Hamilton Morris
journalist, documentarian, scientific researcher
Hamilton Morris is an American journalist, researcher, and filmmaker who is best known for his work exploring the world of psychoactive substances.
Morris studied anthropology at the University of Chicago, where he developed an interest in psychoactive substances and their cultural significance. He began writing about drugs and drug culture for various publications, including Vice and Harper’s Magazine, and eventually became a contributing editor at Harper’s.
In addition to his writing, Morris has also produced and hosted several documentary series on the topic of psychoactive substances. His show “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia” premiered on Vice’s television network in 2016 and explores the chemistry, history, and cultural significance of various psychoactive drugs.
Dr. Ellen Bradley, MD
Clinical Psychiatrist, Researcher, Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
Dr. Ellen Bradley is a clinical psychiatrist and researcher who specializes in the field of psychedelic medicine. She is also a member of the faculty at the UCSF School of Medicine, where she teaches courses on psychiatry and the use of psychedelics in clinical practice.
Bradley’s career has been focused on the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders, and she has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including inpatient and outpatient psychiatric facilities, community mental health clinics, and addiction treatment centers.
In recent years, Bradley has become increasingly interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine, particularly in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. She has been involved in several research studies exploring the use of psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin and MDMA, and has published numerous articles and book chapters on this topic.
Seth Ferranti
Outlaw Filmmaker - "Psychedelic Revolution: The Secret History of the LSD Trade".
Seth Ferranti is an American author, journalist, and filmmaker who has gained recognition for his work on the criminal underworld and the War on Drugs.
Ferranti became involved in the drug trade in his early twenties, and in 1992, he was arrested and charged with running a drug ring. He was ultimately sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, where he began writing about his experiences and the criminal underworld.
After serving 21 years in prison, Ferranti was released in 2015 and has since become a prolific author and journalist. He has written several books about his experiences in the drug trade and the criminal justice system. He has also written for numerous publications, including Vice, The Fix, and The Huffington Post.
Ferranti has also produced and directed several documentaries, including “White Boy”, which tells the story of a teenager who became one of the most notorious drug kingpins in Detroit in the 1980s.
Vince Kadlubek
Entrepreneur & Co-Founder, Meow Wolf
Vince Kadlubek is a Founder of Meow Wolf, an art collective that has transformed into an award-winning Art and Entertainment Production Company that specializes in immersive, open-world walk-through experiences. Vince acted as leader and CEO for Meow Wolf through its formidable years, having created the business plan for Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return and leading the team towards the project’s completion in March of 2016. In January of 2017 Kadlubek formed Meow Wolf, Inc as a full-fledged arts production company and creative studio positioned to create the largest, most innovative and audacious monumental art exhibits in the world. After raising series A funding he announced two new Meow Wolf exhibits in Las Vegas and Denver, which both opened in 2021. Kadlubek has been a force of vision in the realm of experiential art, and in 2020 launched a creative consulting agency called Spatial Activations as a platform to usher in a new era of experiential art in modern developments and everyday life. Vince is most passionate about co-creating fully-realized alternative realities that bring paradigm-shifting transformation and inspiration to the world.
Mikaela de la Myco
Mother, educator, ceremony facilitator
Mikaela de la Myco grew up in a first-generation italian, afro-caribbean, and indigenous mexican family in unceded Tongva territory, Los Angeles, CA.
She is a mother, a mushwomb educator and acts as a community ceremony facilitator in occupied Kumeyaay territory also known as San Diego, CA. She serves all people in ancestral practices and entheogen education and has a focus in serving bleeding people, folks within the birthing continuum from preconception to extended breastfeeding and beyond as well as people desiring or navigating conscious contraception, pregnancy release and abortion.
In person, she holds community based circles where people can journey through the dark amenta to uncover their ancestor codes, rewrite trauma wounds and make meaning with mushroom and other earth medicines.
Her platform, Mama de la Myco centers the rematriation of psychedelic practice and excavates the intersection of the archetypes of medicine woman, psychedelic mother and sacred hoe.
Gary Fisher
Psychedelic Light Show Creator, Godfather of Mountain Biking
Gary Fisher grew up in Beverly Hills then moved to San Francisco, California riding road bikes as a kid and persuaded the Belmont Bike Club to let him join them. This opened up his world to racing bikes taking wins in the TransAlp and Masters XC national title. He set the record for the Repack downhill race on a modified bike which lead to Gary coming up with the term ‘mountain bike’ in 1979. That year Gary and Charlie Kelly founded MountainBikes specialising in bikes that could be used in off road terrain.
