Johann Smit is one of five sons and two daughters born to John and Clazien (immigrants from Holland). With a degree in Business Agriculture from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, he began farming with his parents in 1994. Their 80 acres farm (Hidden Star Orchards) in the Sierra Nevada foothills now grows certified organic apples, cherries, grapes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and pluots. They also press their own apple and cherry cider and dry their own fruit for sale in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Marin Farmer’s Markets.
Address: 12601 North Clements Road/ Linden, CA 95236
Phone: (209) 483-8990
Having met in the late ’80s through the improv company Bay Area Theatresports (now BATS Improv), 3 For All (Rafe Chase, Stephen Kearin and Tim Orr) formed an ensemble in the summer of 1996 to pursue their distinctive brand of high-stakes theatrical improvisation. 3 For All regularly plays to sold-out houses and rave audience reviews in the San Francisco Bay Area. They’ve enjoyed equal success in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, and Amsterdam.
Rafe Chase did not know that “improviser” was a career option while growing up in Oakland, California, yet he intuitively spent an inordinate amount of time pretending. It paid off. Within a few months of taking his first improv class in 1978, he was asked to join the San Francisco group, Flash Family. Since that time Rafe has been a consistent and innovative presence on the improv scene as a member and, in many cases, the director of the groups Riot Squad, BATS Improv, Pulp Playhouse, Improv Theater and True Fiction Magazine. He has taught improv both privately and at various institutions including the American Conservatory Theater and Stanford University. Rafe is also a writer and photographer. His published work includes articles on show business history, the comic poem, “Alice is…” and a coffee table book of his photography titled “Inside The Toy Box“. He is currently writing a book on improv and cinematic longform.
Tim Orr has improvised since 1988 with many San Francisco-based groups, including BATS Improv, Rafe Chase’s groundbreaking longform troupe Improv Theatre, the renowned True Fiction Magazine, and with the acclaimed troupe 3 For All. In 2009, he founded a new improv group, the Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. He has appeared in numerous plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received critical acclaim for his leading roles in the improvised feature films, Suckerfish and Security. With Stephen Kearin, Tim co-wrote, and originated the role of Dirk Manly in, An Evening with Dirk & Blaine. Tim has performed (and taught) improvisation at the American Conservatory Theatre, BATS Improv, Stanford University, and many other venues nationally (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Austin, Louisville, Atlanta, etc.) and internationally (Amsterdam, Helsinki, Leuven, Paris, Stockholm). He is currently the Director of the BATS Improv Long-Form Intensive.
Stephen Kearin began improvising in 1986. He was a founding member of both Improv Theatre and True Fiction Magazine and performed with BATS Improv for 14 years. Stephen is currently a member of Impro Theatre in Los Angeles and a founding member of 3ForAll. He has appeared in numerous stage productions, including the stilt-walking Iago in San Francisco Opera’s Otello, as Sally-Sue Weber in A Weber Family Christmas and originated the role of Blaine Bustier in An Evening With Dirk & Blaine. Stephen is the co-creator of “Simlish” and was the principal male voice of The Sims and Sims 2.0. He is featured in the Dreamworks Animation films Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar 2 and Monsters Vs. Aliens and is currently at work on the motion-capture animated film Mars Needs Moms for Robert Zemeckis. Stephen is a visiting instructor at Stanford University and Cirque Du Soleil.
The Bioneers Conference presents the latest news in social justice, health care, environmental issues, and women’s leadership. The 20th anniversary conference episode includes interviews with: Nina Simons & Kenny Ausubel, Akaya Windwood, Jay Harris, Kami McBride, Lily Yeh, Liz Cunningham, Sarah Crowell, Shannon Biggs, and more.
Shannon Biggs is the director of the Local Green Economy Program at Global Exchange. Shannon also teaches rights-based organizing at weekend-long Democracy Schools, developed by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in 23 states around the country, and speaks across the nation on the power of grassroots activism to create systemic change.
Sarah Crowell is currently the program development director at Destiny Arts Center, has been with that vital organization for eighteen years, first as the performing arts director and artistic director of its youth performance company, then as executive director, and now has returned to programming and artistic direction.
Liz Cunningham is the Bioneers’ Youth & Conference Project Manager.
Jay Harris is the publisher of the San Francisco-based, award-winning, muckraking investigative magazine, Mother Jones, and president of its non-profit parent, the Foundation for National Progress.
Kami McBride is a teacher of herbalism at Living Awareness Institute who has helped thousands of people learn to use herbal medicines in their daily lives in ways that are healthy, safe and fun. Her mission is to help revive the art of home herbal care, creating self-reliance, sustainable wellness practices and revitalizing our relationship with the plant world.
Akaya Windwood is an executive leadership coach and organization development consultant who has spent 40 years working for social justice, is president of Rockwood Leadership Institute, which provides individuals, organizations and networks in the social benefit sector with powerful and effective training in leadership and collaboration.
Lily Yeh is an internationally celebrated artist whose work has taken her to communities throughout the world. She founded Barefoot Artists, Inc. to bring the transformative power of art to impoverished communities around the globe through participatory, multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development, and preserve indigenous art and culture.
