OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Francisca Santibanez
Co-founder, Executive Director
Medicine Woman, Animist, Teacher, Ritualist and founder of
PLANT SPIRIT TALK
My interest in intimate connection with plants, the earth and the spirit world began before I could speak as an infant. This love and passion for the mystery and aliveness in nature is my primary compass in life, along with my devotion to Pachamama.
I’m passionate about healing, growth and liberation and repeatedly in awe of the magic, empowerment and activation of deep wisdom that happens, when we return to the earth for healing and remembrance.
I have been blessed with an abundance of teachers, Western and Indigenous, in human, plant, ancestral and spirit form. Their presence and teachings have guided me to my own Medicine’s awakening and initiations. Granting me a path of purpose, sovereignty and deep commitment to guide, support and pass on the wisdom I’ve gathered, to help and uplift others as they awaken to their own Medicine.
It is one of my biggest joys and honor to be a bridge and weaver of communities between North and South America, supporting the beauty and vitality of wisdom exchange with Sacred Reciprocity.
May The Alliance for Sacred Living be a sanctuary and portal for the many dreams being birthed by many of us, who are listening deeply to the earth, the ancestors and their wishes.
Selva
Co-founder, Director of Operations & Cultural Relations in Peru
Shaman
I started my medicine path when I was 7 years old with my family in the Amazon jungle of Peru. I’ve been trained with different elders of traditional Amazonia medicine, especially with the Shipibo tribe, one of the oldest and almost forgotten lineages of the Nuyarao, and with Andean shamans from Q’eros. I gathered a lot of experience in Ayahuasca, Washuma, shamanic diets and treatments with different plant medicines and Icaros. I do this work to uplift the consciousness of the Indigenous communities of Peru to reconnect with their roots, and to encourage the conservation of ancient wisdom and reforestation of their lands
Katie Flaster
Director and Secretary
Certified Rolfer & Emotional Freedom Techniques coach
(former Public Defender)
My greatest passion is helping people become more adaptable in their bodies and nervous systems so that they can respond to the ever-growing demands of the world with more ease, wisdom, and vigor. We are in a time of unprecedented global suffering and, as we heal internally, we grow our capacity to show up for the earth and our communities to support external healing and growth. I am honored to be a part of this extraordinary group of healers dedicated to realizing the Alliance for Sacred Living's critical vision of the good and beautiful way of being for individual and collective wellness.
Lindsay Kolterman
Director and Treasurer
I believe in the power of connection. My purpose on this planet is to serve humanity through unwavering leadership, innovative business practices, strategic excellence, and uncompromising integrity. It is imperative for me that my spiritual principles are woven through my work, and that I aim to inspire a transformative impact that transcends conventional boundaries, fostering a world where compassion, inclusivity, and conscious decision-making drive my every endeavor. I am humbled to support the Alliance for Sacred Living at any capacity to ensure that this sacred wisdom is cherished, held and protected - at all costs.
Miah McClinton
Director of Governance
Craftsperson, Educator, Earth Steward
My heart overflows with gratitude for the spirit guides and guardian angels who inspire me to make art and beauty in the world. I understand making as a process of energetic alchemy, where spirit becomes matter and ideas become reality. What type of world do we want to inhabit? Let’s build it!
I work as a social justice educator, Ethnic Studies professor, and scholar activist. In this way, I follow in the footsteps of my ancestors who made the path by walking it. I support the integration of indigenous knowledge with radical dreamwork to make a pathway for just transition and collective liberation.
I am honored to participate in the co-creation of the Alliance for Sacred Living as a vehicle for practicing right relationship and reciprocity with all of existence.
Toni Mandara
Spiritual Director
Somatic Abolitionist Coach
Storytelling and healing exist together as the intertwined themes of my life’s offering. Beneath both lies the mycelium of remembering. Story is a vehicle of remembrance, and remembering heals. My work as a Somatic Abolitionist honors the way the body remembers both life and death processes, as informed by Indigenous wisdom traditions across the globe. Over 30 years of practice would not have been possible without the guidance of my human and non-human ancestors, and the generosity of the invisible realms. With deep gratitude I now embrace the opportunity to support the vision and mission of the Alliance for Sacred Living as a conduit for healing the planet and all life forms.
