Starhawk is a veteran of progressive movements, from anti-war to anti-nukes, and is deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism. Her work in progressive movements spans over 30 years. She has organized, trained protesters, and been on the front lines of antinuclear actions at Diablo Canyon, Livermore Weapons Lab, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the Nevada Test Site, among others. She traveled to Nicaragua with Witness for Peace in 1984 and made two trips to El Salvador to give ongoing support for sustainability programs. She continues to be a witness for peace on the front lines of the Palestine/Israel war, working with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists.

A main focus for the last several years has been the global justice movement; Starhawk has taken part in many of the major actions, including those in Seattle, Washington DC, Quebec City, Genoa, New York City, Cancun, Mexico, and Miami. She co-founded RANT: Root Activists’ Network of Trainers, and teaches non-violent direct action trainings for groups throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Palestine, and South America. She is active in the revived American peace movement, and works with Code Pink. Starhawk also works on countless environmental and land use issues, and is a founder and active member of the Cazadero Hills Land Use Council in western Sonoma County.

Starhawk consulted on and contributed to a trio of popular films, the Women’s Spirituality series (directed by Donna Read). Starhawk and Donna Read formed their own film company, Belili Productions. Their first release is “Signs Out of Time” (2004), a documentary on the life of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, the scholar whose discoveries sparked the Goddess movement.  Watch Starhawk’s short videos on Permaculture –  Tabor Tilth: Permaculture in the City, and Permaculture Principles at Work. Starhawk and Donna are at work on her next film, an Introduction to Permaculture. Starhak is currently working on a screen play and film for the film for her visionary best selling book – The Fifth Sacred Thing. http://fifthsacredthing.com/

Starhawk lives part-time San Francisco, in a collective house with her partner and friends, and part-time in a little hut in the woods in Cazadero, California, where she practices permaculture in her extensive gardens, and writes.

2018 Pre-Convergence Workshop: Social Permaculture Day Long Intensive

Thurs, Sept 20| 10:00am – 5:00pm| Hops Tipi

• Pre-Registration Required
• REGISTER HERE

2018 Convergence Main Stage Panel: Rooted in Love, Rising in Action

Friday Sept 21| 7:45pm| Main Stage

Ellen Bauer is the Public Health Division Director for the Sonoma County Department of Health Services.  Prior to this assignment, she was the founding manager of Health Action, a coalition of diverse community leaders convened by the Health Department to identify priority health issues in Sonoma County and to offer leadership to implement initiatives and policies to create a healthier community.  Before coming to Sonoma County, Dr. Bauer had over 20 years of experience designing and implementing national and community-level health program evaluations.  She has led research and evaluation on a wide range of health issues, including implementation and outcomes (quality, utilization and cost) of managed Medicaid for both acute and long-term care services.  She earned a BA in Economics from Stanford, a Masters of Public Policy, Graduate School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D., Health Services and Policy Analysis, University of California at Berkeley.  She was also awarded several pre- and post-doctoral fellowships from the National Institute on Aging and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

2016 Convergence Panel: Grassroots & Government: Collaborations to Grow the Movement

Sunday, September 18th | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Main Stage

Oscar works for the Sonoma County Department of Human Services. Prior to joining the County, Oscar served as the Executive Director of the Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, one of the largest community benefit organizations in Northern California. Oscar has dedicated himself to establishing strong and positive ties between the county’s low wealth neighborhoods, public entities and the business community in order to raise awareness about the growing education, health and income disparities that exist in our communities. He is equally committed to finding solutions that get at the root cause of poverty.

Friday Oct 6| 7:30pm| Main Stage

Cultivating Unity in a Divided World

How do we embody a holistic approach that Includes, shares and integrates masculine, feminine and the whole spectrum of gender perspectives and approaches in our Permaculture practices and leadership? Join Kat Steele and Benjamin Fahrer as they share from their experience co-teaching Permaculture for many years as well as some of their own recent experiences in leadership positions. Based on the success of last year’s (un)panel on “Women in Permaculture: Celebrating Our Successes and Honoring Our Challenges” this year Kat invites Benjamin to join her in expanding on the theme. They will co-focalize a fish bowl exercise. Join them in the practice of listening deeply to the intimate conversations between Permaculture practitioners on their variety, depth and breadth of personal experiences. How do they do it? What works for them? How do they partner with, recognize, empower themselves and uplift the marginalized approaches, voices, people in our communities? How do they do it while still honoring the masculine and their own gender identity? What approaches are there to Un Learning the Patrix and raising consciousness within our communities? What needs to be improved, transformed, integrated?