Find out how Gary came up with the idea for the mountain bike, his time as a bike mechanic, bike tester, journalist and lighting engineer in the late 60’s for bands like the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, dealing with Hells Angels, his family background in Hollywood, importing mountain bikes around the world, selling his company to Trek Bicycle Corporation and so much more!
Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris
Professor of Neurology & Director of Psychedelics Division, Neuroscape UCSF
Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris is a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist who specializes in the field of psychedelic medicine. He is currently affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where he is involved in cutting-edge research on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds.
Carhart-Harris earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Bristol in 2004, followed by a Master of Science in Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology from University College London in 2005. He later completed his PhD in Psychopharmacology at Imperial College London in 2012.
Carhart-Harris’ research has focused on the neurobiology and therapeutic potential of psychedelics, particularly psilocybin and LSD. He has conducted numerous studies exploring psychedelic experiences and their potential therapeutic effects. He has also been involved in clinical trials investigating the use of psychedelics in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and addiction.
He is a member of the faculty at the UCSF School of Medicine, and is also the founder and director of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, which is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.
Madison Margolin
Writer, Journalist, Educator
Madison Margolin is a journalist and author who writes about cannabis and psychedelics. She is the co-founder and managing editor of DoubleBlind, a print and digital media company focused on psychedelics, and has written for numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, Playboy, High Times, and Vice.
Margolin is also the author of the book “Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House,” which explores the history of the rave scene and its relationship to drug use and spirituality. She is a frequent speaker and commentator on cannabis and psychedelics, and has been interviewed by a wide range of media outlets.
Margolin is known for her deep knowledge of the cannabis and psychedelics industries, and her reporting is highly respected within these communities. She is dedicated to providing accurate, thoughtful, and engaging coverage of these important topics, and is committed to helping people understand the potential benefits and risks of these substances.
Leonard Pickard
Drug War Captive and Author of The Rose of Paracelsus
Leonard Pickard is a convicted American drug trafficker and LSD chemist, known for his involvement in the production and distribution of large quantities of LSD in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Pickard studied philosophy at the University of Georgia before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he became involved in the counterculture scene of the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2000, Pickard was arrested in Kansas and charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute LSD. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Pickard’s case has been the subject of controversy, with some supporters arguing that he was unfairly targeted by law enforcement due to his involvement in counterculture and his opposition to the War on Drugs.
Carlos Plazola
Co-Founder & Chairman of Decriminalize Nature
Carlos Plazola is an American activist and the founder of Decriminalize Nature, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of entheogenic plants and fungi for personal and spiritual growth, healing, and well-being.
Plazola, who is based in Oakland, became interested in entheogenic plants and fungi after experiencing personal benefits from their use. In 2019, he founded Decriminalize Nature with the goal of decriminalizing entheogenic plants and fungi and increasing public awareness of their benefits.
Decriminalize Nature has been instrumental in passing decriminalization measures in cities across the United States.
Carlos Plazola’s work has been a major force in the growing movement to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi in the US and his efforts have helped increase public awareness of their potential benefits for personal growth, healing, and well-being.
Elizabeth Summers
Herbalist, Spirit Healer, Death Doula
Elizabeth Summers is the owner of Auntie Aubee’s Apothecary, a CBD oil company that started in 2016 when Elizabeth’s partner was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Elizabeth comes from a long line of storytellers, root workers, and midwives. Her great-grandmother Hannah McCoy, who’d been born enslaved, became the local midwife and birthed an entire community. There is a continued lineage of midwives and herbalists in her family.
Elizabeth is an art evangelist, a zealous advocate of art and writing for healing. She’s an herbalist, a horticultural therapist, a California master gardener, an expressive arts master teacher and a death doula in response to the Covid crisis.
Who you see is a crusader on a mission: to build connection and community. She has taught k-12 creative writing and drama in public and private schools all over the Bay Area. She has lectured at Stanford and UC Berkeley, and given workshops at UCSF and City College. She has also taught page to stage theater and creative writing to incarcerated, unhoused and mentally ill populations for more than 30 years.
Jim Fadiman
Author, The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide
James Fadiman, is an American psychologist, writer, and researcher who is known for his work in the field of psychedelic studies.
Fadiman earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University.
Fadiman is best known for his research on the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes. In the 1960s and 1970s, he conducted research on the effects of LSD and other psychedelic drugs on creativity and problem-solving, and his work was influential in the development of the field of transpersonal psychology.
