WORKSHOP GUIDES, EDUCATORS, ELDERS, & WELLNESS PRACTITIONERS

This gathering brings together a dynamic group of educators, organizers, healing practitioners, and facilitators offering sessions that span hands-on skills, inner work, and systemic change.

Workshops and panels explore topics like permaculture, herbal medicine, soil science, land rematriation, bioregional governance, regenerative economics, community building, ancestral healing, and more.

From movement and music to policy and practice, each offering is rooted in lived experience and designed to inspire action, deepen connection, and support place-based transformation. See our features below!

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  • Grandmother Hummingbird is a Medicine Woman from Mexico who has been following the Red Road for more than 20 years and living in Maine since 2015. She will be guiding us in ceremonies rooted in her Native traditions and sharing about the Wabanaki Confederacy, First Nations from the Northeast. Her path has led her to participate in ceremonies around the world, including Earth Dance in México, Sundance in Canada, Vision Quest in Colombia and Chile, and Moondance in Maine. A Reiki Master since 2003, she and her husband Paul care for Grandmother Trail—a self-healing path in Maine—that offers different ways of healing. Learn more about her on Instagram: @mexicanmainer

  • Envisioning humans living in harmony with each other and all life, Daniel founded Living Routes in 1999, which ran study abroad programs based in ecovillages. He later co-founded Gaia Education and served as President of the Global Ecovillage Network. Daniel has visited over 150 ecovillages around the world and lived in Auroville in south India and Findhorn in northern Scotland, where he served as Education Director of the Findhorn Foundation. He currently co-directs the Foundation for Intentional Community. Learn more about Daniel’s work here: ic.org & cape.consulting

  • Tufts Environmental Studies Nancy W. Anderson Award Recipient - A systems thinker, founder of the Northeast Healthy Soil Network, and an Attorney licensed in VT & CT. Founder of Mycelial Law, a firm serving the bioregional movement. My North Star is the manifestation of Protopian communities, islands of resilience in seas of late stage capitalist collapse, that more easefully nourish human communities, whilst connecting them intimately with their plant kin and ecological spirit of their place.

    I am a convert from global governance (UN FAO) to Northeast bioregional level climate resilience strategist. I enjoy being in service to stakeholders actualizing the implementation of regenerative foodways and local economies in our bioregion.

    My JD/Masters focuses spanned dynamic federalism in conservation agriculture programming, the adoption of adaptive management and nested commons governance by State-to-local government actors - Regenerative financial infrastructure of the next economy - and the integration of Tribal Partnerships into climate resilience development strategies, manifesting the Third Way of indigenous cultural protection. My in(ter)dependent studies have been guided by the Global Regeneration CoLab, Regen Network & the Regen Coordination Community, Joe Brewer, Rob Hopkins & Daniel Christian Wahl's teachings on bioregional transition, the Tools for a Regenerative Renaissance course by Stephen Reid & Phoebe Tickell & time with the Medicine Wheel Society indigenous democracy Hearttank. Learn more about Josie here: https://myceliallaw.com/

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  • Shastina is a multimodal artist, utilizing many paths towards self understanding and nature worship. She has been practicing Contact Improv for 16 years and teaching occasionally over the last 12 years. Dance happens in a different dimension from her visual art, but they arise from the same source of inspiration: the curiosity and wonder of existence. Learn more about Shastina on instagram: @flowing_spirit_arts

  • Victoria has a degree in biology but her life outside of her degree makes her who she is today, a land steward in both central and north america, dedicating most of her time connecting to the land and its waters. She has trained in regenerative agriculture and participated in aboriginal women's reconciliation work in Australia. She completed her yoga teacher training in India and has taught around the world. She moved back to North America to regenerate her family land and became a Waldorf educator. She hosts community gatherings centered around a more primal way of living on the land in both central and north america seasonally. Learn more about via on Instagram: @leydensregeneration & @via4vitality