2016 Convergence Panel: Koreen Brennan, Magalie Bonneau-Marcil. Moderated by: Kat Steele

Come play with clay! Get your hands dirty and learn one of the coolest ways to build with natural material.  For children of all ages, come explore the messy and enchanting world of cob. Less see what we can build!

Presented by: Nico Morris

Check in at the Cob Building Station. Events will happen spontaneously throughout the event.

Jesse’s objective is to build and contribute to the development of innovative projects in the arts. To combine his skills of leadership, project management and creative direction with his experience and education in music and the music industry. Use his natural and acquired faculties to materialize ideas and possibilities arising from creative collaboration. For five years, Jesse has worked in the Special Projects Department at SXSW where he interfaced with multiple entities across music, media, tech, art, and entertainment regarding their interests in participating with SXSW.

He co-founded an alternative Art and Music micro-festival in Oakland, CA called Feels. The event has become “One of the most excitedly anticipated recurring parties in Oakland” according to Vice. Jesse has also worked on the JazzReggae Festival at UCLA as Executive Producer of the 2010 and 2011 festivals. He worked on 2009’s festival as a Production Director. He has also been active in the Student Committee for the Arts at UCLA, producing shows and events in the arts for all four of my years at UCLA.

Jesse is a passionate, nature-loving Renaissance man. He has spent hundreds of days backpacking, mountaineering, climbing and paddling – in the Yukon, North Cascades and the wilds of California. He has received extensive training in outdoor education, leadership and wilderness medicine from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). He is a certified Wilderness First Responder and has been trained in desert survival by the Boulder Outdoor Survival School.

Jesse has also kindled his passion for the natural world through a formal education in ecological design and the arts. He received a Permaculture Design Certificate from Bill Mollison in Australia and later received an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College in Manhattan. His thesis project at Hunter consisted of a series of urban food-forests, participatory/educational paintings and a gallery exhibition of experimental cartography.

Before starting work with Back to Earth, he spent a year managing Oz Farm in Mendocino, starting an organic CSA and tending an antique apple orchard, all while honing his skills as an herbalist. His broad experience connecting to and participating in nature serves as the foundation for his work as a guide and instructor. Contact him at jesse@backtoearth.org

2016 Convergence Panel: Artist in Action

Marley Benshalom is originally from Israel and was brought to the U.S. at a very young age. Her early years were spent in an environment filled with emotional abuse and drug addiction that ultimately resulted in the loss of her brother and hospitalization of her mother. She returned to Israel at age nineteen to cultivate compassion, gratitude, and love despite her past. She is dedicated to a life of service and believes all beings should have access to food, shelter, and love.

Marley Bensahlom is passionate about community healing and environmental restoration. Currently she is pursuing a degree in Natural Conservation & Research at UCB. She is dedicated to a life of service and believes all beings should have access to food, shelter, and love. Marley is the Co-Founder of the Mindful Garden Collective which began as the Laney College garden restoration and is currently building a wellness program for the campus. She continuously creates monthly events around health and wellness to empower the community and give back to those in need. When she is not being a community connector, she is on her bike, hiking, practicing yoga, and most importantly spending time with mother earth. She believes the most important part of life is the present moment and sharing authentically with those around you.

2016 Convergence Panel: Food Justice Through the Lens of Race

Region is the co-founder and co director of Full Harvest Farms, a half acre permaculture farm in East Oakland. The farm has animal husbandry, community workshops focused on the impact of our changing climate, permaculture education, and rein-visioning our dependency on traditional systems. He also works as the Peer Mentor and permaculture instructor to formerly incarcerated men and women as part of Pathways to Resilience, a program which he apprenticed and graduated from in Summer 2014. He most recently was awarded a most coveted Farmers Fellowship as part of Ecofarm 2015. Before he started farming he was an organizer, who worked on campaigns in New Orleans and Oakland around rights of those formerly incarcerated. On his free time he loves to spend time with his wife and daughter on the farm.

