Sacred Fire Team
Leadership Guidance Group
(Board of Trustees)
David Wiley
Founder and Chair
Don David Wiley has dedicated his life to restoring people’s connection to ancient wisdom and bringing an awareness of the vital role this connection plays in our lives. An initiated tsaurririkame (elder Huichol shaman, or mara’akame) and caporal mayor (elder Nahua weather-working shaman, or granicero), Don David is the founder of both the Sacred Fire Community and Sacred Fire Foundation, both of which are dedicated to preserving ancient wisdom traditions and making ancient wisdom accessible to people in today’s world.
Susan Skinner
Treasurer
Mara’akame, weatherworker, business owner, mother, grandmother
I used to dream of a time when I could communicate with elements in nature as the native peoples and probably our ancestors used to do. Although, I doubted the possibility of it actually happening! Now being part of an organization that knows and accepts that we are all of part of a sacred living world and that communication with it is a necessary part of life—what “normal” should be—is profound. I’m grateful to say that my background as a healer and a business person can serve humanity in this way.
Karen Smith Fernandez
Director of Development
Karen is a consummate professional with a proven track record of planning, promoting and leading non-profit initiatives by incorporating mission-centric ideals into real tangible results year after year. She is a dynamic leader with nearly 30 years of experience in the not for profit sector who effectively focuses resources to create and maintain sustainable business models. She has co-founded two non-profits and has served in most capacities of the nonprofit sector—volunteer, program director, executive director, communications director and chief development officer.
Karen holds a Masters degree in Child-Clinical Psychology and is certified by Duke University in non-profit management. Currently Director of Philanthropy at Hill Learning Center in North Carolina, Karen brings her depth and breadth of experience, vision and leadership skills to her work as a trustee of Sacred Fire.
Roger Menadue
Trustee
Roger Menadue serves as a Firekeeper for Sacred Fire Alice Springs, Australia, and has been self employed his whole life. He became mesmerized by the remote Australian desert landscape long ago. His love for Central Australian life has taken him into the local indigenous community, where he is seen as a trusted member and is able to participate in sacred cultural events. He is the leader for the Australian Walk Project, a profound month-long desert journey. Roger is passionate about community. You can often find Roger changing a tyre or towing stranded vehicles along remote outback roads.
Community Service Team
Lawrence Messerman
Executive Director
Larry weaves together long-standing passions for nature, communications, and community with his work for Sacred Fire. He grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio but had the opportunity to connect to nature on weekly horse-back rides with his grandfather in that city’s metro park system. Double-majoring in English literature and philosophy in undergraduate school, he submitted an honors thesis in the latter on the emotive (or what he would now call ‘heart’) capacity of language.
He served as a Congressional aide on Capitol Hill long enough to realize that politics was not his calling! He escaped to the wilds of the American west for a short time before joining the Peace Corps and serving in Sri Lanka. There he taught English to teacher trainees. He earned a master’s in international relations and then went on to study culturally diverse healthcare teams and to earn a PhD. in that field.
It was during graduate school that he and his wife Jessica first began sitting with others around the fire many years before there was a Sacred Fire Community. Both he and Jessica later were trained and initiated as Sacred Fire Firekeepers. He is also initiated as a mara’akame or healer and ritual leader in the Huichol tradition. Above all, Larry loves the opportunity to help bring more fire, heart and healing into the world.
Annie King
Program Director, Firekeeping
Originally from Australia, Annie has been involved in healing and teaching stress management, movement and meditation for over 42 years, both in Australia and the US. She has worked for major hospitals in the US in wellness and cardiac rehabilitation programs, teaching stress management and facilitating support groups for healing. She currently has a healing practice in Florence, South Carolina.
Annie is an initiated granicera and tepahtiani student in the Nahua tradition, a Firekeeper for the Sacred Fire Community, and serves as Fire Chief for the Sacred Fire Firekeepers. She loves her work with Sacred Fire—finding a community of people she deeply cares for and respects, teachings that have helped her find purpose and meaning in her life, and a group of dedicated Firekeepers that she feels honored to serve and support. She adores her husband of 46 years, her 2 sons, their partners, and grandchildren that bring much joy to her life.
