Tour Managers/Guides

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​Aspen Madrone, SEBASTOPOL & SONOMA 

Aspen is a water ecologist, farmer, chef, entrepreneur, homesteader and health enthusiast who shares permaculture principles, explains watershed health, and facilitates an understanding of the full spectrum of agro ecology. Her food-as-medicine tour shows how what we eat can also help heal our bodies. Aspen’s farm-to-orchard tour gives people a chance to experience an apple cider pressing. Aspen also:

• Co-created Conscious Dancer magazine and organizes Sebastopol Ecstatic Dance
• Is exploring new paths to utilize waste to create fuel or other products in Sonoma county and beyond
• Holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Evergreen State College

​Constance Washburn, Marin & Sonoma 

Constance has more than 35 years of experience designing and directing educational outreach programs and is a graduate of the Ecology of Leadership and Permaculture Design programs at the Regenerative Design Institute. For 18 years, she served as Education Director at the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) and Marin Organic which reached more than 5,000 people a year. These programs included farm tours, talks, art shows, volunteer and teacher trainings, as well as the Farm Field Studies program, which brought more than 2,000 students out to farms. Constance also:

• Co-founded, and is currently the chairperson of, the Marin Agriculture and Education Alliance, and is a member of the Northern California Slow Money Steering Committee
• Is a facilitator of Joanna Macy’s “Work that Reconnects"
• Was a member of the Marin Food Policy Council and the Marin Food Systems Project, as well as agricultural representative for the Marin Economic Commission​

Anne Freiwald, San MAteo Coast, Santa Cruz area, Silicon Valley

Founder - https://www.rehydratetheearth.com/vital-cycles 

Anne has a passion for work that brings individuals and communities together to creatively address issues of social justice, personal and community health, and regenerative life practices. She has 30 years combined experience in the non-profit realm working as a program manager, researcher, and educator creating experiential learning opportunities and programs for youth and adults across disciplines from all aspects of personal health, to permaculture and food justice. She is the co-founder and facilitator for Vital Cycles: Creating Personal and Planetary Resilience, which offers a year-long dual certificate in Permaculture Design and Personal Ecology and permaculture design consulting. She holds a Master of Public Health as well as certifications in Permaculture Design, Mental Health First Aid, Diversity and Inclusivity, and Digital Education. These days she is most likely spotted in her garden where she grows an abundance of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. She is thrilled to be part of the Bay Area Green Tours team!

​Leah Dockstader, EAST BAY

Leah has led programming for Bay Area Green Tours, featuring leaders across various sectors of sustainability, such as food justice, green building, renewable energy, waste and water. She also serves as a contractor for administrative assistance and event management, with clients such as Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Pure Water, and Global Inheritance and manages yoga and wellness programming for Wild-soul and Yogascapes. Leah also:

• Served as an environmental educator at Anneliese’s Schools and visited classrooms in the East Bay
• Ran a Rising Sun Energy Center’s youth empowerment and conservation program in Union City and crafted their city-wide marketing campaign
• Holds a bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Development & Environmental Justice from the UC Berkeley

​Lowell Downey, Napa, Sonoma & Mendocino

 Lowell Downey tells stories of world culture and the environment through his photographic and poetic lenses. A principal of Art & Clarity, an international green photography and video company, Lowell is an active member of the Napa Valley environmental and educational community and is documenting the changes of the Napa River. He serves on the board of the nonprofit ICARE (Institute for Conservation, Advocacy, Research and Education) whose mission is to restore and conserve the biological ecosystem of the Napa watershed where he has a close working relationship with local farmers and vintners in the Napa Valley. Lowell also:

• Formed POISON in 2001 (People Opposed to Insecticide Spraying on Neighborhoods)
• Had various assignments in the Czech Republic, India, Chile, Nicaragua, Dubai, Bolivia and lands in between
• Has an M.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University

Susan Silber, EAST BAY

Susan Silber grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and Orange County where she had healthy doses of nature through frequent trips all over the United States. She has merged her twin passions of education and the environment through various jobs as a naturalist and program coordinator, including an adventurous two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica. Susan's work as a community organizer has been inspired by ​350.org, the Transition Town movement and permaculture principles. Susan also:

• Is the founder and director of the NorCal Community Resilience Network in 2015 
  
• Graduated with a B.A. in History from U.C. Santa Cruz
• Received a Teaching Credential and Masters in Education through a Peace Corps Fellowship at San Francisco State
  
• Is a strategic planning and fundraising consultant for environmental education and grassroots community resilience projects 

​Afiba Johnson, EAST BAY

Growing up in Jamaica, Afiba was exposed to all the natural resources and cultures the island had to offer. His love of food and his upbringing is what has inspired him to become a Chef. Moving to the United States has taken his culinary journey to the next level, with an ability to work with renown chefs all over the world. Afiba has hosted countless pop-ups and supper clubs, and is always learning and growing, bringing people together as a kind of spiritual experience. Afiba looks forward to sharing the love and his experience to empower people and build communities though sustainable food.

Elena Velez

With over 15 years as a medical interpreter and 5 years of being an environmental educator for the Latino community across the San Francisco Bay Area; Elena Velez recognized there was an extreme disparity in the accessibility to health and wellness resources for the Latino community. She knew the power and wealth in health that can come from self-care and regular medical appointments.
Elena’s mission then shifted to guide the community through understanding the importance of taking deliberate action towards taking care of our mind and body through educational material and ergonomic exercises that minimize the harsh effects of labor intensive work over the course of many years.
Through language, her personal experience, mindfulness and her compassion towards the community of color, Elena decided to become a tool for access to wellness within her community, first. Through her personal education and research she became well-versed in the variety of illnesses that can stem from disproportionate systematic marginalization. Statistics show today about how much the COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of high risk communities - like the Latino community along with the African American community. The death toll far exceeds other groups of people because people of color are usually the ones to work 'essential jobs' and are facing a risk far greater every day the moment they are forced to work. Not only does work present a potentially fatal risk, but also the housing provided and accessible to POC (People of Color) is typically in extremely densely populated neighborhoods, highly polluted and with very little access to regular healthy foods on their diet.
The Latino community is full of tenacity, hope and love and has so much potential. Through education and by working alongside and within the community, together; Elena envisions a brighter and healthier future for the POC.