Bruce Hammond,LEED AP has been a General Contractor since 1980. He is CEO of Hammond & Company, a company which builds high quality residential and commercial projects throughout the northern bay area region with particular emphasis on energy efficiency, resource conservation, and durability. Bruce was the founding Chairman of the US Green Building Council – Redwood Empire Chapter and is also a Principal at Longview Education Associates, a training and education organization delivering programs for organizations and individuals on focused topics the design and management of sustainable development.
Website: www.HammondAndCompany.com
Address: 490 W. School Street, Cotati CA. 94931
Phone: (707) 795-6045
Shahram Bijan entered the restaurant business with a commitment to customer service and a background in the software business. Forced to flee war-torn Iran in 1987 at the age of eight, he had already created and sold two successful Internet companies by the time he was 25, when he acquired First Crush in San Francisco in 2002. He now also operates two successful Toast locations (Mill Valley and Novato).
Carola Detrick grew up in a small suburb near Frankfurt, Germany where she attended both the University of Frankfurt and University of Muenchen. Soon after, she launched the HCL Leather company. In 1993, she started the non-profit organization Meals of Marin in her home kitchen. Since then, she and her staff of volunteers have cooked for and home-delivered over 900,000 appetizing, healthy, home-cooked meals to people with life threatening illnesses living in Marin County, California.
Christopher Melville grew up in Mendocino County where he attended the Melville Montessori School, a school run by his parents. After years of enjoying roll-playing games like Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and Arduin, in 1994 he developed Fantasy Warplay – a local Live Action Role Playing (LARP) group where players (ages 8-60) can simulate sword play and be an adventurer, a wizard, a warrior, and even a monster. He holds a Montessori Teachers Credential for birth through age six from Montessori Western Teacher Training Program. Christopher also has two BA degrees, one in English and one in Theater Arts from Sonoma State University, as well as a California Multi-Subject Teaching Credential.
Three Stone Hearth is a worker-owned community supported kitchen (CSK). It offers nutrient dense foods to homes and families around the San Francisco Bay Area. The founding worker/owners are:
Porsche Combash has been in the food business for many years. In 1997, Porsche completed the professional Chef Training Program at the Natural Gourmet School of Cookery in NYC. There she was introduced to the Weston A. Price Foundation and the principles of indigenous diets. After graduation, Porsche completed a cooking internship at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland and went on to teach at the Ballymaloe School of Cookery in Ireland. She has traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico and Sicily to study their regional cuisines.
Misa Koketsu‘s love of eating began early in life around the kitchen table set for her family of eight and topped with delicious meals her mother prepared daily. Her enthusiasm for cooking, however, developed during her junior year abroad in France, where food is a national obsession, cooking an art form, and la sieste provides the time to relax after savoring a good meal. Following graduation, Misa attended culinary school and has since baked in hotel pastry shops and bakeries in and around the Bay Area, including Auberge du Soleil and Grace Baking Company. In 1999, she began work at the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, where her background in cooking merged with the work of the Center’s Food Systems Project. This experience provided an introduction to, and gave her an appreciation for, the social, ecological, and political issues associated with local, sustainable food systems.
Catherine Spanger was born and raised in the East Bay. Her grandparents were farmers in Brentwood, California, where fertile land produced a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Her grandmother, an immigrant from the Dust Bowl, taught her to live modestly and be resourceful. Later travels abroad exposed her to families and cultures that shared these values, where a variety of nutrient-dense and delicious foods were produced from local ingredients. A desire to share these life-lessons led Catherine to become a professional cook at Green’s Restaurant in San Francisco, and she has also cooked for many Bay Area catering companies. For the past five years, Catherine has worked in Water Conservation, helping families develop an appreciation for the precious resource of water and its vital importance in producing our food.
Larry Wisch has been interested in ecology and community his entire life. He received a degree in Urban Human Ecology from Antioch College 1975, a Certificate of Horticulture from The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1977, and began working as a horticulturalist and horticulture instructor. In 1980 he co-founded San Francisco’s first limited equity housing cooperative. From 1985 to 2004 he expressed his entrepreneurial spirit by starting and running two different market research companies: Larry Wisch Associates and Blarry House Research. In May of 2009 Larry celebrated the ninth anniversary of his victory over lymphatic cancer. He is also a leader in the Alive and Well HIV alternative movement. Larry’s lifelong quest for healing and wellness led him to the Weston A. Price Foundation, and in 2005 he became the San Francisco Chapter Leader.
Address: 1581 University Avenue in Berkeley, CA 94703
Phone: (510) 981-1334
Website: www.ThreeStoneHearth.com
Holly Stiel is a trailblazing service philosopher who innovated a method of training based on her 17 years as a world-class concierge. Her clients include: Disney, Nordstrom, AVEDA, American Express, and has been the spokesperson for The Visa Signature card. Stiels 30 years of service experience have been parlayed into three books and three award-winning instructional DVDs. With a team of producers she has custom-designed the corporate service training programs for Hilton and Hyatt hotels worldwide. With her business partners at Talent Mondial she brings an international focus on delivering service as smooth as SILK.