Laurel Brody
Director
Licensed Acupuncturist
Laurel Brody L.Ac. began growing flowers, herbs and veggies with her mother when she was in elementary school. A natural healer, her love of plants, their magic and their medicine led to her studying and practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine since 1980. She has now retired from clinical practice and organizes community building classes for professionals in her field. She married and became a mother in 1982 and moved to La Tierra in Sebastopol, CA with her family as a founding member in 1989. Living on these amazing 15 acres, in multi-generational, multi-cultural, intentional community for the past 34 years has shaped her in ways she could have never conceived. Earth-based ceremonies are a cornerstone in her life and connect her to the Great Mystery. Living here with Francisca Santibanez and her beloved family, watching her flourish and her students transform has led to her desire and willingness to be on the board of directors for The Alliance of Sacred Living.
OUR STAFF
Asha Sparenberg
Marketing
I live in Sebastopol CA, residing within the La Tierra Community. My activities include organizing monthly workshops at La Tierra, leading a weekly white affinity group, and guiding online sessions focused on personal growth through anticolonialism.
At the core of my beliefs is the notion of establishing temporary autonomous zones to foster experimental creativity and growth. I advocate for decentralized rhizomatic happenings, intentional communities, and innovative non-profits. I envision our existence as akin to a mycelium network, interconnected and vibrating with multidimensional rejoining, celebrating the interconnectedness of all beings.
I am convinced that for our planet's inhabitants to flourish, we must decenter whiteness, rewrite our stories into collective narratives, embrace diversity, and embark on nomadic journeys through deep listening, radical openness, transformative play, and the imaginative creation of new worlds.
The Alliance for Sacred Living, guided by the principles of Sumak Kawsay, embodies an emergence into these realms, an engagement in essential tasks, and the crucial act of visionary dreaming. I find immense inspiration in our endeavor!
Margaret Zhou
Administration and Fundraising
Margaret Zhou is a holistic health practitioner in training, and a lover and advocate of Earth and body wisdom. She currently lives and works in Oakland, California, the ancestral land of the Cochenyo-speaking Ohlone people She worked for the global water protection non-profit, International Rivers, for seven years as a fundraiser, administrator, and strategic planner. She has also assisted frontline indigenous environmental defenders in securing financial resources and support in Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. A common thread throughout her work has been supporting the intersection of women's rights and environmental protection. While at International Rivers, she helped organize the first Women and Rivers' Conference, which brought together 100 women water defenders from 17 countries in 2019. Margaret is a certified Fertility Awareness and Sexual Health Educator, and she is currently completing a Master's in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Margaret has studied plant spirit medicine with Francisca Santibanez since 2017. She is deeply honored to be able to lend her support to the founding of The Alliance for Sacred Living.
Terry Hwang
Project Director
I am a strategist, design thinker, connector, and advocate – passionate about big ideas. Healing. Belonging. Regeneration.Transformation. At the heart of what I do, is a deep reverence for all of life and the belief that we are changemakers. With over a decade of experience as a thought partner to leading changemakers and non-profits in the Bay Area, I bring an approach that is strategic, process-oriented, and collaborative to the role of Project Director at Alliance for Sacred Living, furthering the organization’s alignment and impact amongst the communities and constituencies we work within.
Lorraine DeGuzman
Resource Development Specialist
The Alliance work has helped me merge my two passions- social justice and healing work. I've worked as a Resource Organizer for a decade in social justice movements and my commitment and prayer as a Resource Organizer is to support the development and the redistribution of resources while at the same time bringing us back into being into right relationship with each other and all of life. I am committed to honoring and empowering the vision of indigenous communities and to move from practices of extraction and exploitation of resources to one of sacred reciprocity and interdependence. I have deep gratitude for the powerful leaders of the Alliance for Sacred Living, the indigenous healers who I have been honored to meet who have generously taught me about the Amazonian and Andean cosmologies and who have helped me build a deeper relationship and connection to our plant teachers. Thank you for helping me unlearn, remember, and heal.