  • Olivia “Liv” Watyana’li:yo Bigtree is Onyota’a:ka (People of the Standing Stone), Turtle Clan. Watyana’li:yo (her original name) translates to “She puts down a good track,” or “She puts down her good tracks.” Honoring her role and responsibility as a young Onkwehón:we (Original Being) life-giver, she walks her pathway with great intention. She grew up in Onondaga, where she was raised by primarily strong Onkwehón:we women. Doing her best to carry on what her family has taught her, she is an empowered member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy who strives to live a life authentically rooted within the Original Instructions of her people. Having a background in visual art, she finished her first year of art school at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2021. Over the course of her High School career, she received numerous honors and titles, both nationally and regionally for her art. Her willingness to open her heart and to live authentically has taken her path away from colonial life. Decolonization, healing, and cycle-breaking are practices within her consciousness that have led her to Ioskóhare (Schoharie Valley), the ancestral lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka (People of the Flint). Liv moved to Ioskóhare in January 2023 to rematriate the land and to assist in the growth of the ever-evolving vision taking place at Skywoman’s Forever Farm. Living in an off-grid yurt, she devoted her energy into re-membering her connection with all of creation, honoring her celestial, ancestral bloodlines. She’s poured her blood, sweat, tears, and love into the rematriation of Skywoman’s Forever Farm. Efforts to keep Onkwehonwenéha (Original Language) alive are at the roots of land rematriation. Now residing in Kahnawà:ke (a Kanien’kehá:ka Reserve in Quebec, CA), Liv is in the Class of 2026 for the Kanien’kéha Ratiwennahní:rats Adult Language Immersion Program. She intends to bring all that she learns from this program wherever her pathway takes her, including Ioskóhare.

    You can connect with Liv here: watyanaliyo@ratiwennahnirats.com

  • Kay’aleya Hunnybee is an herbalist, bodyworker and host of the Herbal Womb Wisdom podcast. Her life and work centers around seasons and cycles of our bodies and the earth. She loves sharing embodied, natural and integrative approaches to menstrual cycle care, hormonal health, natural contraception, pleasure, pelvic health and perimenopause. Learn more about Kay’aleya on instagram here: @herbalwombwisdom

  • Zbigniew will be speaking on “Rooting Bioregionalism: Supporting Indigenous Self Determination for Regenerative Transformations,” covering the following:  

    The promise of regenerative finance supporting movements for bioregional regeneration is to transform our Earth-destroying and predatory political economy. At its core, regeneration must be about justice and the flourishing of human and more than human communities. Creating this world requires profound shifts in ontologies of relationships by dominant cultures that have objectified and alienated themselves from the vibrant more-than-human world - ontological shifts already embedded within numerous Indigenous cultures around the world. The same cultures that have co-evolved with the majority of Earth’s remaining biodiversity. A regenerative economy also requires aligning these ontologies with technological development that enables truly symbiotic social-ecological-technological systems - the systems producing information, energy, buildings, food, fiber, and fuel that support everyday life. 

    Can we root and repair relations between Indigenous worldviews and ethics, and our technological capacity as a species? Drawing on the current praxis of developing a place-based inter-tribal and no-tribal regenerative watershed alliance, supporting the creation of a continental bio-based material collective, and working towards a NE bioregion Indigenous co-governance body and bioregional regenerative finance facility and strategy. 

    This session explores this crucial question with examples of regenerative technologies and approaches, and a replicable and adaptable approach for the creation of bioregional transformative economies. It invites reflections on where we currently are in enabling such systemic transformation, cases of practical technologies and ecological practices already available to move us towards larger transformations, and invites relationship-building and connection across diverse regenerative actors and initiatives in the NE and beyond. 

    Learn more about Zbigniew here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zbigniew-grabowski-00062423/

  • Syd Harvey Griffith is a regenerative systems builder, community organizer, and professional fundraiser working at the intersection of bioregional resilience, community-led regeneration, and liberatory flows of resources. Her work bridges ancient wisdom and modern tools to catalyze systems transformation rooted in care for people and planet.


    As Executive Director of Kinship Earth, Syd leads the organization’s Flow Funding work—entrusting grassroots leaders with unrestricted grants to flow in service of their communities and ecosystems. Kinship Earth is also dedicated to helping local communities launch and seed Bioregional Flow Funds.

