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Shawn Sears: Co-Founder, Executive
Director and Instructor
Shawn grew up in West St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended The Colorado
College for a degree in psychology. He then moved to the Mississippi
Delta to teach 4th grade for two years (1999-2001) in underfunded
public schools. Since then he’s been working with V.V. and living in
the country near Half Moon Bay, CA.
Shawn loves athletics, adventure in the outdoors, good food, working
hard, thinking and learning, and sharing all of this with friends,
family and his wife Laura. He also enjoys music with most things,
even if it’s just singing the only line of a song that he knows,
over and over again.
In Vida Verde Shawn has found a perfect
fit. It’s a job that suits him well, and is therefore the dream job.
There’s always plenty of work, and the tasks are varied and
challenging (from the business side: planning, troubleshooting,
budgeting, raising money, working with donors and running an office; to the program side: working with and exploring with children,
hiring managing and learning with the staff team; to the physical
and maintenance side: building projects, maintaining the vehicles,
landscaping, working with farm animals, etc. Finally, and perhaps
most importantly Shawn finds meaning in it, in that it’s exactly
what he feels is the best way that he can use his skills to help the
world be a better place.
Laura Sears, Co-Founder and Director of Development
Laura grew up in rural western Kentucky and graduated from The
Colorado College with a degree in Geology in 1999. She joined Teach
For America in ’99, and was a high school special education teacher
for two years. In 2001 she moved to California and co-founded Vida
Verde with Shawn Sears. She’s been working at Vida Verde ever since,
and has worn a variety of hats, from visioning and curriculum
planner, to naturalist instructor, to her current position of
Development Director.
Laura developed a deep appreciation for the importance of camp for
kids, and also
a lifelong love of the outdoors, as a camper and later counselor
(for 10 years of her childhood) at Camp Kanuga in North Carolina.
She feels privileged to now have the opportunity to give lots of
children similar opportunities that changed her own life for the
better.
Laura is a runner, cyclist, soccer player, and all around lover of
competitive sports. She’s a voracious reader and knitter, and enjoys
cooking, spending time with friends, and finding good music to
listen to.
Tim Ward, Program Director and Grants Manager
Tim Ward, born and raised on the Central California Coast, is a
graduate of the Environmental Studies department at the University
of California Santa Cruz. Tim has been an activist for ten years
with focus on California forest and farming issues. He has 7 years experience working in environmental education as a naturalist, wilderness leader, camp nurse, program director, and most recently as the grants manager for Vida Verde.
Tim is passionate about creating opportunities for under privileged
youth. When Tim started working for Vida Verde in January 2006 he
knew that he had finally found the work he was ready to dig into!
In addition to his passion for Vida Verde, Tim is also very
interested in the Spanish language and the social issues around
Latin America and immigration. A true lover of outdoor adventure Tim
spends his free time bicycling, hiking, gardening, climbing and
surfing in the amazing natural places around his home.
Rosy Yeh, Development and Operations
Associate
An east coast
transplant, Rosy made her way west to attend University of
California at Berkeley, graduating with a degree in Social
Sciences-Political Economy of International Relations, with a
semester abroad at Cambridge University, England.
After 12 years
establishing a hi-tech career at Sun Microsystems, Inc. as Marketing
Communications/Ops Program Mgr, as well as gaining Project
Management experience with a Virtual Events startup, Rosy made a
bold career move into the non-profit world as an Event Planner
serving her Half Moon Bay community, planning
events for the Chamber, CFMC and the Boys &
Girls Club, as well as securing/raising
funds for Hwy 1 medians.
A coastsider for 10 years, Rosy enjoys
travel/art, the great outdoors and philanthropy - especially
sharing these with her 2 school-aged boys - so when she's
not traveling on road trips camping/skiing or diving in some
tropical locale,
you might find her biking on the coastal
trail, watercolor painting the landscape, or volunteering at a
school/community event. She can now finally add her
long-time pursuit of passionate purpose, serving her community
with a truly noble mission and making a profound difference in a
child’s life/future, be it her own or one of Vida Verde’s.
Claire McMurtry "Luna"
Claire has always had a passion for
environmental education, and since
obtaining her BS in
Botany from Humboldt State
University, she has gained experience as an Instructor at three of
California's Outdoor Science Schools. She has also been involved
from camper to leadership at the same environmentally focused summer
program for 15 years.
Claire grew up in
Berkeley, California and early on in
her education recognized disparities in access to education. Having
been formatively affected by her own exposure to nature and
environmental education, she believes that all kids should get to
learn in, discover in, and develop a relationship with the
natural world.
That's why she is so excited to be returning to Vida Verde for a
second year as an Instructor.
Alex Kielty "Fungi"
Alex grew up in central Minnesota and
spent his first 18 summers at his family's summer camp in the
Boundary Waters.
A graduate of St. John's University, Alex has spent the past several
years guiding wilderness therapy
expeditions in Oregon, and working to create an academic
horticultural program for a state children's home. Alex is really
excited about gardening, cooking, and climbing and does them all of
them in one day as often as he can. Alex believes in the power of
wild places to help kids connect with themselves and the rest of
earth.
