Staff Directory

Malaika Bishop, Garden Manager & Educator
Malaika holds a BA in Environmental Studies and dance from Oberlin College and has traveled the world studying grassroots activism, globalization, and ecology. She has been an organizer and educator for over 15 years working for environmental health, justice and community self-reliance. In 2001 she co-founded the People’s Grocery, an organization working to find creative solutions to the food needs of West Oakland by building a local food system and a local economy. She now serves on boards of People’s Grocery and the BriarPatch Cooperative and works to support equitable regional food systems. Malaika is a recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service, she was chosen by Utne Reader, San Francisco Magazine and Organic Style Magazine as a young visionary and environmental leader. Malaika’s life goal is to create positive change through love and service.

Susannah Brown, Admissions Assistant

After working as a teaching intern in the Spring of 2008 she became convinced that Woolman was a truly unique and special place for learning.  She is now working to do outreach and recruitment for new students. She received her BFA in Photography from Parsons School of Design in New York City. Susannah grew up in Washington DC and is a life long attendee and member of Langley Hill Friends Meeting. Susannah’s passion is art in all capacities but particularly photography. She also enjoys traveling, cooking, being with friends and eating chocolate now and then.

Jessica Castleberry, Environmental Science Teacher

Jessica grew up in southwestern Virginia, where she learned to love the outdoors at a young age by exploring the New River and the Blue Ridge Mountains with her brothers and sisters.  She attended Earlham College, where she was first introduced to Quakerism, and earned a BA in Biology and Psychology.  Won over by Quaker educational philosophy, she continued on to get her Masters in Teaching from Earlham.  Since that time, she has taught in a variety of different environments including rural Indiana, Catalina Island, and Ithaca, New York.  She loves nothing more than traveling and experiencing new places; adventures have taken her across the world to places such as Tanzania, Israel and Palestine, Italy, and Costa Rica.  She also enjoys dancing, biking, hiking, ultimate Frisbee, good food, and music of all sorts. 

Doug Hamm, Maintenance, Garden & Orchard Supervisor

Having grown up as a nature lover in Ann Arbor, Michigan in a family with strong Quaker connections, Doug started shifting his interests while attending Scattergood, a small Quaker boarding school in Iowa.  Doug graduated from the University of Michigan with a major in psychology and minor in philosophy.  Alternative education at the upper elementary level filled the majority of his first 20 career years. He began working in construction full-time while living in Seattle where his wife had taken a position with the Nursing School. Bill Mollison’s Permaculture work came more seriously to Doug’s attention during this time.  Since arriving at Sierra Friends Center, Doug has been a steady proponent for the appropriateness of sustainability as a piece of the work of peace and justice.

Dorothy Henderson, Head of School

After raising four children, getting a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan and teaching for five years at the University of Washington in Seattle, Dorothy left the University and traveled for a year with her husband Doug in their Volkswagon van. She arrived at Woolman in the year 2000, seeking a life more in harmony with her commitment to mindfulness, nonviolence and simplicity. Here at Woolman she has found that life. She enjoys taking really long walks, jumping in the Yuba, sewing her uniform, being a part of the lives of her children and grandchildren, sharing Nonviolent Communication with anyone, and taking the train.

Lara Jablon, World Issues Teacher

While studying Ecology and Environmental History at Macalester College, Lara found a job on an organic farm in Northwestern Wisconsin that changed the path of her life forever.  Now thirteen years later, she has farmed commercially for ten years, raising organic vegetables, working on dairy farms, and consorting with goats, taught outdoor and agricultural education, received a BA in History and a MA in Teaching, and had countless adventures in and out of the country.  Lara is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring that focuses on relationships with people and the environment, artistic expression, and positive, solution based frameworks.  When not teaching, Lara is at a dance class or playing some kind of organized sport, playing with clay, or making things out of wood.  Her favorite moments are spent deep in the woods, sitting by a river and experiencing the beauty of being human in the world.