    Syd is also the co-founder of Permatours, a nonprofit that organizes hands-on permaculture action events focused on ecological restoration and natural building, as well as building mutual aid networks, and cultivating food and housing security. Their gatherings regenerate land and increase local communities’ capacity to grow healthy food, offer affordable housing, and host gatherings. Kickstarted by a SEEDS regenerative crypto grant, Permatours piloted a peer-to-peer token economy where community members were rewarded for their contributions with the currency and could spend it at Permatours’ regenerative community marketplace.


    The Planetary Party is where Syd’s worlds converge.  Through Kinship Earth’s leadership in the initiative’s Capital Flows Guild and Permatours’ participation in the Events Guild, Syd is helping to shape the Planetary Party initiative through its joyful gatherings that leave a lasting impact. 

    Learn more about Syd here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneygriffith/

  • Raven is a long time communitarian, having lived most of his life in group situations.  He is particularly passionate about income-sharing communities (also known as communes) and manages the Commune Life Blog and Facebook feed.  He is an old white guy, but is still capable of learning a few new tricks.  He is currently trying to start a new income-sharing eco-community in the Brattleboro, Vermont area. Learn more about Raven here: https://communelifeblog.wordpress.com/  

  • Jess is a multi-faceted teacher who is most passionate about being a safe place for people of any ability level to come to learn how to connect to their bodies and trust themselves to move in a variety of ways. Jess serves as a rock climbing and hiking guide, a yoga teacher, an intuitive movement/dance facilitator and an enthusiastic spreader of plant wisdom and the power of using food and movement as medicine.

    In the morning flow with Jess on Friday, you can expect to be gently guided into connection with your body at a slow and steady pace that finds good balance between spicy & engaging and relaxing & nourishing movements - absolute beginners and self proclaimed “bad at yoga” people highly encouraged in Jess’ practices. Learn more about Jess here: @jessbeneski on Instagram

  • Kahlil Calavas empowers clients with innovative AI-driven solutions, specializing in full-stack development, Unity app creation, and immersive 3D mapping systems. As a Technical Director, I contribute to the development of digital twin systems and interactive fundraising campaigns, integrating advanced technologies like holographic kiosks to redefine user experiences.

    With over five years of R&D expertise in AI, XR, and computer vision, combined with nearly a decade of web and graphic design experience, I bring a versatile skill set to every project. My mission is to seamlessly merge technology and creativity, enabling organizations to harness the potential of cutting-edge tools to achieve their goals. Learn more here on here: thespatialnetwork.net

  • Jessica Fox is an educator, designer, and kitchen witch who believes food is the most powerful tool for connection and regeneration. She's bringing that philosophy to the Convergence kitchen, where she’ll craft meals to honor the land and nourish the transformative work of the weekend. Learn more about Jessica on insta: @south_shore_permaculture

  • Eliza is an Associate Program Developer at Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), a Maine-based community development financial institution working to build a just, vibrant, climate-resilient future for all people and communities. CEI leverages financing, business advising, and policy solutions to support a more equitable future.

    Eliza supports the development and implementation of programs and practices that sustain and strengthen CEI’s sustainability work with an emphasis on the role of small businesses as pillars of resilience in their communities. This includes expanding access to clean energy, battery storage, and energy efficiency through lending and workforce solutions. She collaborates on ways to support environmental sustainability for Maine small businesses across all industries.

    Prior to joining CEI in 2025, Eliza worked for South Portland Public Schools, Maine Center for Research in STEM Education, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Midcoast Conservancy. A lifelong Mainer, she has lived across the state, as well as overseas in South Korea. When she’s not working, Eliza can be found running, skiing, paddling, knitting, or heading to trivia night. 