In recent years, Fadiman has become an advocate for the use of psychedelics in therapeutic settings, and has conducted research on the use of microdoses of LSD and other substances for a variety of conditions, including anxiety, depression, and addiction.
Fadiman has also authored several books on psychedelics and related topics, including “The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys” and “The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead”.
Andrew Penn
Clinical Professor, UC San Francisco, School of Nursing
Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP is a Clinical Professor in the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing where his teaching has received the UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, among other recognitions. He has practices as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner, treating veterans and training residents at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital. As a researcher, he collaborates on psychedelics studies of psilocybin and MDMA in the Translational Psychedelics Research (TrPR) lab at UCSF, serving as Co-PI on a phase 2 study of psilocybin for depression and is currently working on a study using psilocybin to treat depression in patients with Parkinson’s disease. A leading voice in nursing, he is a cofounder of the Organization of Psychedelic and Entheogenic Nurses (OPENurses.org), advocating for the perspective of nurses in psychedelic therapy, he has published on psychedelics in the American Journal of Nursing, Frontiers in Psychiatry, and The Journal of Humanistic Psychotherapy. An internationally invited speaker, he has lectured at SXSW, Aspen Health Ideas Festival, the Singapore Ministry of Health, and Oxford University and can be found at Andrewpennnp.com.
Beatriz Caiuby Labate, PhD
Executive Director, Chacruna Institute
Dr. Beatriz Caiuby Labate (Bia Labate) is a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco. She has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice. She is Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and serves as Public Education and Culture Specialist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She is also Visiting Scholar at Naropa University’s Center for Psychedelic Studies and Advisor at the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition. Dr. Labate is a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and editor of its site. She is author, co-author, and co-editor of twenty-six books, two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed articles (https://bialabate.net).
James McConchie
Founder, Haight St. Shroom Shop, Mycology educator, decriminalization advocate
James “Myco-James” McConchie is a Mycology educator, psychedelic/entheogen decriminalization advocate, and founder of the Haight St. Shroom Shop in San Francisco CA. James has been creating conversations locally and internationally since 2018 around decriminalization, mushroom cultivation systems, and small business development. James is also a cofounder of decrimSF.org, SF’s local Decriminalize Nature chapter. Which successfully brought forward broad decriminalization language in a unanimous decision with the SF board supervisors to decriminalize entheogenic plants, cacti and fungi in San Francisco. He is a partner and father, high school wrestling coach, and former Sr. QA engineer and Program Manager in Silicon Valley. He is dedicated to the advancement of the mycelial consciousness, mycology education, personal cultivation, and advocacy.
Dr. David Smith
Founder, Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic
David E. Smith (born 1939) is an American medical doctor from the United States specializing in addiction medicine, the psycho-pharmacology of drugs, new research strategies in the management of drug abuse problems, and proper prescribing practices for physicians. He is the Founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics of San Francisco, a Fellow and Past President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Past President of the California Society of Addiction Medicine, Past Medical Director for the California State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Past Medical Director for the California Collaborative Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research, and former adviser to the Betty Ford Center.
John Gilmore
Founder, Electronics Frontier Foundation
John Gilmore is one of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Cypherpunks mailing list, and Cygnus Solutions. He created the alt.* hierarchy in Usenet and is a major contributor to the GNU Project.
An outspoken civil libertarian, Gilmore has sued the Federal Aviation Administration, the United States Department of Justice, and others. He was the plaintiff in the prominent case Gilmore v. Gonzales, challenging secret travel-restriction laws, which he lost. He is an advocate for drug policy reform.
He co-authored the Bootstrap Protocol in 1985, which evolved into Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), the primary way local networks assign an IP address to devices.
Acacea Lewis
Founder, The Divine Master Alchemy school for Entheogenic Cultural Literacy and Ethnobotanical Naturopathy.
Acacea Lewis is the Founder of Divine Master Alchemy LLC, and Divine Master University, a school for Entheogenic Cultural Literacy and Applied Naturopathic Medicine Research. Acacea is a student of Baba Kilindi Iyi, and teachers from other systems, as well as an independent researcher and lifetime student of the psilocybin mushroom. She shares her first-hand experiences and provides undergraduate-level research papers, books, and some medical research to help bridge and integrate the fields of medical science, spiritual systems, and cultural anthropology.
