Earthdance Staff

Jessica is a community development practitioner and ballroom dancer.  With a professional background in permaculture, agroecology, ecovillage design and strategic financial management, Jess has aided communities and civic organizations in resilience planning and implementation.  Jessica has designed and taught courses on photovoltaic engineering in Mexico, permaculture in Costa Rica, public health and nutrition in Nicaragua, Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Senegal, and environmental awareness and conservation in the United States. She was awarded an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University and a dual BA in Economic Anthropology and Psychology from Humboldt State University.  She continues to explore the practices of environmentally conscious communities, linking best practices to form models for sustainable community and economic development. As Associate Director of Earthdance, Jessica is focused on building organizational resilience by leading in the development of financial and business planning, facilities and land use planning, and rental programming.  She is thrilled to become part of the creative community that is Earthdance.

Hilary most recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School with an MDiv in Buddhist Ministry that brought her passions for dance, Buddhist practice and philosophy, ritual, yoga, sustainability, community development and improvisation in all areas of life together.  She had been living in cooperative houses and working in the non-profit and social service realm for the last 6 years while exploring the art of movement and spirituality after living in various communities in Thailand studying sustainable development and Buddhism.  Following the completion of her BA in Comparative Religion at Kalamazoo College she worked at the Fetzer Institute, that is aimed at promoting the power of love and forgiveness to make lasting change.

She's thrilled to be a part of the Earthdance community, which integrates her passions.  Hilary holds down the main office and hosts most of the Earthdance workshops and events with a deep attention to the connections and needs of the community.

Kalyan is a builder with 10 years experience working mostly with other carpenters in the dance community.  Home schooled with a yogic/health-oriented background and primarily self-taught questioning the viability of sustainability on the community level.  Discovered Permaculture after several years of study identifying the individual aspects required for sustainability in an effort to put them together into a system that could be modeled and replicated.  He is actively asking the question: How do we go about having a wholelistic relationship with the larger world and the Earth in a manner that is conducive of regeneration on a local and global scale?  As the Building and Grounds Manager here at Earthdance he is excited to steward this land and find new and beautiful ways to encourage Earthdance to bloom and grow. 

Gary spends his time dancing among business management, dance, music health education, environmental and social activism and play. Believe it or not, he actually enjoys(!) nitty gritty detail work such as bookkeeping, editing and organizing. He even enjoys vacuuming! 

When not at Earthdance he can be found on the contradance floor or doing other kinds of dance, including West African, Scandinavian couples dancing and waltzing. He first learned of Earthdance when he participated in some of our great programming. He is also likely to be found singing (currently with the Amandla Chorus and Greenfield Harmony amongst others), gardening, biking, camping, hiking, kayaking, skiing... (you get the idea), as well as helping to produce the Whole Health Expo, coaching and consulting with entrepreneurs and business owners, or in his home office marketing Shaklee health and environmental products.

Gary earned his BA from Franconia College in Philosophy and Education and has two years of work towards an MA in Social Work and Community Organization from the Goddard Cambridge Program in Social Change. He also spent many years studying NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) while helping to run the New England Institute for NLP. He has been on a number of non-profit boards of directors including several years as VP of Rowe Camp and Conference Center, and is glad to be able to bring his skills and experience to his role as bookkeeper, supporting the continuity and growth of the Earthdance community.

Kelsey is a mover, choreographer and artist from Albany, NY. She received her BA from Goucher College in Dance Choreography with concentrations in French and International Relations, and has studied music, dance and history at the School for International Training (SIT) in Senegal.  She is a closet history buff and is dedicated to the idea of art and movement improvisation as a powerful means of social change. She is constantly questioning, searching for new ways to interpret and interact with the world in which she lives, and is thus so grateful to be a part of such a wonderfully creative, open and diverse community of explorers here at Earthdance!

As the Earthdance office assistant, she works directly with the office manager, assisting in the management of administrative and marketing projects, and helping to keep things running smoothly here at this busy non-profit.