People

The Fountain

The Fountain has built deep relationships with elders and spiritual leaders from many Original Nations cultures from around the world.

Our People

Everything we do is based on right relationships, reciprocity, and partnership, operating in respect and collaboration with the original principles shared by elders and through ceremony.

 

Elders

The Fountain is working to build deep relationships with Elders and spiritual leaders from many nations, among them are the Four Nations of the Sierra Nevada, Otomi-Toltec, Lakota, Ezza Peoples of Nigeria, and Mohawk.

Partners

We have partnerships with many other groups called to work in these ways, among them the Center for Sacred Studies, International Council for Environmental and Economic Development, Tree Sisters, LeCiel, Mother Earth Delegation of United Original Nations, and a wide variety of NGOs.

 

Founding Council

The Founding Council members form an extensive network of supporters, collaborators and experts that have shaped The Fountain’s co-creative journey, and continue to inform, advise, and share on this sacred journey.

 

Operational Team

Our dedicated team helps support the different areas of endeavor The Fountain addresses day to day, bringing cross-disciplinary skills and decades of experience in service to the vision we collectively share and work towards.

Elders and Partners

Jyoti (Jeneane Prevatt, PhD)

Jyoti is the Vision Keeper of the Center for Sacred Studies and co-founded Kayumari. She helped to convene the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and Unity Concert. She founded The Fountain in order to restore an economic model based on reciprocity and collaboration guided by Nature and the Sacred. She is a delegate of the Mother Earth Delegation of United Indigenous Nations. Through her work, economic, social, and environmental solutions have developed, creatively addressing the global challenges of our times.

Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook

Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook, a Lakota Elder, is committed to ensuring the world is a better place for her grandchildren. She is a keeper of her culture and the female Sundance Leader for the Afraid of Bear/American Horse Sundance. Fluent in Lakota, Loretta serves as cultural specialist for The Fountain, and is the only representative who speaks both languages perfectly on the board of the Paha Sapa Unity Alliance Black Hills Reparation, another organization with which she is affiliated.

Loretta carries an enormous mission: gathering and presenting to the Obama White House a consensus for the return of the stewardship of the Black Hills to the peoples of The Great Sioux Nation. Loretta holds that consensus: “The Black Hills are not for sale. We want all the unseated lands in the Black Hills returned to the nine tribes of The Great Sioux Nation.” She also sits on a number of international boards including the Running Strong Foundation, The Sacred Healing Circle and the Black Hills Unity Alliance.

Kaggabba nation
Mother Earth Delegation of United Original Nations

Mission Circle

Jyoti, Grandmother (Elder, USA)

Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook, Grandmother (Oglala Sioux Nation, Turtle Island)

Milo Yellow Hair, Oglala Sioux Nation (Turtle Island)

Ryan Brandenburg

Darlene Hunter

Christiane Pedros

Eleonora Ascencio Dahl

Mark Levitan

COLLABORATING Partners

Tree Sisters

Tree Sister Website

Steven Lovink

 Strategic Advisor A strategic advisor, systems transformation thinker, and out-of-the-box change agent with an extensive network of relations serving whole-system enterprises, initiatives, projects, and entrepreneurs dedicated to visions, missions, and values advancing a new source code for creative human enterprise in harmonic resonance with nature’s wisdom, the universe of life, and the internationally agreed upon UN SDGs.

Lawrence Ford - Future Capital
International Original Peoples Flow Fund

The Fountain Team:

Jyoti Ma

Jyoti Ma

Spiritual Elder & Founder & Executive Director

Jyoti Ma is the Vision Keeper of the Center for Sacred Studies, and co-founded Kayumari. She helped to convene the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and Unity Concert. She founded The Fountain in order to restore an economic model based on reciprocity and collaboration guided by Nature and the Sacred. She is a delegate of the Mother Earth Delegation of United Indigenous Nations. Through her work, economic, social and environmental solutions have developed, creatively addressing the global challenges of our times.

Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook

Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook

Cultural Specialist

Loretta is a Lokota elder committed to ensuring the world is a better place for her grandchildren. She is a keeper of her culture and the female Sundance Leader for the Afraid of Bear/American Horse Sundance. Fluent in Lakota,  she is the only representative who speaks both languages perfectly on the board of the paha Sapa Unity Alliance BlackHills Reparations, another organization with which she is affiliated. Loretta carries an enormous mission: the return of the stewardship of the Black Hills to the peoples of The Great Sioux Nation. “The Black Hills are not for sale. We want all the unseated lands in the Black Hills returned to the nine tribes of The Great Sioux Nation.” She also sits on a number of international boards including the Running strong Foundation, The Sacred Healing Circle, and the Black Hills Unity Alliance. 

