Our Team

HOLLY BRAUN

Board Chair

Ten years ago I shifted my professional orientation from advancing profit to fulfilling purpose and have spent the last decade helping redirect and align my organization’s existing mission of delivering safe and reliable energy to the societal charge of solving for climate change and reducing carbon emissions. I now work to advance the largest component of my organizations “low carbon pathway” through robust policy, customer-facing energy efficiency and technology, and organizational innovation.

Generative Council came midway through this journey and provided the necessary spiritual expansion to fulfill my quest. Retreating from the clutter, obligation, and pace of city-life into the quiet, reflective and harmonious non-judgment of nature was both humbling and emboldening. I found direction, clarity, and conviction that nourished and guided me to a place of sustained richness. I’m inspired how accessible this gift is and yet, it can be veiled and mysterious without models. While always a student, I am grateful to serve as a guide in this journey for future generations of council women.

KIM SLACK

Former Executive Director, Board Member

I am an engineer-turned-science educator and nature-based leadership guide. My 12 years of water resources and remediation work as a civil/environmental engineer in the U.S., Kenya, and Haiti bring a practical and culturally responsive lens to my work as an educator, guide, and servant leader. I am wholeheartedly committed to nurturing healthy relationships between humans and nature through immersive, nature-based, experiential education that is accessible to all learners. I believe in amplifying marginalized voices through education, and I believe that Paolo Friere was right when he said, “education is radically about love”.

I am most alive when I’m wandering wild spaces of all sorts, from glorious expanses of wilderness to the overgrown back alleyway behind my house. I am humbled and honored to serve this community of visionary, radical, and powerful women.

BRITTIN WOOD

Board Member

As a child, I grew up in the rural countryside of Iowa – rolling prairies, seasonal forests, meandering creeks and corn fields. I like to say I was raised by Midwest hippies, who were down to earth and practical, while they taught my siblings and I to appreciate our natural surroundings, even the pig farms down the road. Those days of building winter snow forts and giving each other wheelbarrow rides for down home entertainment, road tripping to the country’s greatest natural landscapes and watching many PBS nature series, all contributed to my affinity for being outdoors and surrounded by the world’s natural beauty.

It was my junior high science classes that inspired me to dedicate my education and career dedicated to making a difference in this world through the study of environmental sciences and the application of conservation practices and strategies. Fast forward twenty…plus-some years, and I’ve collected an array of experiences and fortunate opportunities that has led me to today’s adventures: owning and running a business that works with underserved markets to deliver energy efficiency and health and safety benefits in their homes and living spaces. While I don’t get out with the wheelbarrow as often as I used to, I find that I am able to keep my connection to the outdoors through biking, kayaking and traveling to new terrains to help me remember my roots and youthful origins in nature.

Being involved with CNL and the Generative Council has been inspirational and healing at just the right times in my life. I am grateful for the places I have seen, the women I have connected with, and the purpose I can continue to support by participating on the board.

Alix Lefler

Board Member

I am a life coach, project manager, and certified scrum master. At the heart of my work is a passion for deeply listening to where people are, where they want to go, and what’s standing in their way. My connection to nature came later in life. Feeling trapped in a relationship and lifestyle that no longer served me, I took to the trails and let the wisdom of animals, plants, rain, and sun remind me how to stay flexible and thrive. I believe we find the loudest answers to our deepest questions when we immerse ourselves in the natural world. We supercharge those questions and answers when we get vulnerable with a community of like minded humans that show up as mirrors and soft places to land when the going gets tough. I can’t wait to show up with you.

Kelli Bettenhausen

My passion is people, plain and simple. I love to listen to the stories people share and what makes them ‘tick’. In my current work as a consultant, I find opportunities to blend my passion for people with leadership. Being a part of Growing Your Best Self and the Center for Nature and Leadership has expanded my love of nature and my growth in myself.

HOLLY BRAUN

Ten years ago I shifted my professional orientation from advancing profit to fulfilling purpose and have spent the last decade helping redirect and align my organization’s existing mission of delivering safe and reliable energy to the societal charge of solving for climate change and reducing carbon emissions. I now work to advance the largest component of my organizations “low carbon pathway” through robust policy, customer-facing energy efficiency and technology, and organizational innovation.