  • Steve’s mission is to create an ecozoic world where, as coined by Thomas Berry, people and all non-human persons live in a mutually flourishing relationship. As a lawyer, leader, and systems thinker, he has worked with businesses, cooperatives and nonprofits in clean energy, regenerative finance, clean tech, sustainable ag, environmental restoration, and the arts, for nearly three decades. He is building a network of earth-serving attorneys, service providers and nonprofits to accelerate regenerative projects with emergent business, finance and legal structures in the Northeast bioregion. Learn more here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenfiller/

  • Marissa is a mover and shaker based in Southern Vermont at the budding ecovillage called Earthseed. This forming community is located on 430 acres of forest with a sweet stream running through its heart. As one of the co-founders of Earthseed, Marissa leads the finance, membership, and gardens circles in the sociocratic governance model the community is exploring. Earthseed is seeking more co-founders to join in its 5 years of forming (2024-2028) as well as comet members and seasonal residents. Learn more about Marissa on instagram here: @marissa_moves_wild and Learn more about EarthSeed here: www.earthseedecovillage.com

  • Colin has practiced nature awareness mentoring for 10 years, working for ReTribe and creating his own nature school. At the convergence, he’ll be offering nature adventure games for kids and generally supporting the management of the Kids Zone. Learn more about Colin’s work here: imaginaturecocreations.com

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  • Maurice will be offering fireside Musical improv jams as well as a Qi Gong / Tai-Chi / Breathwork workshop. Learn more about Maurice here: @Mas_Arroz

  • Scotty is a natural builder, compost educator, and heart centered community organizer with a degree in chemical engineering and 10 years of experience in the world of cooperative business. He is the founder of Diggers Cooperative (http://www.diggerscooperative.com/), a local Maine compost and permaculture design business. And as co-founder of Permatours, Scotty travels around the Northeastern US joyfully facilitating permaculture work parties that leave a positive impact and teaching practical skills on various topics such as natural building, soil science, foraging wild edibles and acro yoga. Learn more about Scotty on instagram: @BROCCOLIBIKE

  • Scott Vlaun is a founding director at the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy (CEBE) in Norway, Maine, a climate justice organization working towards an equitable, resilient and regenerative bioregional economy. Scott has practiced and taught permaculture locally and at the Maharishi University for the last two decades. In November, after twelve and a half years, he is turning over the reins of CEBE and returning to documentary photography, building, gardening and playing in the woods, waters and mountains.

  • Healer, intuitive, lover of the natural world, Sara leads yoga classes that remind us to slow down, connect to our inner knowing, and ground to the earth. Gently flowing with the energy of the moment, observing breath, experiencing the beingness of each moment, each movement. Learn more on Instagram here: @mamaloveyogamaine

  • Heather Flournoy of Wild Nearby is an avid foraging, wild herbalism, self-reliance, and foraging-with-horses teacher.  She grew up on a ranch in northern California and a farm in upstate NY.  Her young life was spent immersed in nature and grew into a lifelong passion for the environment.

    Her love for wild foods and medicines expanded as she studied with foragers, herbalists and healers. She now enthusiastically shares her knowledge of wild foods and medicines with those drawn to this ancient connection with the earth that has been practiced around the globe for millenia. She has a Wild Mushroom Food Safety Certification and has 25+ years experience in natural health and healing. Learn more on insta here - @wildnearby

  • Jessica LaBrie (she/they) is the owner of Blackbird’s Daughter Botanicals Nature Sanctuary and Center for Sacred Gaian Studies, a UNH master gardener, and past president of the NH Herbal Network (AHG-chapter). A practicing wise woman, she offers deep-ecology based ceremonies and workshops, herbal education and consultations, holistic wellness counseling, nature therapy, and personal plant-spirit retreats. Her mission is to help people fall in love with the planet, and embrace the healing power of nature.

    Blackbird’s Daughter Botanicals is a community-based and volunteer-supported Sacred Gaian nature sanctuary and education center, offering free and sliding-scale community education, herbal training, and holistic health care, with the goal of spreading sacred, practical, and inspiring environmental knowledge, ecological stewardship, and sustainable living skills to all.

    Located a half hour away from the Gulf of Maine (the fastest warming body of water in the world), and in close proximity to neighboring towns and communities designated as disadvantaged by the EPA, we are uniquely situated to serve as a learning hub for environmental stewardship, eco-resiliency, and sustainable jobforce readiness training.