Freddy Hahne
Dr. Really? ‘Pataphysicist, Comprehensivist
Psychedelic Pioneer. Merry Prankster. Current Board Member: Rex Foundation, Black Rock Arts Foundation, David Best Temples. Served on seven art non-profit boards from 1975-2005 in San Francisco. Bachelor of Science Industrial Design. Produced five decades of printed material. As Commandeur of the Art Police, Freddy and Krewes created large interactive artworks for the Merry Pranksters, Bill Graham Presents, and the Grateful Dead. He is Chief Anthropologist of the Mind Shaft Society at Burning Man. A ‘Pataphysicist with the ‘Pataphysical Studios, AreWeReally? Is a Saint in the First Church of the Last Laugh. He is Highly inept. Ha Ha!
Mountain Girl
Merry Prankster
In the early 1960’s Carolyn“Mountain Girl” (MG) Garcia began her psychedelic exploration as a teenage lab assistant for Dr. Carl Djerassi at Stanford University.
She volunteered for the Dr. John C. Lilly experiments where she was exposed to many mysterious entheogens. Her keen psychedelic curiosity brought her to the artists haven of author Ken Kesey where she quickly became one of the Merry Pranksters, and she was given the name Mountain Girl. She helped facilitate the legendary ‘Acid Tests’ that fueled the psychedelic revolution. Jerry Garcia and MG joined forces and she became part of the Grateful Dead family. MG wrote one of the first books on cultivating cannabis, The Primo Plant: Growing Sinsemilla Marijuana, which has sold over 100,000 copies.
MG continues to promote psychedelic studies and advocates for the right to cultivate, possess, and experience psychedelics.
Rhoney Stanley
Chemist, Author
Dr. Rhoney Stanley lived and worked side by side with Owsley Stanley, one of the earliest chemists of psychedelics, who produced the purest LSD, as proven by spectrometry. She was one of his lab assistants. Also helping him with his pioneering work in sound for the Grateful Dead, she initiated the Tuesday Night Jam at the Carousel Ballroom, bringing together musicians from many bands to form “jam bands.” Together they raised a son, Starfinder, who is now a Veterinarian, practicing in Northern California. Rhoney graduated from UC Berkeley and Columbia University with a dual degree-DDS and MPH. She practiced holistic orthodontics for 40 years and recently moved from the Woodstock, NY area, to Northern California, where she is opening a new practice of orthodontics. She is the author, with SNL Humorist Tom Davis, her best pal, of Owsley and Me: My LSD Family. Many times, she has presented at the Pop Culture Conference, focusing on the role of women in the Grateful Dead family and the counterculture. In February, 2023, she presented on Orfeo: The dialog between Terence McKenna and Robert Hunter.
Stanley Krippner
American Psychologist and Parapsychologist
Amy Ralston Povah
President and Founder of CAN-DO Foundation
Amy Ralston Povah is an accomplished filmmaker, writer, speaker, and activist, known for her work in criminal justice reform, conspiracy laws, women in prison, and the drug war. She spent nine years in prison for “conspiracy” in an MDMA case before her case was featured in Glamour Magazine, which sparked public outcry and led to a sentence commutation from President Clinton.
Following her release, Amy founded the CAN-DO Foundation, which advocates for “justice through clemency” for victims of draconian sentencing laws. She has spoken at numerous universities, authored Op Eds for major news sources, and been interviewed by national media outlets. Amy has also been invited to the White House under both the Obama and Trump administrations to advocate for criminal justice reform.
In addition to her advocacy work, Amy formed a film production company in 2010 and produced the award-winning documentary “420 – The Documentary,” which sheds light on the history of cannabis prohibition and the progress made in recent years to dispel the myths and propaganda surrounding the drug.
Tsvi Deer
Entrepreneur, Psychedelic Pioneer, Filmmaker, Musician
Harry Tsvi Strauch, aka Tsvi Deer, and his wife, Hyla, opened the third shop of psychedelic paraphernalia known as In Gear, in the Haight Ashbury of July 1966. They then bought a house on the same block as the Grateful Dead’s 710 Ashbury location.
At the time, Tsvi and Hyla were considered the Mayors of the Haight. True hippie business-folks, they formed a association called HIP (Haight Independent Proprietors) with Ron Thelin (who ran The Psychedelic Shop). Tsvi was also co-founder of the Council for the Summer of Love.
Tsvi attended UC Berkeley and then earned a graduate degree in Philosophy from Harvard at the same time Timothy Leary was running the Psilocybin Project.
Additionally, Tsvi is the executive producer of the film, Luminous Procuress, a psychedelic erotic art movie, featuring the Cockettes. He was also part of the Psychedelic Rangers who produced the Human Be-In January 14, 1967, in Golden Gate Park.
Currently, Tsvi plays psychedelic music in Future Flash and Star Wind, sells art, and thinks for a living.