Ryan Brandenburg

Ryan Brandenburg

President

Ho-e Ryan Brandenburg began practicing zen in 1968 with Suzuki-rosh and then became a student of Kobun Chino-roshi in 1969. He was the Director of Jikoji Zen Center (Chino-roshi’s temple and retreat center near San Francisco) for 10 years (1993-2003) Ordained as a priest in both Chino-roshi’s lineage and as a ceremonial leader in Native American traditions, he has participated in or led ceremonies and sesshin in Europe, India, Japan, and North America. As a long-time member of the Kayumari community, he served two terms as Board President for the Center for Sacred Studies and continues to serve as an advisor on Dynamic Governance. He currently maintains a private practice from his home in California and is on the teaching staff for the Center’s Ministerial Training Program.

 

Christiane Pedros

Christiane Pedros

Regenerative Alliances (Europe)

Regeneration Alliances Seat weaves the tapestry of relationships in support of biocultural restoration programs and sacred economic project initiatives of the Fountain. Christiane focuses on The Fountain’s European partners. She has a background in consulting social enterprise and entrepreneurial start-ups through her Changemakers Business Academy.

Ryan (Ra) James

Ryan (Ra) James

Advisory & Education

Ryan (Ra) James integrates   transformational ancestral wisdom for future-ready leadership. He focuses on radically reimagining climate education by revitalizing people and organizations globally through restoring kincentric worldview, right-relationship and purposeful, regenerative action.

Anjli Tantod

Anjli Tantod

Finance

Goal-oriented finance professional with over 20 years of financial expertise, primarily focused on formulating strategic initiatives for organizations.
Through positive action and dedication to worthy causes I am grateful to be part of The Fountain’s stellar team that is doing essential work to serve and preserve sacred traditions for an international community.

Lyla Sofía Márquez M.A.

Lyla Sofía Márquez M.A.

Executive Assistant

Lyla is a trauma-informed Spiritual Counselor with over twenty years of experience working with children and teens through the process of art. She is an artist and teacher, with a master’s degree in Spiritual Counseling and East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), weaving expressive arts and journaling into her work with her clients. Lyla also supports individuals with the integration of expanded states and recovery from trauma. Her work is supported by her practice of earth-honoring ritual and prayer, grounded by her devotion to the Mother. In addition, Lyla attended the Ministry Training Program with the Starseed clan of 2022 and serves as the Registrar for the Ministry Training Program (MTP) at the Center for Sacred Studies (CSS).

“After my own healing crisis, I moved through a dark night of the soul, where I discovered trauma was at the heart of suffering. I pledged to serve, assisting others on their path to self-reclamation. I believe education is a significant factor in emotional wholeness and utilize it as a tool to guide my clients into becoming their own self-reflective witness.”

Margin Boux

Margin Boux

Communications Co-ordinator

Margin is a San Francisco based Parisian who has been involved in the Kayumari Community since 2006.  She is  a Minister of Walking prayer, a certified Maitri Breathwork Facilitator and co-assists the Maitri Breathwork Facilitator Training Program. She is also a Myofascial Release Practitioner.  Margin dedicates her life to spiritual growth supporting community through prayer and action.

Eleonora Ascencio Dahl

Eleonora Ascencio Dahl

Cross-cultural Advisor and Interpreter

Eleonora serves as a cross-cultural advisor, consultant, translator and spiritual interpreter.
She has a background in anthropology, social work, and decolonized yoga practice and teaching.
Her work gets inspiration and guidance through ancestral knowledge and original teachings ,working closely with elders and youth allowing her to bridge and weave earthly based ways of prayer and instruction into loving action for community healing and education for future generations.
A woman of prayer, she stands for a conscious stewardship and protection of the lands and waters of our Mother Earth.

Adriana Salazar Vega

Adriana Salazar Vega

Cross-Cultural Coordinator of the Sun Project

For the last 10 years Adriana has been working in Colombia with original peoples from the Amazon Rainforest and La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta as a community based manager  facilitating the work related to the well-being of these sacred ecosystems. The work involves Land Trusts, Food Security Projects and Indigenous Own Education Program with the  kággabas or Kogis and The Amazonian Indigenous Women Association.

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