    The sanctuary is a member of the United Plant Savers (UpS) Botanical Sanctuary Network, a UpS registered Partner in Education, and an American Herbalist Guild (AHG) registered herb school. It consists of adaptive and accessible nature trails, an edible and medicinal tree guild, wildlife pool, a traditional Lakota Inipi (sweat lodge) for use by Indigenous healers, the Native Plants of N’dakinna Trail (an ongoing UNH Master Gardener project), an edible mushroom growing project, and healing, teaching, and sensory gardens, habitat restoration demonstration plots, and cultivation of at-risk native and medicinal plants.

    Located at their home on Scruton Pond Farm (a 125-acre intentional community founded in 1973), Blackbird’s Daughter Botanicals is run by Jessica LaBrie and Steve McPhee.

    Steve has 49 years of being in the building trades as a carpenter and master cabinetmaker, and extensive experience offering hands-on carpentry and job training. He’s done everything from an 1820 post and beam restoration and home additions, to making fine furniture with local hardwoods, and designing and building tiny homes (including a modular tiny home donated to the Lakota Water Protectors at Standing Rock).

  • Amy Vlacich, MSOM, LAc is a Licensed Acupuncturist and Clinical Herbalist practicing in southern Maine and coastal New Hampshire. Her work is guided by the five elements, the seasons, Yin / Yang and meridian theory. She has a deep respect for ancestral traditions, medicine making, wildcrafting, and the innate wisdom of the body and the natural world. In her practice, Amy weaves together ancient teachings with modern technology, bridging the old and the new, while breaking down barriers to care. She believes that true healing arises when we reconnect with ourselves, our communities, and the earth. Learn more about Amy here: @amy.acupuncture & www.villageacu.com

  • Autumn-Jade Fitch, Executive Director of Sacred Connections Land Trust, weaves Indigenous wisdom with modern practices to foster shared stewardship and community resilience. She creates transferrable governance models rooted in traditional Indigenous structures, helping organizations and communities restore harmony with land and one another Learn more on instagram here: @sacredconnections_land @autumnjade_fitch

  • Rachel Lyn Rumson is a dynamic facilitator, permaculture educator, and designer with a

    background in leadership development and social permaculture. She founded 207permaculture

    L3C to house her work, in 2021. For over a decade, she has taught design and led place-based

    projects for schools, homes, and communities across Maine. A former program lead for the

    Resilience Hub and co-host of the 2015 Northeast Permaculture Convergence, Rachel creates

    participatory, systems-based learning experiences that foster collaboration and ecological

    literacy. Her work centers on resilience, regenerative culture, and the deep design of how we

    live together. Learn more about Rachel here: 207permaculture.com/ & instagram: @rachellyn207 

  • What should we know about the services you provide? Better descriptions result in more sales.

  • Becca will be leading “Compassionate Touch for Deep Connection” - a transformative workshop designed to help people reconnect with the power of safe, consensual, and platonic touch. In a world that often leaves us touch-starved and disconnected, we guide participants through partner and group exercises, consent practices, and somatic awareness tools to help them build deeper connections with themselves, each other, and the wider communities and Earth we are a part of. Join us for a warm, welcoming, and nourishing way to redefine your relationship with touch and experience it as an expression of care and presence in daily life. Learn more about Becca here - https://collectiveffervescenceboston.com/

  • Taryn MacGregor is a flower essence therapist, regenerative landscape designer and business alchemist devoted to rewilding both Earth and enterprise. As the founder of Opaline Gardening and Opaline Alchemy, she bridges ecological stewardship with spiritual entrepreneurship—helping land and leaders root into reciprocal systems of thriving. From native plant restoration to energetic business ecosystems, Taryn’s work invites us to remember that regeneration begins within. Learn more about Taryn on Instagram here: @opalinealchemy

  • Nick is an extreme, adventure loving, rabbit hole diving, builder of whimsical dreams, and a fresh new Dad. After a profound awakening to the deeper magic of our reality, he moved back to his family land and became the founder of Sacred Nectar Sanctuary. A 290 acre plot of undeniable beauty in Sandwich, NH. A place to connect with nature and share our gifts to create “the better world our hearts know is possible.” He runs a campground and can be found outside almost any time building and tending to the land.