Chelsea Rose Pires MA, LMFT
Therapist and Executive Director, Zendo Project
Chelsea Rose graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles Honors College with a B.A. in psychology in 2007, and received her master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2012. She has a passion for harm reduction as a therapeutic and practical approach to drug use and abuse prevention. Chelsea has worked with the Zendo Project, providing psychedelic peer support at events around the world, since 2013. She became the Executive Director of the Zendo Project in 2022. Chelsea has been instrumental in growing DanceSafe’s reagent test kit program since her involvement began in 2014. Additionally, she supervises the Crisis Response Team in Nevada County, supporting clients who come into the emergency room in a psychiatric crisis. She lives in the Sierra foothills of California with her husband, their three children, and their Basenji puppy, bearded dragon, and kitty cat.
Sunshine Kesey
Artist
Daughter of the author and psychedelic pioneer Ken Kesey and Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia, Sunshine Kesey is an authentic West Coast product of the rebellious 60’s. Sunshine grew up between the rock n’ roll world of the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia as her step-father, and the pastoral Kesey Farm, a renowned hub for artists and fellow freaks. Sunshine has also had the privilege of being mentored by many far-out folks like Wavy Gravy and Nicki Scully where she learned the magic of laughter, gratitude and healing. Sunshine’s exposure to the psychedelic culture inspired a life-long quest for illumination and drive to advocate for the right to freely expand one’s consciousness. Toward the fun!
Tim Tyler
Film Producer, Activist
Tim Tyler was imprisoned from August 3, 1992 to August 30, 2018 for cannabis and LSD. His intention was never money but to help people expand their consciousness and become more loving. He was given a life sentence under the draconian “3 strikes and you’re out” law. He went in when he was 23, and thought he would spend his life in prison. He was given clemency by former President Obama and with the help of many other people, especially his sister, Carrie Tyler, and a petition signed by 423,000 people, most of them Deadheads, won his release.
Now, that he is free, he is promoting education about eating clean food and living a conscious life, through story, film, and gathering with people at music festivals. His future plans may involve becoming a “minister” of peace, communication, and love, teaching how one can reach a state of awareness and connection, without drugs. He is also honing his guitar playing and singing and joining his favorite musicians, performing with much enthusiasm. He is also the Executive Producer of LSD Revolution: The Secret History of the LSD Trade.
Dave Hodges
Founder, Church of Ambrosia & Zide Door
Founder of the Church of Ambrosia and Pastor for Zide Door, the Church of Entheogenic Plants in Oakland. He is known for starting the first medical cannabis club in San Jose and for his work with High Dose Mushrooms exploring the origins of religion. Dave has spent the past 15 years fighting legal cases to protect sacred plants he believes in. He is currently preparing for his next major legal fight, a federal lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department for the illegal raid on his Church and their violation of the church’s religious freedom. Dave’s work with Mushrooms to explore religion has led him to the high dose work. Mushrooms guided him from doing 5 to 30 dried grams in a signal dose. Dave now does between 15-25 grams regularly in an attempt to understand religion and the true nature of reality.
Dr. David Glowacki, PhD, MA
Director, Intangible Realities Laboratory
Del Potter, PhD
Founder, Aya Biosciences, Researcher, Underground Chemist
Del Potter, holds a PhD in medical anthropology, specializing in psychiatric anthropology, ethno psychopharmacology, and neuropharmacology. He contributed to Richard Evans Schultes worldwide examination of psychotropic botanicals.
He worked with Alexander Shulgin in a mentorship over a year’s time. Shulgin directed him to novel chemistry and he has continued working to develop a robust portfolio of novel chemical entities composed of short acting tryptamine compounds in the genre class of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.
In 2019 he founded Aya Biosciences as Chief Science Officer to develop novel cannabis and psychedelic pharmaceutical therapeutics, producing cannabinoid based formulations for sleep, pain relief and appetite suppression.
Most recently he founded Spiritus Bioscience focused on final form delivery and formulation of psychedelic compounds.
Using formulation and delivery technology, he is contouring the psychedelic experience to be more targeted, safer, and with less adverse effects. Starting with psilocybin, DMT and 5-MeO-DMT delivery, his final forms include metered oral mucosal spray, rapidly dissolving sublingual wafer, buccal film, inhaler medical device, and transdermal patches.
Michael Randall
Founding member of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, Entrepreneur, Father
Michael Randall is a founding member of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love and first took LSD when it was still legal. He had the usual awakening that changed the direction and focus of his life. Group experiences with other seekers led to the formation of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a registered church in the state of California.