Katie Khoury "Reed"
Katie grew up in the urban jungle of Washington DC, where she
was inspired to work to connect urban youth to the natural world.
Since graduating with a Political Science degree from St. Mary’s
College of Maryland, she has worked in children’s gardens of both
the National Arboretum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, teaching
garden science and getting her hands dirty while planting, weeding
and harvesting with her students.
While living in Baltimore, Maryland,
Katie worked for the Irvine Nature Center’s Urban Education program,
partnering with high school and elementary school classes to do
science projects on their own school yards. Last year Katie was
introduced to the wonders of California, as she worked as a
naturalist for San Mateo Outdoor Education. Her passion for creating
a healthier, more sustainable world inspires her to help create more
young lovers of nature every day.
Former Staff See photos, lower right
Substitute Staff See photos, bottom right
Board Members
Scott Bryan
Scott credits his interest in agriculture and sustainability to his
upbringing in Montana and experiences at the Mountain School of
Milton Academy in Vermont. Scott is a financial consultant at RBC
Wealth Management where he focuses on sustainable investment
strategies for foundations, families and non-profit organizations.
He is also actively involved in advancing RBC's (Royal Bank of
Canada) global sustainable investment initiatives. A graduate of the
Colorado College, Scott holds a BA in Economics and minors in Latin
American Studies and Natural Resource Systems in the American West.
He is a member of Full Circle Fund's Environment Circle and co-chair
of New Voice of Business' San Francisco Chapter. Scott is also a
competitive cyclist and enjoys his precious moments in the mountains
either telemark skiing or fly fishing.
Karen Harwell
Karen Harwell is Director of Exploring a Sense of Place—which is “a
project, a course, and a guidebook” to help people reconnect to the
natural world where they live. Following scientific studies
resulting in a B.S. degree, she did graduate study in philosophy,
cosmology and consciousness at the California Institute of Integral
Studies in San Francisco, completed a six-week Earth Literacy
program at Genesis Farm in New Jersey, and became certified in the
study of permaculture at Occidental Arts and Ecology in Northern
California. Through these programs, she became interested in
bioregionalism and wanted to create the opportunity for people to
experience their lives as part of an Earth community.
Paul and Steph Pfluke
Stephanie Jennings and Paul Pfluke are currently the co-owners and
co-founders of Green Oaks Creek Farm and Retreat, which is an
organic, educational farm and retreat center that has been in
operation for 10 years. The farm offers a subscription program, an
apprenticeship program, farm tours, and Slow Food dinners. The
retreat center offers rental facilities for families, groups, and
weddings. Prior to starting Green Oaks, Stephanie and Paul earned
Masters degrees in Plant and Soil Science. In the five years between
college and graduate school, Stephanie and Paul taught environmental
education and worked as wildlife biology field technicians. Paul
also taught biology in the classroom for a year in Jamaica. In
college, Stephanie earned a B.S. in Biology/Geology and Paul earned
a B.S. in chemistry. Stephanie also taught environmental education
throughout high school and college.
Robert A. McDonald
Bob is a highly qualified senior executive with over 35 years of
broad-ranging management experience, with extensive background in
turnarounds, interim management, corporate
restructuring/repositioning, corporate work outs, new product
development, operations enhancement and profitability improvement,
mostly in high technology. He is founder of the R.A. McDonald
Company, performing hands-on, interim management roles as CEO, COO,
CFO, VP Marketing/Sales and strategic programs for companies varying
from start-up to international Fortune 500 size.
He has a B.S. in Mathematics from Brigham Young University, and an M.S.
in Physics from Arizona State University. Bob currently manages and
teaches in a program for entrepreneurs at UC Santa Cruz’ Extension
and is also on the board of Jazz Heritage Center.
Harn Soper
Harn has been an entrepreneur in the music and media industry in the
Bay Area for 30 years recording and producing music with artists
like George Winston & Will Ackerman, marketing broadcast news
production systems worldwide for Avid Technology, Internet video
piracy business development for Vobile, and currently is a partner
directing sales & marketing for nNovia, a video capture technology
company. In the background, Harn runs Soper Farms in Iowa,
implementing sustainable farming practices. Volunteering and song
writing are Harn’s passions. He is former president for the Friends
of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo Foundation.
Andrew Usher
Andrew Usher, a native
Oregonian and
lifelong outdoor enthusiast, is a Financial Representative at the
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.
He has been a long time
friend of the founders Shawn & Laura Sears. In his undergrad at
Colorado College, he was involved with Shawn in an after school
sports mentorship program for underserved youth.
He became involved with Vida
Verde during its inception and even had the opportunity to teach
programs in those early days. Andrew’s background in
community service, event production, and real estate bring a
diversity of expertise to the board.
Laura Sears
See bio above
Shawn Sears
See bio above
What’s the History of
Vida Verde?
Who works at Vida Verde?
Can I work at Vida Verde?
What are the trips all about?
Who are Vida Verde trips for?
How can I support Vida Verde?
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Shawn Sears
Laura Sears
Tim Ward
Rosy Yeh
Claire McMurtry
Alex Kielty
Katie Khoury
Vida Verde Former Staff
Vida Verde Substitute
Naturalists
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