Garrell is an artist, designer, dreamer and currently a student, practitioner, and teacher of yoga, meditation and tantra. For the last six years he has been immersed in a full time, live in tantra/ yoga/ meditation/ permaculture mentorship/ teacher training with Swami Ravi Rudra Bharati (Rudolph Ballentine MD), who himself underwent twenty years of intensive training with his teacher, Swami Rama of the Himalayas. Garrell’s yoga training has also been influenced by Diane Long a practitioner and teacher of Vanda Scaravelli Yoga. Garrell is the operational and development director for Dancing Shiva where he lives, teaches and stewards the land. Dancing Shiva is a Tantra Monastery and Retreat Center within the Earthaven Ecovillage. Garrell is dedicated to offering folks tools and attitudes to balance inner and outer life. He has co-facilitated tantra workshops in Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii, North & South Carolina, New York, and soon in London. Garrell is excited and privileged to be a part of helping shift consciousness through meditation, movement, and connection to the vital nexus of nature.

Mana has been an Earthaven Ecovillage resident and member since 2007. She is an advocate for The Work that Reconnects, mother, natural builder, conflict mediator at her village and social activist.

She has served on the staff of our local Southeast Wise Women’s Herbal Conference for over a decade and has worked as a student advisor for Gaia University, where she also received her Associate Degree in Integrated Eco-social Design.

She is now a Life Coach based in authenticity and Tantric Philosophy. She is committed to anti-oppression work in areas of race, gender and class differences.

Arjuna helped co-found Earthaven Ecovillage as well as Culture's Edge in the mid-nineties, and has served on the Culture's Edge board since then, often doubling as staff. She's excited about our new, capable Board Members and the opportunities for expanding our reach and deepening our content. Arjuna is particularly dedicated to natural building education, and is hoping to have new workshops on the schedule again before too long.

Sam has been working in the field of sustainability for local governments, nonprofits, and small businesses since 1998. Sam’s first foray into the nonprofit world was working with the Harmony Project and the Sustainability Institute in Charleston, SC. There, he ran a building materials reuse center for affordable housing and a green building trade show. In 2000, he heard the call to “go west young man” and moved to the SF Bay are where he worked as a Sustainability Planner for Marin County, CA In 2005, he returned to North Carolina, lived in Celo Community, and organized the Green Festivals. In 2008 he returned to California to manage energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and programs for Sonoma County.  Since 2015 he has been the Executive Director of Green Built Alliance. He has served on the Boards of Directors for four nonprofits.  He lives with his family at Earthaven Ecovillage.

Carmen is a community leader, systems designer, and collaborative creator. She has twelve years experience as a project manager, bookkeeper, small business and non-profit consultant, event coordinator, and financial advisor with clients throughout Western NC. She has served in numerous roles including executive leadership, high level administration, land/housing/agriculture design development, director of multifaceted events and projects, and team building. Carmen's strengths and passions include cooking, tending her garden, problem solving, and ceremony.

Paul was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and is the oldest of 5 children. He received a bachelors in both Philosophy and Religion from Michigan University. After spending 7 years in a monastic order, he received the guidance to start an intentional community in the Asheville area. 15 years later, that vision manifested into the founding of what we now know as Earthaven Ecovillage. He owns and manages Furniture Magician, an off-the-grid cottage industry that runs out of Earthaven and has been teaching woodworking techniques for over 25 years. He is still an active member of Earthaven Ecovillage and has been serving on the Culture's Edge board since 2005. Paul is a visionary, fine artist, small business owner, and lover of the hobby of burning candles. 

Debbie has lived at Earthaven Ecovillage since 2007 on hunting grounds of nomadic family ancestors of the Catawba and Cherokee tribes. She has a lifelong passion for learning, including university degrees in geography, computer science, and technical communication. At Earthaven, she has been involved in governance, promotions, and partnership culture, and was a partner in the Useful Plants Nursery for eight years. She is currently applying her community radio experience to produce the Integrated Living Podcast and drawing on her technical and management background to develop the SOIL online learning programs. Her current interests include growing fruits and nuts, and developing the cemetery in her orchard. She has served on the board of Organic Growers School and currently is serving on the board member of Co-Operate WNC

Seraina (Susan) grew up in the woods and fields of Western New York State. Her education was completed with a PhD in English Literature. She directed a nonprofit literary organization in Minnesota called the Loft, taking it from a small, mostly volunteer organization to a nationally recognized literary center. She left after 15 years to move to the mountains of Western North Carolina in 1994. For the next several years, she worked as a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts. At the same time, she started Goshen Timber Frames, a company that grew to national scope as a builder of timber frame homes. She retired in 2004 and has been a neighbor and Supporting Member of Earthaven since 2012.