BAM Advisors
Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, NM
Roles: Advisor, Board Member
Expertise: Non-profits, Agroecology, Food Systems
Sarah runs The Quivira Coalition headquartered in Santa Fe New Mexico with a team of amazing changemakers. She is one of the best whole-systems thinkers we have ever met. She has deep experience in all things local food and land use related.
Les Miller, SD
Roles: Advisor, Board Member
Expertise: Land and Soil Health
Les and Bev are the namesakes of the organization. Les is passionate about regenerative farming practices and has been studying soil health since the ‘60s. Les has also spent the last 40+ years as a land auctioneer and knows every piece of farmland in a 4-hour drive.
Samantha Sprole, TN
Roles: Advisor, Board Member, Fellow, Curriculum Co-Designer
Expertise: Education, Philosophy, Language
Samantha wears many hats with us and always brings clear perspective. She has studied all over the world. She is a trained educator, writer, and editor. She spends part of her time studying communal living systems.
Colleen Svoboda, NE
Roles: Advisor, Coach, Board Member
Expertise: Public Health, Group Facilitation
Colleen jumped into our first prototype round as a coach and immediately had an impact. She focuses her time on Nebraska public health issues and is a world-class facilitator for high-functional professional teams. She also deeply understands the personal journeys are students take in the Institute.
Tigrilla Gardenia, Italy
Roles: Advisor, Board Member
Expertise: Biomimicry, Plant Intelligence, Communal Living Structures
Tigrilla lives in Northern Italy and is a citizen of Damanhur in Italy—one of the largest spiritual eco-communities in the world. She has a background in technology and biology and spends her time blending those two areas of expertise or helping others blend them.
Clinton Brown, SD
Roles: Advisor, Board Member, Executive Director, Curriculum Co-Designer
Expertise: Systems Design, Business Launch
Clinton helped launch BAM and continues to project manage the launch of the Institute. He has an extensive background in entrepreneurship and small business growth as well as strategic communications.
David O’Hara, SD
Roles: Advisor, SME
Expertise: Bioethicist, Biology, Philosophy, Sustainability
David continues to advise us on all of our ecological impact projects as well as keeping our field of view broad in world philosophies. David spends his time either teaching and collaborating with students at the local university, fawning over his family, chasing butterflies or looking for salmon.
Tanya Olson, SD
Roles: Advisor, SME, Curriculum Co-Designer
Expertise: Systems Ecology, Plants, Community Economic Development, Rural Sustainability.
Tanya lives in the middle of Civic Biodesign. Her landscape architecture firm is sought after for rural economic development, sustainability, and quality of life projects. Nearly every aspect of her work is interdisciplinary.
Vaney Hariri, SD
Roles: Advisor, SME, Curriculum Co-Designer
Expertise: Corporate Culture, Coalition Building
Vaney runs a fast-growing think tank for the future of corporate culture. He is also widely sought after for this understanding of coalition building at the civic level. In his free time, he is a successful musician and runs a fashion brand.
Megan Dahle, SD
Roles: Advisor, SME
Expertise: Finance, Budget
Megan has tons of accounting expertise and built, ran, and sold a successful e-commerce site. She is super practical when it comes to financial wellness. She is a Subject Matter Expert for our Summer Session 2021.
Stan Brown, IL
Role: Advisor, SME
Expertise: Theater, Creative Arts
Stan is a W. Rockwell Wirtz Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies of the MFA in Acting at Northwestern. He is serving us as a Subject Matter Expert in our Summer Session 2021.
Laura Smith-Hill, SD
Role: Advisor, SME, Fellow, Curriculum Co-designer
Expertise: New American Experience,, Multi-cultural Workplace Systems, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Laura continues to work with hundreds of New Americans each year. She has spent the last 20 years working with immigrants and their gateway to the workforce.
Tamien Dysart, SD
Roles: Advisor, SME
Expertise: Corporate Culture, Coalition Building
Tamien runs a fast-growing think tank for the future of corporate culture. He is also widely sought after for this understanding of coalition building at the civic level.
Lawrence Diggs, SD
Roles: Advisor, SME, Curriculum Co-Designer
Expertise: Communication, Marketing, Prison Reform, Religions
Lawrence is involved in more diverse projects than we can count. He is a prolific poet, musician, artist, as well as a Buddhist monk, educator, and campaigner for the arts and peace.
Pranam Lipinski, MA
Roles: Advisor, SME
Expertise: Entrepreneurship, Land Use, Self-Discovery
Pranam is a world-traveling adventurer. He has started and sold several businesses. He is currently working on self-assessment software for better holistic personal wellness.
Nathan Hitchcock, SD
Roles: Advisor, Curriculum Co-Designer, Founding Board Member
Expertise: Curriculum Design, Educational Systems, Philosophy, Theology
Nathan runs a fast-growing consulting company that is helping higher education institutions upgrade their curriculum structures. He was instrumental in our curriculum structure.
Hannah Peterson, WI
Roles: Advisor, Fellow
Expertise: Education, Curriculum Design
Hannah helped design our summer camp for kids series and has had her eyeballs on most of the adult curriculum. She is a teacher by day and adventurer by night.
Rachel Saum, SD
Roles: Advisor, Fellow, Seed Library Director
Expertise: Local Food Systems
Rachel is currently running our new seed library at BAM. She has spent her professional career studying local food systems and working for various producers and retailers.
Jake Cox, SD
Roles: Fellow, Lab Partner
Expertise: Manufacturing, Materials Science, Linguistics
Jake will be participating in our Polymer Lab and all of our maker spaces. Jake continues to advise us on circular economy manufacturing and processes.
Jordan Deffenbaugh, SD
Roles: Advisor, Curriculum Co-Designer
Expertise: Civic Systems, Built Environment, Philosophy, Theater
Jordan has had his hands on nearly every aspect of BAM. He is our resident evangelist and Sioux Falls civic engager. He is currently studying civic sustainability and local food systems.
Pat Cannon, SD (Not Pictured)
Roles: Advisor, Labs Partner
Expertise: Engineering, polymers, manufacturing
Pat is an expert in making large polymer films. He is partnering with us on our PolymerLab that will focus on closing the local single-use plastic circle.
Corey Johnson, SD (Not Pictured)
Roles: Advisor, Founding Board Member
Expertise: Financial Systems
Corey has been a critical partner since meeting one. He continues to fund various aspects of BAM and support every aspect of the project.
Nichole Cross, SD (Not Pictured)
Roles: Advisor, Labs Partner
Expertise: Product Design and Manufacturing
Nichole has extensive experience in all things product design. She will be helping us with our various labs and maker spaces.