They felt compelled to share the awakening with as many souls as possible, so, they embarked on a grand adventure to make and distribute more LSD than the world had ever seen. The brand was “Orange Sunshine” of which over a 120 million doses were produced and became legend.
Michael and Carol raised five children during these times and while they were on the run from the law.
Carol Griggs Randall
Founding member of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, Entrepreneur, Poet and Mother
Carol Griggs Randall is a founding member of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love and widow of John Griggs who shared the original vision. She and John provided inspiration for early spiritually focused group trips, and Carol later became a matriarch figure for the group.
After Johns untimely death in 1969 and a long period of grieving, Carol and Michael fell in Love. They married soon after and were never apart, with many adventures around the world while they made LSD and smuggled marijuana.
They established their jewelry business while the family was on the run in New Mexico. While Michael was in Federal prison, she ran the family and kept their business alive
Brian Chambers
Art Curator, Entrepreneur
Brian Chambers is a lifelong collector and curator of psychedelic art and ephemera. Beginning in 1995 upon reading “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and discovering the work of Ralph Steadman, Chambers began researching psychedelic art history and has never stopped. His research led him to discovering the work of Rick Griffin and the 60’s poster movement in San Francisco and these two godfathers of the scene remain central figures in The Chambers Project roster and as partners in the bronze casting arm of the gallery. Collaboration has been the central focus of The Chambers Project and it’s roots date back to 2009 when Chambers commissioned Mars-1, Oliver Vernon and David Choong Lee to paint live collaboratively at the Symbiosis Gathering in Yosemite. Since then there have been countless collaborative projects produced under the moniker of Furtherrr and Chambers commissioned Mars-1 and Alex Grey to collaborate on the Bicycle Day painting from 2012. The Chambers project is committed to honoring the godfathers of psychedelic art history while curating exhibitions of the highest level with the world’s top tier contemporary artists in the field.
Dr. Jen Christian
Transpersonal Psychologist, Psychedelic Integration Therapist
Dr. Jen Christian, Psy.D. is a licensed transpersonal psychologist, psychedelic integration therapist, and clinical training supervisor. She holds a Masters degree in transpersonal psychology and a Doctorate degree in spiritually-oriented clinical psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She has a private practice in San Francisco where she provides somatic, trauma-informed psycho-spiritual psychotherapy, and psychedelic integration services. She was a member of Decriminalize Nature SF in 2022, when the resolution to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi was passed. Additionally, she supervises as a clinical training director for student interns and psychological associates specializing in plant medicine and psychedelic integration psychotherapy. Her research experience includes: Spiritual crisis and spiritual emergencies, the enneagram, grief, East-West psychology, and altered states of consciousness.
Susana Valadez
Anthropologist, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
Cultural anthropologist, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Susana Valadez is the founder and director of the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts, known in Mexico as the Centro Indígena Huichol.In the 1970’s she pursued a graduate degree at UCLA, where she focused on ethnographic research into sacred ancestral plant medicines in indigenous cultures. In 1975 she commenced a field study into the remote Wixárika (Huichol) homeland in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Jalisco.It became clear to her how vulnerable the Wixárika people were to the destructive forces of the outside world: intrusions from evangelists, poverty, diseases, tourism, alcoholism, environmental degradation other threats were uprooting their ancient way of life. Susan provided humanitarian aid with innovative solutions to help them thrive as an ancient tribe in the modern world.The Huichol Center non-profit organization was created to safeguard the people and their age-old wisdom which Susana has extensively documented for almost a half century while living among her extended family and friends as participant observer. She advocates for the decriminalization of peyote cultivation and participates in Decriminalize Nature’s Council of Elders.
Angelica Valadez (Aikutzi)
Artist and activist
Angelica Valadez is “Aikutzi” in the native language of the Wixárika people of Mexico. She is a bi-national Wixárika / Mexican American woman of color residing in both California and Mexico.
Aikutzi is a board member of Decriminalize Nature and the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts, a US non-profit charitable and educational organization in Mexico that was founded by her American mother, anthropologist Susana Valadez, and her Wixárika father, master yarn artist Mariano Valadez. Aikutsi a bead artist who helped to create an award-winning jewelry line “Aikutzi by Huichol” which provides jobs for women and families in the Wixárika homeland.
Aikutsi was raised in Mexico and is a lifelong participant in peyote rituals, as she comes from a very traditional family. Over many years of experience, she has acquired an in-depth understanding of the vital role sacred medicine plays in the native spirituality, history, and way of life. She has dedicated her life to protecting peyote and peyote practitioners from extinction.
