we are in process of becoming
doing small acts with great love
Our Board of Directors
We are a diverse group of women from across the nation
Vicki Karlan
California
Vicki is a healthcare executive with over 25 years of experience focused on healthcare programs and policies that support patients.
She enjoys volunteering
and spending her free time with animal rescue organizations in and around Los Angeles.
She has fostered over 100 dogs in the last ten years and is committed to ensuring all animals
are cared for and
their habitats protected.
Why Moon Shadow?
"It's simple. We share this world with them."
Sandy Heintz
New Jersey
For 45 years, Sandy has devoted her life to
public education,
much of it in low-income, urban schools where she championed students
who often had the odds
stacked against them.
Many of those students have since earned places
at some of our country's most selective colleges and have been able to enrich
their communities
in remarkable ways.
She took children
out of the city
so they could experience
the world firsthand:
discovering life cycles
by tending plants
and collecting river water
teeming with nymphs,
witnessing the quiet magic
of Winter by documenting
a single tree's changes
and the tapping of
Maple trees.
Why?
Because Sandy learned
early on that
wonder is one of the
most powerful teachers.
"Moon Shadow will bring these same joyful, transformative experiences to people of all ages.
I'm thrilled to contribute to
this inspiring vision."
Hawthorne Smith
Maine
Hawthorne describes herself as
a woodland creature
who often ventures
to the ocean side.
She is an artist author who
listens to the stories of
the forest fairies
and relays them into
books and poppets
with a deep level of care
and admiration for wildlife
often with a bit of whimsy too
Why Moon Shadow?
"I have deep care and respect for the choices
being made
and the legacy being built.
There's an important mission here:
to protect the land
and the wildlife.
To do something good."
Maryruth Monahan
Arizona
Maryruth has lead a life of both
global and soulful exploration.
She’s a survivor and
sculptor of fabric, wood (sometimes with a chainsaw)
multi-mediums, words
and other art forms.
She’s also a Senior Special Needs Dog Advocate having adopted and fostered several
special needs senior fur kids
throughout her life time.
She enjoys sinking her hands
in the soil to learn what
she can help grow.
“Beauty,” she says. “It always involves some form of Beauty. It’s magical, really.”
In addition to being part of the
US Army Engineer Corps,
Maryruth has spent an additional two decades walking and leading religious pilgrimages worldwide.
Being familiar with oxen
and other animals from her childhood, she has taught
ancient techniques
and sustainable farming
with draft animals
to women in countries
recovering from civil wars.
As part of her soulful travels
and living a contemplative life, Maryruth has also explored Thailand, Ireland and the U.S..
With deep respect for the Earth,
her spiritual journey now crosses paths with the Grand Canyon.
Why Moon Shadow?
With compassion and kindness in her voice, Maryruth said, “Because we need Gaia
just as much as She needs us.”
DeziRay Dawn Hoover
Texas
“Moon Shadow
is a legacy project for me.
Born of our hearts.”
Dawn believes we can all be
“bad-ass Earth loving women”
who are not afraid to care,
who dare to sink into
the exquisite richness
that makes Life
so very precious.
She believes we can give shape
to what can be
and to who we can become,
to what we give value to
and to redefine
what is of importance.
Pause for a moment.
Plant a meadow.
Cast some seeds.
See what magic unfolds.
These actions provide
for all of us
- for the pollinators and
wildlife too -
allowing us to recognize
what our landscapes do
for our local ecology,
and how important
our simple choices and
small interactions can have
profound ripple effects.
“May not seem like it, but
even tiny meadows are
for everyone,
the entire Living Community,
and we all benefit
from their creation.”
Let us rediscover what is
so amazing, so breathtaking,
about the Earth we inhabit
and the essence of life woven
into the very ground.
Simply unwinding and unbinding to embrace and reach deeply into the beauty of the mere soil
~ beneath our feet ~