Generative Council came midway through this journey and provided the necessary spiritual expansion to fulfill my quest. Retreating from the clutter, obligation, and pace of city-life into the quiet, reflective and harmonious non-judgment of nature was both humbling and emboldening. I found direction, clarity, and conviction that nourished and guided me to a place of sustained richness. I’m inspired how accessible this gift is and yet, it can be veiled and mysterious without models. While always a student, I am grateful to serve as a guide in this journey for future generations of council women.

NICKI DAVEY

Nicki’s purpose is to help to make the world a better place through working with individuals, teams and organizations so that they lead with courage, wisdom, compassion and vision; recognise, value and harness diversity; and respect and value each other and the planet in all their activities and interactions. Nicki is founder of Saltbox Training & Events and believes that learning should be a joy and an adventure. She creates transformative learning experiences by enabling people to learn in, with, and from nature, and she draws inspiration from the creative arts, ancient wisdoms, neuroscience and psychology. Nicki is the author of the Holistic Learning Handbook and is passionate about creating deep, meaningful learning experiences by engaging the whole learner – body, mind, heart, and spirit.

CARY GAUNT, Ph.D.

Two great loves comprise the heart of who I am and the work I do in the world. One is a profound connection with the earth forged by my childhood on a small farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and honed through a lifetime of listening to the land, exploring and living in natural places. The other is a deep spirituality comprised of contemplative and nature-based practices, Soulcraft™, spiritual discernment, and wilderness rites of passage. I bring these two great loves together in my work as a sustainability leader and contemplative practitioner and teacher. My commitment is to support organizations and individuals in moving beyond sustainability to restoration and flourishing.

SABINE GLATZ

I have always had a deep love for, and connection with, nature. Growing up in the rural countryside of Bavaria, Germany, I spent my childhood outside. The forest has always been my favourite place, but I only discovered the healing abilities of nature when I was at the edge of a burnout more than 10 years ago. It was the natural world, the trees, plants, and animals, that helped me to recover. With a degree in social pedagogy and a career in Human Resources and Marketing, I then changed my life and became a certified nature coach. Today I show teams and leaders how ‘forest bathing’ prevents burnout and what trees teach us about leadership. With the help of nature’s wisdom, I accompany humans on their journey of change and development.

‘Learn from nature to create a better future.’ This purpose guides me and everything I do with my business Natural Work Life, where I provide training, coaching and project management services.

NANCY HENJUM

With 30 years of organizational leadership, executive coaching and team facilitation experience, I seek to serve as a catalyst for positive engagement in and with the world. Two years ago I found the Center for Nature and Leadership. By bringing the wisdom of nature into my method and incorporating the practices I have learned with the women of the Generative Council, I have expanded my awareness, perspective and skillset.

Having lived the first quarter of my life in 14 different places as an Air Force “brat”, I determined to plant my roots and since 1990 Colorado is the place I have grown my branches. The light in Colorado’s crisp blue skies and the strength from its’ magnificent Rocky Mountains have become my sustenance. In addition to the importance of place, my deepest connection is to the people in it. Giving to and receiving from community is one of my highest values. Generative Council is a precious part of my community.

Alix Lefler

I am a life coach, project manager, and certified scrum master. At the heart of my work is a passion for deeply listening to where people are, where they want to go, and what’s standing in their way. My connection to nature came later in life. Feeling trapped in a relationship and lifestyle that no longer served me, I took to the trails and let the wisdom of animals, plants, rain, and sun remind me how to stay flexible and thrive. I believe we find the loudest answers to our deepest questions when we immerse ourselves in the natural world. We supercharge those questions and answers when we get vulnerable with a community of like minded humans that show up as mirrors and soft places to land when the going gets tough. I can’t wait to show up with you.

CHRIS SCHNEIDER

I am a deeply-rooted, insightful nature connector. I bring 29 yrs of corporate leadership experience and I’m a nature based leadership guide. I currently serve on the Programs team and am a former Board Member and President. I am a certified interpretive educator, certified master naturalist, and president of The Central Highlands Master Naturalist Chapter. I’m dedicated to outdoor youth education. I give my leadership and volunteer service to the Grand Canyon Nat’l Park, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the Highlands Center for Natural History. I look forward to journeying with you as you give your impactful work to the world!