Aikutsi and her people have fallen into despair as they witness their sacred peyote sites being plundered by mining companies, tourists, peyote sellers, mega agro- industrial projects, drug cartels and more. They consider the real possibility that if peyote goes extinct, the Wixarika people and their age-old traditions will follow.
Jordan Gruber
Collaborative Writer and Editor
Jordan Gruber, J.D., M.A., Renaissance Wordsmith—writer, collaborative writer, ghost writer, editor, and coach—has created and sculpted authoritative volumes in forensic law, financial services, psychology, and health and wellness. A graduate of Binghamton University and the University of Virginia School of Law, he founded the Enlightenment.Com website, where he brought the world the first-ever audio interview with philosopher Ken Wilber. So far this decade he has co-authored The Bounce (on rebound exercise) with Joy Daniels, and Your Symphony of Selves (on healthy multiplicity) with James Fadiman, with whom he is currently writing a book on micrdosing. He lives in Menlo Park, California, with his family, cats, chickens, meteorites, and books.
Niko Summers
Herbalist, Researcher, Community Healer
Niko Summers is a Native San Franciscan, a fifth-generation herbalist, a certified community herbalist, and a plant medicine facilitator and cultivator. He has grown up using and growing herbs and sacred plants as medicine and a way of healing his life through nature, passed down through his family lineage. He is currently working with his community and helping heal generational trauma by facilitating private and group healing ceremonies using Kambo, Bufo or Mushrooms. He has had tremendous results in helping people break through their trauma by using a trauma informed approach, as well as many years training under various medicines. He is starting a program with his mother who is a death doula for end of life experiences and ceremonies. He is also expanding his work with mushrooms to include genetic research, which will continue his expansion in cultivation. He is hoping to bring his practice forward to the public to hold community teaching events on how to grow and cultivate your own medicine; while continuing his ceremonies and one day creating a center for cultural studies and ancestral healing.
Mitchell Gomez
Executive Director of DanceSafe
Mitchell Gomez is a graduate of New College of Florida (whose Alumni included the founders of Erowid, MAPS and the Zendo Project), and has a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from CU Denver. Although his research interests are extremely diverse, he is particularly interested in program evaluation and policy analysis as it pertains to the non-profit sector. Mitchell has been a part of the electronic music community since the late 90′s, when he first started attending underground breaks shows while still in high-school. While attending New College of Florida, Mitchell was instrumental in helping to bring the EDM scene back to campus after a multi-year hiatus, and during this time ran an ‘all trance, all the time’ sound camp at the Florida regional burns.
Mitchell joined Dancesafe as their National Outreach Director this week of April 20, 2014. He is responsible for all volunteer coordination, the development, implementation, and evaluation of new training curriculum, and outreach initiatives. He has volunteered with the Burning Man organization, The Zendo Project, SSDP and other small harm reduction projects for many years, and is a passionate advocate for reality-based drug policy and harm reduction.
Brittany Jade Wilson
Midwife, Herbalist, and Indigenous Medicine Educator
Brittany Jade Wilson began her theoretical training and practicum of Midwifery, Herbalism, and traditional Indigenous healing while still in her early teens. By the age of 18, and heavily pregnant with her first child, Brittany moved to Peru to be with her first husband. There, she lived alongside and practiced her medicine within rural Quechua, Q’ero, and Shippibo communities for over a decade.
For the past 14 years Brittany has lent her support to fellow human beings (mainly women) through her educational classes and workshops, which she has been offering worldwide in the fields of Herbalism, Midwifery, sustainable living, advocacy, and traditional Indigenous medicine. Her gift for teaching led to the founding of the Original Instructions School in 2017. It brings Brittany immense joy not only to offer these instructions, but also to be able to lift up other (particularly Indigenous) women around the world through our OIS guest teaching opportunities as well as to collaborate with other female school founders. Brittany offers her classes and certification trainings in English and Spanish.
Brittany is a no-nonsense yet surprisingly light-hearted person who is not afraid to speak the truth. Her laughter is loud, her tears flow freely. She exists with the prayer that her way of living will make her children wise and her Benevolent Ancestors proud.
Paul Ryder
Founding Minister, Congregation for Sacred Practices
Paul Ryder PhD holds degrees from Harvard (AB physics), Rutgers (MS Developmental and Social Psychology) and Pacifica Graduate Institute (MA and PhD Mythology and Depth Psychology). After careers in both business and academia, Paul founded the Congregation for Sacred Practices as a religious organization dedicated to twin goals: bringing community together around entheogenic awakening practices as well as training and supporting ministers to offer these practices with the highest ethical standards, wisdom, and compassionate impact.