Benjamin Kessler , Teaching Intern

Ben recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with an eclectic BA in Biology, Visual Arts, and Education.  He spent the summer studying permaculture and ecovillage design at Lost Valley, in Oregon.  Ben grew up attending Sandy Spring Friends School in rural Maryland, assimilating Quaker attitudes and philosophy, running cross-country, and mucking about in the woods.  Since then he has maintained an avid interest in gardening, bird-watching, drawing and painting, feminism, anti-racism, and environmental activism, cooking, the sociology of science, and catching newts.

Susan P. McGuire, Office Manager

Susan has a B.A. degree in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  She arrived at John Woolman School in 1989.  After 6 years as the kitchen manager she moved into the office where she has been at home at the front desk, answering phones, greeting guests and tracking a lot of paper.  When not at the hub of Sierra Friends Center, Susan volunteers at the local community radio station, KVMR, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Foothills Swing Dance Society.  To nourish her soul, she practices and performs taiko drumming with Grass Valley Taiko.

Ted Menmuir, Ceramics Instructor

Ted received his BA degree from Whittier College in 1960. Further studies included graduate work in Philosophy of Religion at Southern California School of Theology, and Sociology at The University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Ted's teaching career began with a five-year assignment in Colton California elementary schools. In 1969 he joined the John Woolman School faculty as a Social Science teacher. In subsequent years, he has held positions as Principal, Director of Development and Art Instructor, among others. He is currently semi-retired while continuing to supervise the ceramics program.

Vayu Morrissey, Kitchen/Garden Intern

Vayu has lived in California almost all his life. He was lovingly encouraged by his mother to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Nevada City has been his home for the last 14 years and he loves it more and more each year. Vayu spent his youth exploring the woods and the Yuba River with friends and siblings. He graduated from high school in 2004 and spent the year afterwards as a student at the Woolman Semester. Inspired by the people he met at Sierra Friends Center, he started to become more aware of his actions and their effect on the natural world that he loves so much.  Instead of going to college, Vayu spent his time working for local farms learning about organic farming and sustainable living from individuals who were interested in educating a youth. He spent two years this way, learning what he could and saving money for a college education. He has worked two summers at Sierra Friends Camp as a counseler doing what he loves most: working with children and being outdoors. Vayu loves having as much free time as possible to work on projects of personal interest like song writing, yoga, tai chi, and making things in the ceramics studio. He also finds himself at home experimenting in the kitchen with the variety of colors and flavors found in nature.

Benjamin Rose, Kitchen Manager

Benjamin received his BA in English from The Union Institute.  He is also certified in Waldorf Education and Massage Therapy.  He loves the outdoors – cycling, kayaking, and swimming in the Yuba River. He focuses much of his time on the garden, the sheep, the chickens, and the kitchen.  He has a keen interest in developing sustainable community that feeds the body, soul, and spirit.  

Lisa Rose, Course Manager

Lisa Rose was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music.  She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she dabbled in everything from photography to fiber arts.  Way back when she worked as an artist in watercolor and handmade felt. Nowadays, Lisa is the mother of two lively, creative daughters. In addition to working to create an inspiring environment at Sierra Friends Center, she teaches fiber arts to children, is learning to play the fiddle and is remembering how to find the muse.

Bob Runyan, Business Manager

Bob began his time at Sierra Friends Center in October 2005 as the Interim Executive Director. Now he is the Business Manager. Prior to taking the helm at the Center, Bob developed educational and scientific computer software.  He is the author of Real Lives, a simulation of life in any country of the world.  Prior to his software career Bob taught high school mathematics, computers, and social science, including a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps in Seychelles (Indian Ocean).  Bob is married to Admissions Director Kathy Runyan.  They are the parents of three energetic teen-age boys.  Bob spends whatever free time he finds with the family and occasionally finds time to pursue his hobbies of running and music.

Kathy Runyan, Admissions Director

Kathy has been involved in education on one level or another since earning a Bachelor's degree in Human Services from California State University at Fullerton. Kathy taught pre-Kindergarten and 1st Grade for 6 years prior to homeschooling her own 3 sons for 10 years from a self-directed learning perspective.  Throughout those years Kathy also volunteered as a teacher and coordinator of children and teen programs in local and regional Quaker meetings. Kathy's ideas of relaxation include reading, drawing, gardening, camping and hiking. However, more than anything, she enjoys just hanging out with friends or family for a nice chat over a cup of tea.

