Our Members

Dave Boehnlein

Originally from Wisconsin, I discovered permaculture working in Central America, and then lived 7 years at the Bullock’s Homestead on Orcas Island becoming a leader in the topic. I have experience in leadership, education, and land management. Along with Doug Bullock and Paul Kearsley, I run www.terraphoenixdesign.com which provides permaculture master planning services. Along with Jessi Bloom, I have also co-authored the book Practical Permaculture and teach permaculture design courses at several institutions. I am passionate about good food (especially fruit), agroforestry, and having fun (games!).

Eduardo Jezierski

I believe we shape our environment with our choices, and that positive things happen when people with shared values work towards long-term goals. This is our life project, for children our own and others’. I am most at home iterative action with thoughtful decisions, surrounding myself with great people, that great design follows nature, and anything worthwhile must surely require a workshop full of great woodworking tools.

I grew up in Argentina, and I like designing, fixing and making things. For 10 years I was the CEO & CTO of a multinational nonprofit that makes technology for health, crisis response and sustainable development called InSTEDD, a TED-prize organization. My background is in physics, engineering, AI/machine learning & evolutionary systems; and have architecture, design, carpentry, and electronic skills; and got my Permaculture Design Certificate a few years ago.

Yuko Miki

I was born and raised in Himeji, Japan. My family has orchards, vegetable gardens, and rice paddies in a suburban context. I came to the US for school in 1996. I worked for 14+ years at a non-profit domestic violence agency (direct service, management, HR, etc.) and launched my own art/illustration business recently (honeyberrystudios.com). I love good food, anything crafty, and cuddly creatures.

Elina Quiroga

I grew up in a small town in Argentina, daughter to a rural doctor and close to family-owned farms and production. I love cooking and teaching and in my immediate family there are restaurant owners and vineyards producing small-scale wine and olive oil. I am a surgeon at Harborview and work mostly on trauma/emergency cases and am on various diversity and leadership councils. With Ed I also run OurPaleBlueDot, an initiative that inspires children to love earth and the cosmos through do-it-yourself space-related projects.

Hilery Avritt

My passions lie in human development, wellness, and nature connection. I enjoy a personal exploration of neuroscience and the science of happiness. I delight in frivolous time in nature and have taken to serious study in primitive skills development and rewilding. I built a chain of Pilates studios in the Seattle area and converted the management of the studio to a democratic organizational model.

I am a forever learner and am currently taking painting, film, and tango classes and am in the process of writing my first screenplay.

I live in Seattle with my cozy and playful family which includes my husband of 18 years, our 15 year old son, our feisty dog Remy and our two squeaky guinea pigs.

Lawrence Tamkin

I love my family deeply. We play a lot of ping-pong. We laugh together much of every day, and we share openly with each other. I also spend much of my time with the employees and clients of my construction company, and it is the nurturing of those relationships that defines much of my affect on the world. I try to model, and encourage, a clarity of purpose, language, and action in the company, and I have also created an informality that tends to engender both self-reliance and team-work, the two complementary pillars of this profession.

I spend time hiking, playing basketball, snowboarding, and reading. As I age toward 50, I have become keenly aware of the brevity of our time and its precious scarcity, and I have re-focused my priorities to enjoy more and to be there more for others.

Karen Cowgill

I grew up in the northeastern US, but have lived and traveled in many parts of the world studying and working in public health. Sustainability and living lightly on the land have always been attractive to me and over the years I’ve dabbled in worm bins, composting toilets, edible yards, and non-PVC solar. I lived in Ithaca at the time the first EcoVillage was founded there, and ever since it’s been a dream to join and work in such a community.

Eric Menninga

I was born and raised in Western Washington and spent almost 30 years writing page-layout software for Adobe and Amazon. Now I’m excited to open the next chapter of my life away from a desk and to focus on building relationships and learning about regenerative design. I love cooking for groups large and small, playing board games with my adult sons, and reading. I’m eager to live in a community that strives for connection with a spirit of gratitude and generosity.

Per Vonge Nielsen

Lived, played, educated and worked in Copenhagen and surroundings till 1987. Software engineering manager till 2008. From 1987 to 1995 in Miami, Nice, Munich. Onward on the North Eastside and enjoy the wooded neighborhood close to St. Edward State Park. I have lived in the area for 25 years part of the time with a mature garden with veggie/berry patches. Travel/ed the world, these days to visit friends and/or family abroad, including son and his family in London, or to explore an area. I regenerate in the mountains on bike, by foot or skis. Curious about human motivation and interactions; the main toolbox has been NLP. Enjoy modern design and art. Have lived in communes and was a founder of Trudeslund cohousing community in Birkerød in 1979-81. However, we sold our townhouse three months before it was finished due to our divorce. My brother was also a founder of Trudeslund and later founded Blikfanget, where he stills live with his wife. My father founded a senior cohousing community, where he lived to his passing. His wife is still living there.