Comprised of the backyards of three adjoining lots in East Oakland, Full Harvest Urban Farm is a full service farm with 25 chickens and 8 ducks for both meat and egg production, 3 kinder dual-purpose goats, dispersed orchard and vegetable plots and a potbelly pig! Full Harvest farmers practice ingenious methods that honor the land such as the three sisters and other companion planting practices. Full Harvest is currently working on a diversity of development and infrastructure projects including building two residential yurts and one community gathering yurt which will be fully “off the grid” running on solar power in the city. They also have plans for a sweat lodge and food forest. Full Harvest is a people of color led organization that seeks to engage marginalized communities in the fight for food sovereignty and access. They provides service based classes and trainings as well as a direct action approach that engages in the broader fight for food justice with an emphasis on working with communities of color. Host Karissa Lewis speaks eloquently for the need for people of color to reconnect to the land. There will be a special activities for children at this site. Region, one of the three “Full Harvest Urban” farmers, says the farm gives him more than just organic fruits and vegetables. It gives him another chance at life.

2016 Convergence Panel: Food Justice Through the Lens of Race

Dragon Dreaming is a methodology based upon the principles of personal and group empowerment. Drawing upon the insights and experience of Living Systems Theory, Deep Ecology, Transpersonal Psychology, group dynamics, and organizational development, and from indigenous Third and Fourth World cultures and applying them to community enterprises, local or personal projects, activists and for non-profit organizations.

Presented By: Ivan Sawyer

Sunday, September 18th | 3:50 PM – 4:10 PM | Solar Panel: El Sol

Marienthal’s career started in Bay Area stage theater work, performing in Missing Persons, The Cryptogram, Hecuba, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Every 17 Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy, and The Life of Galileo.

Marienthal is known for the role of Robin (Tim Drake) in the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman animated film, and in an episode of Static Shock. He replaced the previous voice actor, Mathew Valencia, because in these appearances, Robin was supposed to sound older than he had on the animated series. He played the title role of “Tucker Pierce” in the Tucker television series. He is also the voice of Hogarth Hughes in the 1999 film The Iron Giant and plays Steve Stifler‘s younger brother in the 1999 film American Pie and its 2001 sequel, American Pie 2. His last film role to date was in the teenage-oriented comedy, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), opposite Lindsay Lohan, as Sam. After a brief hiatus, Marienthal returned to television by making a cameo appearance on a 2009 episode of the television sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, but the following year, Marienthal again retired from acting.

In addition to acting, Marienthal has written and performed his own work as a poet, dancer, and playwright.

Marienthal graduated from the private East Bay French-American School in Berkeley,^[1][4] where all students learn to speak French and attend classes in two languages, and from Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) in 2004. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 2008, with a double major in comparative literature and international development studies. He also holds a master’s degree in development studies from Brown. He is currently a doctoral candidate in geography at the University of California, Berkeley.

2016 Convergence Performance: Friday September 16th | 10:30 – 10:45 PM | Main Stage

An award­-winning artist, author and educator, Aaron Ableman has dedicated his life to serving children, youth and families. Named “Top 100 Creatives” by Origin Magazine, Ableman has worked, studied or performed with the likes of H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Vandana Shiva, Q’Orianka Kilcher, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Joan Baez, Raffi, and is a sought­after entertainer around the globe. His life and work have been heralded in publications & events such as the UNESCO, United Nations COP 21, HBO, CNN, MTV, New York Times, LA Times, and the SF Examiner. Aaron is a CoFounder of BALANCE Edutainment and the originator behind 12 time award­ winning brand Pacha’s Pajamas (book) series, albums, live shows and organic fairtrade interactive pajamas with AR app). A humanitarian and world traveller, Ableman is also a consultant for numerous arts, education and environmental organizations.

2016 Convergence Performance: Saturday September 17th | 10:00 – 10:15 PM | Main Stage

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JazFuego/?pnref=lhc

Website: http://www.jasminefuego.com/

2017 Convergence Panel: Artists in Action

 Saturday, Oct 7 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | Main Stage

2017 Convergence Performance: Saturday, Oct 7 | 10:15 – 11:00 PM | Main Stage

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Jada Imani and Maleik Dion, a brother/sister team, are young artists and visionaries, who host and perform at community empowerment events every month.