Sherry Boatright
Program Director, LifeWays
After receiving an undergraduate degree in History of Art at Emory University, Sherry worked in researching historical sites for the state of Georgia. Developing an interest in human growth and potential, she returned to school and got a Master’s in psychology and became a licensed psychotherapist. She practiced both in mental health agencies and private practice for 30 years, focusing on women’s issues and movement in psychotherapy groups. As part of this work she researched initiation for young women cross-culturally and developed an interest in life stage transitions.
Sherry is an initiated granicera and tepahtiani student in the Nahua tradition, a Firekeeper for the Sacred Fire Community and is on the Women’s Council for the Tsantawu weather mountain. She is Director of Lifeways for Sacred Fire and is passionate about working with her team to develop Life Cycle Living.
Mai Duong
Program Director, Events
The world of professional dance and performing with Ballet Creole Dance Company initiated Mai into the performative aspects of her central talent: creative risk-taking. As the rhythms of life changed with the advent of motherhood, she discovered a synergy between the relational energy of dance and entrepreneurial projects that connected her to community in capacities as varied as operating a dance school and managing events for conferences and trade shows.
An illness then guided Mai on a spiritual path in 2000. Her journey started with studying Plant Spirit Medicine, where she discovered a deeply profound connection to plants and the natural world. Mai has now been practicing Plant Spirit Medicine since 2006. To further serve her community, Mai was initiated as a Sacred Fire Firekeeper in 2012. All of these experiences have trained and led Mai to becoming the Director of Events for Sacred Fire. She is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives by combining her work in health and healing and working with the spirit of Fire.
Firekeeping Team
International Firekeeper Council
Australia
Bruce Sherriff
Canada
Mai Duong
Mexico and South America
Erica Cohen
Europe and the United Kingdom
Anne Lynn
United States
Sharon Brown (West)
Jessica De la O (East)
Firekeeping Staff
Director
Annie King
New Firekeeper Training
Buffy Aakaash
New Firekeeper Support
Cindy Fogle
Men’s Fire Support
Gary Weidner
Events
Kate Barrier
Online Communications
Angela Ocone
Conference Call Support
Michael Savino
Website Support
Bruce Sherriff
Database Support
Tim Simon
Growth Research
Sharon Brown
LifeWays Team
Program Providers
Awakening to the Cycles of Life
Sherry Boatright
Larry Messerman
Prema Sheerin
Dan Sprinkles
David Wiley
The Deep Heart of Birth
Kathy German
Lisa Lichtig
Sacred Awakening: Young Men’s Initiation Council
David Wiley
Dan Sprinkles
Gary Weidner
Sacred Emergence: Young Women’s Initiation Council
Deanna Jenné
Jessica De La O
Lisa Lichtig
Ukalái: Annual gathering of women
Sherry Boatright
Ukilái: Annual Gathering of Men
David Wiley
Ritaka: Annual Gathering of Young Adults
Colin Lenhart
Exploring the Phenomenon of Prayer
Sherry Morgan
Navigating the Challenging Waves of Transition
Prema Sheerin
Meeting Death: A Conversation with Life
Prema Sheerin
LifeWays Staff
Director
Sherry Boatright
Assistant Director
Jen Collins
Events Team
Director
Mai Duong
Assistant Director
Mary Beth Robinson
Outreach Team
Director
Sharon Brown
Content Team
Erin Everett
Christine Staub
Linda Azar
Strategic Direction
Karen Fernandez
Lawrence Messerman
Sharon Brown
Web Publishing
Sally Casper
Graphic Design
Malowany Creative
Leticia Gamboa
Sylvia Law
Bill Sutton
Social Media
Erin Everett
Abigail Murray-Nikkel
Event Support
Heidi Griswold
Linda Felch
Infrastructure Team
Director
Larry Messerman
Database
Linda Felch
Statistical Analysis
Chris Griffin
Organizational Liaison to David Wiley
Megan Montero