of Decolonising Gender at the Model UN School in Assam, India. Formal recognition on Plastic Whale Heritage Dignity Statue, Norway.
Ryan (Ra) James Kemp
Cultural Integration Advisor
Ryan (Ra) James Kemp is a systems evolutionary, regenerative design innovator, and steward of Sixth Sun Immersions and (re)Biz. He travelled through 50+ countries, living and learning in close apprenticeship with Indigenous elders and cultural guardians, immersed in Earth-aligned traditions of relational intelligence, spiritual responsibility, and regenerative practice. Drawing from these deep-rooted experiences, Ryan now works with leaders to integrate multi-dimensional systems thinking. His work bridges ancestral wisdom and contemporary complexity to cultivate strategies that are spiritually grounded, ecologically attuned, and culturally accountable with pathways for transformation.
Rebecca Routman
Researcher, Photographer
Rebecca, a researcher with Artists+Allies+Hebron, has been featured in A-Desk Magazine and collaborated on photographic books with PH Museum. Her project "A Flor de Piel" delves into nature's intricacies and human connections. She hosts a podcast with Nima Gaspar Audiovisual for New Books Network in Spanish. Rebecca's commitment to research led her to the Qanats project at Gothenburg University, aiding Afghan young refugees. She served as Radio PA for "Voces y Política" 96.7 FM Radio Universidad and as a Project Assistant at Factor - Ideas for Change. Active in Greenpeace's Spring Break Program, she advocates for a sustainable future.
Evan Folds
Bioregional Development Steward
Evan Folds is a living soil agronomist, ecological entrepreneur, and regenerative business strategist. His consulting company, Be Agriculture, works with clients to integrate the realms of food, farming, and health through living systems thinking to generate dynamic solutions that solve the wicked challenges that we face. Evan is a father, elected official, spiritual scientist, published writer, and active in teaching and learning from people all over the world, so the Earth may be healed.
Mackenzie Barth
Reciprocity Steward
Mackenzie is an eco-entrepreneur weaving together worlds, ideas, and cultures to help sustain life on Earth. She is the founder of Casa Awänima, a regenerative living sanctuary and eco-lodge in the highlands of Guatemala, and the steward of Tuqtuquilal, an impact initiative for community development in the Q'eqchi region through artisanal food production, agroecology, ecotourism, and education. She also leads the Moon Calendar Project: a women’s collective art project and lunar calendar that helps people sync with natural time. Mackenzie’s passion lies in creating opportunities to deepen our connection to the wisdom of nature, while supporting the vitality of original cultures and their ancestral practices and worldviews.