2016 Convergence Performance: Saturday September 17th | 12:30 – 1:00 PM | Main Stage

Wild Man is a geographer, dancer, and dj. He works across all parts of his craft to realize more harmonious relations between sound, bodies, and space in an urban setting.  One of his favorite media is dance music–from hip-hop and r&b to funk and house–and is grateful to the sonic elders and innovators of soul, past and present.  He lives and works in Oakland, CA.

2017 Convergence Performance: Saturday, Oct 7, | 11:45 PM – 12:30 AM | Main Stage

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Maybe it’s her wild hair and funky clothes. Maybe it’s because she stands an unassuming 5 feet and sports those hazel eyes as if they were the mold. Perhaps it’s her message of love and peace through fascinating sounds and beguiling hooks. It could be her ability to do what a lot of hip-hop isn’t doing much of anymore:  real stories about real experiences from real people. Whatever it is, music lovers and freedom-seekers around the world have been changed by experiencing the resonating tunes and spoken word of YaNi. And that’s peace!

Iyana Ife Jendeyea Davis, also known as YaNi, is a graduate of Spelman College with an English degree. She has always been passionate about words and the transformation that can be found in writing them down and sharing them aloud. YaNi believes firmly in our power as storytellers and sets this example everyday of her life. YaNi has a deep commitment to the progress and transformation of youth. She does this work through teaching about the arts, spirituality, and by sharing her personal testimonies, while using a heavy emphasis on Peace and Community Building. YaNi is the founder of The Peace People’s movement and hopes to continue impacting the world with spirit-filled messages of freedom, love, liberation, communalism and peace! YaNi has been a featured speaker, preacher and teaching-artist around the United States, throughout Europe and in Hyderabad, India.

Gigging in schools and press-heavy community events alongside noted names in the literary and music world such as Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Pearl Cleage, and opening for headliners like Janelle Monae, J. Holiday, Jars of Clay and Dwele has aligned YaNi with industry leaders that continue to propel her purpose in this world. She has been a guest panelist and performer at some of the nation’s most noted venues and institutions, including Spelman College, Morehouse College, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, St. Johns University, The GTU, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Kentucky State University and Barnard College.

YaNi currently resides in California, but calls Atlanta and Queens, NY home. She is a graduate student at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, pursuing a Masters of Divinity and a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction. YaNi is the essence of Peace Personified and continues to exude authentic qualities of what it means to be this generation’s griot and storyteller!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whoisyani/

Website: http://www.whoisyani.com/

2016 Convergence Panel: Artists In Action 

2016 Convergence Performance: Saturday, September 17th | 10:15 – 11:15 PM | Main Stage

Just throw it Away! Where is this mythical place “Away”? This workshop is a breakdown of the American waste stream and it’s impact on the environment and people. Anna Purna encourages you to throw it a better way – into a Bottle Brick that can be used for building. Tired of the thin plastic layer that ubiquitously covers everything you buy and cannot be recycled? Learn about how it can be used in Bottle Bricks and about how Bottle Bricks can be used to build benches, garden beds, walls and entire buildings. See examples from across the world. Make your very own Bottle Brick.

Presented By: Anna Purna

Anna Purna has lived in giant redwood trees to prevent them from being cut down, planted trees with children at their schools, converted diesel buses and trucks to run on vegetable oil and started a garden program at her daughters school.

2016 Convergence Workshop: There is No Away: Make Your Very Own Bottle Brick

2016 Convergence Workshop: Earth Bench: Build a Peace Cob Bench for the Solar Living Institute

Cannabis farming has not embraced sustainable practices, but with the evolving regulations, sustainable farming is becoming more common place.

In the past, cannabis farmers have not been considered to be sustainable, let alone farmers. Due to legal and enforcement issues, Cannabis farmers have struggled in the past to plan and develop beyond 12 to 18 months. As the State passing new legislation and develops licensing requirements and local jurisdictions do the same, the farming environment for the cannabis cultivator begins to stabilize. Sustainable and regenerative practices are being embraced by the farmer. The investment horizon for the cannabis farmer is beginning to extend to multiple years. Cannabis farmers can now realize returns on investments in terms of years instead of months.

As State legislation produces new regulations and licenses, cannabis cultivation has now become a commodity crop under the State Department of Food and Agriculture.  Sustainable practices are being embraced. This workshop brings cannabis farmers and sustainable practice service providers together to discuss this transition.

Presented By: Arthur Deicke, Larry Shaeffer, Asa Shaeffer, Naaman Hagman, Daisy Ozim