    His desire to build meaningful community is fulfilled through his passion of up-cycle building and local consumption to minimize our footprint as a more sustainable human.

  • Abby is a visual artist, meditation guide, licensed massage therapist, energy intuitive, and sound bath event facilitator based near Boston, Massachusetts. She is passionate about creating spaces that foster deeper connection- both within ourselves and within the community. Learn more about Abby on instagram here: @abby_frechette_

  • Robo practices deeply healing mixed modality body work, also offering an array of wellness certifications. This work focuses on Raynor massage (tension band releases underlying most pain/dysfunction), reflexology (whereas tension bands are rooted in the hands and feet), gua sha (lymphatic drainage), sound healing (tuning forks), cupping, and deep tissue. 

    Some clients claimed relief from pain lived with for years. Surgery can be prevented by releasing fascial tension allowing healing and restoring function. 

    This work also helps release trauma, in respects discussed by the book "The Body Keeps The Score." Stimulated neurological, circulatory, physical, emotional, and spiritual systems is common.

    Swellnessbodywork.com

    He’ll lead the following workshop - Self-reflexology 101: DIY Healing

    Release tension/trauma using intense acupressure/reflexology to alleviate pain/dysfunction. Tension is rooted in fingers/toes, tips of Raynor bands, interconnected fascia lines.

    Sensations are often felt elsewhere, joints pop as tension releases, some experiences are psychedelic.

    Heal yourself, not hospitals wanting to "make a cut." Bring something pokey. 

  • A Wellness Practitioner for over 15 years, Katie’s personal life experiences have led her on a journey to explore alternative healing modalities, guiding her to a deeper understanding of self and other. She is passionate about creating spaces for us to weave together in love with openness to create wholeness. Her healing practices include Massage Therapy, Lomi Lomi, Singing, Sound Healing, Community Circle Leader and Land Stewardship. Learn more on instagram here: @Katiejhoopes

  • Galia will speak about her experience living in a co-op in Boston, including insights on navigating interpersonal challenges. She'll also bring her deco lighting magic to create a beautiful space for us all to enjoy. Learn more about Galia on instagram here: @msgalia

  • Lili is a practitioner of herbal medicine, body care, and holistic healing, offering massage, coaching, and experiential workshops. Her offerings include self-reflexology, product demonstrations, Qigong, meditation, and breathwork—practices that help cultivate expansion, focus, and joy.

    She is a member of Hawk Mountain Earth Center - hawkmountainearthcenter.org and the Indigenous Mother’s Community Land Trust - indigenousmothers.org - a spiritual, land-based intentional community and forest reserve in Fusagasugá, Colombia. Beyond her local commitments, she is engaged in international Land Back organizing, raising capital for Indigenous land rematriation and stewardship.

    Through her work, Lili seeks to share knowledge, experiences, and inspiration, while building connections that support regenerative land-based projects and create pathways for funding land rematriation efforts led by Indigenous communities.

  • Blaize Green is a nomadic thinker, builder, and facilitator who has been serving on the Permatours Council & Operations team since late 2021. Based (for now) out of Austin, Texas, Blaize works at the intersection of community governance, local self-determination, and digital autonomy.

    At the Convergence, Blaize will be presenting on two topics:

    • Bioregional Accord Design & Archives – a roundtable on re-envisioning the “Mock Congress” model, creating new participatory processes for community agreement curation and preservation within bioregions.

    • Digital Sovereignty for Sovereign Communities – bridging the often-disconnected worlds of land/food/personal sovereignty and decentralized digital infrastructure.

    While not an attorney, Blaize assists others in understanding and navigating “common law” structures, specializing in Trusts, Private Membership Associations (PMAs), and Ministry formation. He is also active with a decentralized digital sovereignty group working to equip communities with the tools they need to maintain their network autonomy.

    Blaize's work blends philosophy, practicality, and hands-on problem solving—always with the goal of strengthening resilient, cooperative networks.

  • Leading a talk on “Agroforestry in the Northeast: Design Considerations, Implementation, Initial” & also leading a Biochar Demonstration. Learn more on instagram here: @fullforkfarm

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