As a long time absorber of ancient wisdom, Paul’s own training in the healing arts has been within the lineages of the Mazatec, Zapotec, and Mixteca traditions, Iyengar and Hatha yoga, Hakomi somatic work, The Tamura Method, IFS, and other modalities. Paul bows in gratitude and stands on the shoulders of giants—Christian mystics, Hindu and Yogic thinkers, Sufi poets, Indigenous practitioners—and, with modern thinkers like CG Jung and Joe Campbell seeks to “dream the myth onward.”
Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold
Psychotherapist
Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold is the director of facilitation for psychedelic therapy at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), a faculty member at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and a mentor at the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research (CPTR). A practicing psychotherapist for over 25 years, Gisele is specialized in the treatment of trauma, using an integrative approach rooted in Somatic, Humanistic-Existential and Transpersonal psychologies. She is dedicated to diversity and inclusion in her clinical, academic and research engagements.
Adam Strauss
Comedian, writer
Adam Strauss is a comedian, writer and performer based in NYC. The New York Times says The Mushroom Cure, Adam’s solo show about treating his severe OCD with psychedelics, “mines a great deal of laughter from disabling pain”, The Chicago Tribune calls it “arrestingly honest and howlingly funny”, Michael Pollan calls it “brilliant, hilarious and moving” and Time Out New York named it a Critics’ Pick and called it “a true-life tour de force”. Adam won the New York Fringe Festival’s Overall Excellence Award for Solo Performance, The Eddy Award for Best Solo Show in San Francisco, and the Leffe Craft Your Character Storytelling Competition. He’s lost too many things to mention here.
Steven Huang
M.A.P.S. Institute, Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Officer
Dr. Bruce Damer
SCIENTIST, PSYCHEDELIC HISTORIAN, VISIONEER
Larry Norris
Co-founder and Board Member Decriminalize Nature
Larry Norris, PhD, studied biopsychology and cognitive science as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and defended his doctoral dissertation at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). His dissertation research reviewed archived ayahuasca experience reports to identify transformational archetypes and insights that could help inform developing models of integration (meaning-making).
Larry is the co-founder and executive director of Entheogenic Research, Integration, and Education (ERIE), located in Oakland, CA. ERIE is dedicated to the development of community education, research, and integration models related to entheogens and is currently offering workshops to cities across the US who are working to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi. Larry is also a co-founder and board member of Decriminalize Nature (DN), which sprouted from Oakland in 2019. He advocates for the unalienable right to develop one’s own relationship with Nature and aims to support efforts to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi (e.g., ayahuasca, iboga, cacti, mushrooms).
Annie Flores
Mycologist, Entrepreneur
Annie Flores is a Latina mushroom farmer with a background in chemistry. Starting with no formal education in agriculture, she discovered a deep admiration for mushrooms and cultivating them as a hobby, then a business.
As such, Annie loves all the aspects of mycology and mushroom growing. Included in her 13 years as a hobbyist she has become a production gourmet mushroom grower for over 5 years. At her fledgling company, Hillside Mushrooms, she has engineered sterilizing barrels and consistently grows over 20 strains of mushrooms. The company is based in one of the hottest spots in California: Bakersfield. Annie is available for consultations and mushroom talks, podcasts, and events.
Zac Kamenetz
Founder and CEO, Shefa
Zac is a rabbi, community leader, and aspiring psychedelic-assisted chaplain based in Berkeley, CA. He holds an MA in Biblical literature and languages from UC Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union and received rabbinic ordination from the head of the Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem in 2012 . As the founder and CEO of Shefa, Zac is pioneering a movement to integrate safe and supported psychedelic use into the Jewish spiritual tradition, advocate for individuals and communities to heal individual and inherited traumas, and inspire a Jewish religious and creative renaissance in the 21st century.
Melanie Abrams
co-author, The Joy of Cannabis
Melanie Abrams is the co-author of The Joy of Cannabis: 75 Ways to Amplify Your Life Through the Science and Magic of Cannabis and the novels Playing and Meadowlark. She is a developmental editor and photographer and teaches writing at the University of California, Berkeley.
Larry Smith
co-author, The Joy of Cannabis
Larry Smith is a journalist and storytelling evangelist touted by O: The Oprah Magazine as “on a quest to spark creativity in everyone.” He is the founder of the Six-Word Memoir Project and book series, editor of the book The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous and Obscure, and speaks on storytelling in schools, companies, and conferences.