Jennifer Simpson, Ph.D.

Jennifer has dedicated her life and career to improving lives, strengthening communities, and adding value to organizations by helping people amplify their impact by being more human, together. Her varied background includes more than twenty-five years of experience working in and with organizations across the private, public, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors to create more meaningful and effective ways of living and working together across differences; more than a decade of teaching university courses in communication, organizational diversity, and leadership disciplines; and a lifetime of bridging worlds in a way that capitalizes on the best in organizations to enhance creativity and stimulate whole system learning.

KIM SLACK

I am an engineer-turned-science educator and nature-based leadership guide. My 12 years of water resources and remediation work as a civil/environmental engineer in the U.S., Kenya, and Haiti bring a practical and culturally responsive lens to my work as an educator, guide, and servant leader. I am wholeheartedly committed to nurturing healthy relationships between humans and nature through immersive, nature-based, experiential education that is accessible to all learners. I believe in amplifying marginalized voices through education, and I believe that Paolo Friere was right when he said, “education is radically about love”.

I am most alive when I’m wandering wild spaces of all sorts, from glorious expanses of wilderness to the overgrown back alleyway behind my house. I am humbled and honored to serve this community of visionary, radical, and powerful women.

Darcy Winslow

BEVERLY WINTERSCHEID, PH.D.

Beverly is a mentor and motivator for women who want to change the world through passionate commitment to their ideas, families, organizations, and communities.

After 20 years of a successful business and academic career that included a Ph.D. in Business Strategy, a post-doc at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management,  positions as VP, Strategy and Organization for Manco-Henkel, Inc. and Director of Strategic Initiatives for Stratton Corporation. she had a profound awakening.   After investing two decades in change management with a large systems focus, she came to the conclusion that change happens one person at a time.

Acting on her discovery, she began training in ecopsychology and nature-based guiding with the Animas Valley Institute.  In 2008, she joined Marlboro College’s Sustainability MBA, launching a 2-year nature-based leadership development course, where she stayed for the next seven years.

Also in 2008, she founded the Center for Nature and Leadership (CNL) to blend traditional leadership development with scientific findings on the beneficial effects of Nature on humans.  The Generative Council is CNL’s keystone program, designed to provide diverse women leaders the time & space to develop their personal impact, meeting  in places of wild magnificence three times/year, and supported by an ongoing community of previous participants.

Creating and achieving bottom-lines of all sorts, and helping others see the wisdom of Nature at work in their own lives is what she loves to do.  Cultivating fearless leaders, those who stand firmly on authenticity and truth, who strive to bring new visions into reality in concert with others is her passion and expertise.

And, when she’s not working with members of the Center for Nature and Leadership community, you’ll find her in the backcountry of her home in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, or sailing in the Bahamas.

BEVERLY WINTERSCHEID, PH.D.

Beverly is a mentor and motivator for women who want to change the world through passionate commitment to their ideas, families, organizations, and communities.

After 20 years of a successful business and academic career that included a Ph.D. in Business Strategy, a post-doc at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management,  positions as VP, Strategy and Organization for Manco-Henkel, Inc. and Director of Strategic Initiatives for Stratton Corporation. she had a profound awakening.   After investing two decades in change management with a large systems focus, she came to the conclusion that change happens one person at a time.

Acting on her discovery, she began training in ecopsychology and nature-based guiding with the Animas Valley Institute.  In 2008, she joined Marlboro College’s Sustainability MBA, launching a 2-year nature-based leadership development course, where she stayed for the next seven years.

Also in 2008, she founded the Center for Nature and Leadership (CNL) to blend traditional leadership development with scientific findings on the beneficial effects of Nature on humans.  The Generative Council is CNL’s keystone program, designed to provide diverse women leaders the time & space to develop their personal impact, meeting  in places of wild magnificence three times/year, and supported by an ongoing community of previous participants.

Creating and achieving bottom-lines of all sorts, and helping others see the wisdom of Nature at work in their own lives is what she loves to do.  Cultivating fearless leaders, those who stand firmly on authenticity and truth, who strive to bring new visions into reality in concert with others is her passion and expertise.

And, when she’s not working with members of the Center for Nature and Leadership community, you’ll find her in the backcountry of her home in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, or sailing in the Bahamas.