Katy Schutz, Sierra Friends Camp Co-Director

Katy grew up in Virginia, attending Charlottesville Friends Meeting.  Her deep life growth has been through her time as a camper and her 15 years working for  Quaker summer camps.  Her involvement began in the Baltimore Yearly Meeting camping program, and she has brought that experience to her years of co-directing Sierra Friends Camp since its start in 2005. Katy has lived in California since 2002. She was  a "naturalist educator" for four years in coastside environmental education programs. Katy recently received her Masters of Education from the University of California Santa Cruz, and teaches 4th grade in Pescadero, California. Katy loves all aspects of camp, especially the joyful singing,  the unconditional love and utter goofyness of camp.

Casey Selden, Sierra Friends Camp Co-Director

Casey first went away to summer camp when she was 8 years old. She's never looked back. She has been working at different camps on both coasts of the U. S. for 11 years now and at Quaker wilderness adventure programs for 8 years. In between these summers, she's earned a bachelors degree in Geography and Geology from Mary Washington College and spent 3 years working as a teacher naturalist and director for an outdoor education program in Northern California. She also spent a year-and-a-half traveling and living abroad and will spend this year leading a group of young adults to the southern hemishphere. She has been co-directing Sierra Friends Camp since it's first summer, in 2005. Casey counts among her camp-related skills a working knowledge of wildrness first-aid, a passion for building communities, expertise in the artform of getting dirty and a gift for cooking gourmet food over a camping stove.

Karen Smith, Kitchen/Garden Intern

Karen is a Hoosier from La Porte, Indiana. She lived in Bloomington for twenty-one years after completing her MA in Applied Linguistics at Indiana University.  She received a BA in French from Valparaiso University and spent her junior year in France at the Université de Strasbourg.  Over the years her work has often involved books (libraries, archives, traditional bookbinding), and she has also been employed at various IU offices, including the Honors Program in Foreign Languages for High School Students.  Since fall 2006, Karen has been educating herself about earth stewardship, sustainability, and natural history by working at organic farms in Québec, Canada and Rhode Island and as a nature guide and intern at Highlands Nature Sanctuary in southern Ohio.  Other passions and interests are animal welfare, wildlife rehabilitation, vegetarian cooking, poetry, and learning Swedish.  She's an animal lover with a special fondness for opossums and small rodents.

John Springsteen , Maintenance and Grounds

John grew up in the Bronx hiking, playing football, skiing and working for his dad’s automotive business.  He backpacked through Europe and Northern Africa as a teenager, learning about their cultures and meeting interesting folks. He studied liberal arts at a two-year college, has owned several businesses and is a brilliant salesman. He came to work at Sierra Friends Center maintaining the buildings and grounds, animals and orchards and was enthralled with the community and its values. John has two tall sons who he loves to take skiing, hiking and fishing, and a new baby boy with his partner Cyndi.

Matt Stenovec, Teaching Intern

Matt hails from the cheatgrass hills of San Luis Obispo, California, learning to love the outdoors from an early age in the Southern Sierra and Trinity ranges.  He did most of his growing up at The Thacher School in Ojai, California, exploring the Sespe Wilderness on horseback and on foot.  He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, earning a BA in Environmental Humanities and a fundamental belief that environmentalism starts within the community.  For the past few years, Matt has been filling his summers leading wilderness trips backpacking, caving, and whitewater rafting.  In his spare time, Matt enjoys climbing on rocks, hiking on trails, reading books on New Populism, and playing frisbee and lacrosse.

Coleman Watts, Peace Studies Teacher

A lifelong member of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Coleman grew up in a Quaker Community near Richmond Virginia.  He graduated from the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program at Guilford College, and went on to study peace and social justice at Pendle Hill. Coleman has produced several documentary films and videos, and also teaches movie-making workshops at Opequon Quaker Camp.  His wide range of interests includes activism, sustainability, gardening, photography, politics, solar power, cooking, and simple living.