BEVERLY WINTERSCHEID, PH.D.

Founder, Board Member Emeritus

Beverly is a mentor and motivator for women who want to change the world through passionate commitment to their ideas, families, organizations, and communities.

After 20 years of a successful business and academic career that included a Ph.D. in Business Strategy, a post-doc at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management,  positions as VP, Strategy and Organization for Manco-Henkel, Inc. and Director of Strategic Initiatives for Stratton Corporation. she had a profound awakening.   After investing two decades in change management with a large systems focus, she came to the conclusion that change happens one person at a time.

Acting on her discovery, she began training in ecopsychology and nature-based guiding with the Animas Valley Institute.  In 2008, she joined Marlboro College’s Sustainability MBA, launching a 2-year nature-based leadership development course, where she stayed for the next seven years.

Also in 2008, she founded the Center for Nature and Leadership (CNL) to blend traditional leadership development with scientific findings on the beneficial effects of Nature on humans.  The Generative Council is CNL’s keystone program, designed to provide diverse women leaders the time & space to develop their personal impact, meeting  in places of wild magnificence three times/year, and supported by an ongoing community of previous participants.

Creating and achieving bottom-lines of all sorts, and helping others see the wisdom of Nature at work in their own lives is what she loves to do.  Cultivating fearless leaders, those who stand firmly on authenticity and truth, who strive to bring new visions into reality in concert with others is her passion and expertise.

And, when she’s not working with members of the Center for Nature and Leadership community, you’ll find her in the backcountry of her home in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, or sailing in the Bahamas.

CARY GAUNT, Ph.D.

Two great loves comprise the heart of who I am and the work I do in the world. One is a profound connection with the earth forged by my childhood on a small farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and honed through a lifetime of listening to the land, exploring and living in natural places. The other is a deep spirituality comprised of contemplative and nature-based practices, Soulcraft™, spiritual discernment, and wilderness rites of passage. I bring these two great loves together in my work as a sustainability leader and contemplative practitioner and teacher. My commitment is to support organizations and individuals in moving beyond sustainability to restoration and flourishing.

CHRIS SCHNEIDER

Former President

I am a deeply-rooted, insightful nature connector. I bring 29 yrs of corporate leadership experience and I’m a nature based leadership guide. I currently serve on the Programs team and am a former Board Member and President. I am a certified interpretive educator, certified master naturalist, and president of The Central Highlands Master Naturalist Chapter. I’m dedicated to outdoor youth education. I give my leadership and volunteer service to the Grand Canyon Nat’l Park, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the Highlands Center for Natural History. I look forward to journeying with you as you give your impactful work to the world!

Darcy Winslow

DEBBIE SAGEN

Treasurer

I have more than 30 years of experience in public, private and non-profit management, consulting and coaching and have served in leadership positions in local government, non-profit, and private consulting firms, including executive roles in non-profit organizations, community planning and economic development, training, leadership, and organizational development, legislative affairs, and fund development. As I was transitioning into my own consulting practice, the Generative Council provided the safe space for me to explore, learn, and grow as a leader, coaching practitioner, and independent consultant.

My connection to nature has been a life-long practice, developed over years of work and play outdoors. My home at the foot of Pikes Peak backs to the National Forest, allowing my family and I to embrace, respect, and nurture the urban wildland interface each day. Participating in Generative Council constantly deepens my love for using nature’s lessons to teach us more about ourselves and learn sustainable ideas and practices from one another.

NANCY HENJUM

With 30 years of organizational leadership, executive coaching and team facilitation experience, I seek to serve as a catalyst for positive engagement in and with the world. Two years ago I found the Center for Nature and Leadership. By bringing the wisdom of nature into my method and incorporating the practices I have learned with the women of the Generative Council, I have expanded my awareness, perspective and skillset.

Having lived the first quarter of my life in 14 different places as an Air Force “brat”, I determined to plant my roots and since 1990 Colorado is the place I have grown my branches. The light in Colorado’s crisp blue skies and the strength from its’ magnificent Rocky Mountains have become my sustenance. In addition to the importance of place, my deepest connection is to the people in it. Giving to and receiving from community is one of my highest values. Generative Council is a precious part of my community.