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Avalon Springs Team

Led by the vision of the Core Council, guided by the expert Design Team, and made manifest by the onsite management team, Avalon Springs is stewarded by some really devoted capable folks....

Avalon Springs Core Council


Michael Woods is President of Baywood Capital Corporation. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1974 with a degree in business. Michael has earned a reputation as a skilled dealmaker and manager of real estate investments through 50 partnerships he’s formed since 1977. In 1990, Michael purchased his first hotel in Calistoga, California. The historic Mount View Hotel was built in 1917 and is renowned for its restaurant and its European spa. Michael has been the managing partner for the White Sulphur Spring Resort & Spa in St. Helena, California, the Carmel Valley Inn and Tennis Resort in Carmel Valley, California, the Emerson Hotel in Palo Alto, California, the El Pizoti Lodge in Costa Rica, and the Inn at Eagle Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona. Under Michael’s skilled management, these hotels have flourished and grown into strong and successful ventures. Michael is a practical anchor for Avalon Springs, providing the foundation of business expertise and acumen, as well as his commitment to creating business practices that foster prosperity through supporting human potential, health, and spiritual balance. Michael is also the founder of Avalon who took the first steps to pioneer its manifestation. email: Michael@AvalonSprings.org


Mellissa Seaman graduated from Stanford University in 1991, and from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1995. She spent five years as an attorney in the areas of public interest law and litigation. Mellissa is a natural entrepreneur, the founding director of the Center for Improvisational Arts and the former owner of the San Diego Circle Shamanic Healing Arts Center. Mellissa gave up her legal practice six years ago to follow her calling as a shamanic healer, teacher and group facilitator. She brings a unique balance of business know-how and spiritual connection to the design and co-creation of Avalon as a deeply intentional business and community. email: Mellissa@AvalonSprings.org




Richard Bock is an internationally renowned teacher of WaterDance and Watsu, two forms of aquatic bodywork, and an accomplished healer utilizing breath work (Quantum Light Breath), massage, reflexology, and Self-inquiry. Richard has lived and worked in intentional community since 1976 and is known as a natural project instigator and community leader. At Harbin Hot Springs where he has lived and worked for the past fourteen years, he spearheaded the successful effort to design and build a temple. Richard brings his natural talent for building and supporting community to Avalon Springs, as well as his expertise in aquatic bodywork and authentic relating. email: Richard@AvalonSprings.org

Iva Tashlick brings over three decades of experience in the fields of massage, healing, and wellness education. She helped create a women's intentional community with an active spiritual community center in Maryland, and for years has created spirit-based ceremonial gatherings providing deep grounding for transformation in the direct experience of the Mystery. A lifelong student, celebrating and practicing healing in many forms, her dedication to excellence continues to make a lasting difference in many people's lives. email: Iva@AvalonSprings.org

 

 


Sandeep Goel is President of LightBearer Investments, an investment management firm with a focus on socially conscious, Earth-friendly technology and alternate energy investments.  He is a partner in Morgenthau Accelerator Fund, an early and growth stage investment fund and he currently manages and sits on the boards of two venture backed technology companies.  Born in India, Sandeep grew up in an experimental, self-sufficient intentional community style international school where he got his first taste of a well functioning intentional community.  After college in India and the U.S. studying Physics, Computer Engineering and Systems Engineering, Sandeep served for 15 years as the CEO of an U.S. based computer software and Internet Company with international operations.  During this time, Sandeep gathered experience in all aspects of building and running a large distributed organization including product development, group/process/project management, customer service, sales, marketing, accounting, legal matters, capital raising, finance, investment management, public company reporting, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations.  Sandeep’s passionate interests for the past 25 years have included writing, communication, physics and meta-physics, ceremony and spiritual gatherings, cosmology, environmental/green/alternate technologies, electro-mechanical engineering, large-scale complex systems design, clean sustainable energy and permaculture. email: Sandeep@AvalonSprings.org

Design Team

Arkin-Tilt Architects is an award-winning firm specializing in energy and resource efficient design. Their projects embody a marriage of thoughtful design and ecology, creating spaces that are comfortable and lyrical, with particular attention to the integration of the built and natural environments. Arkin-Tilt has extensive experience with alternative construction systems, including straw-bale and rammed earth, renewable energy systems, greywater, and non-toxic and recycled materials. A natural fit for the Avalon Design Team, their projects include residential and commercial, park buildings, religious facilities, and Eco-Resort planning and design. We knew Arkin-Tilt were the right ones for the job when they walked inside the lodge, which is dark, dreary, and in need of massive renovations. David and Anni's eyes lit up with the possibilities and the challenge, and Anni exclaimed jubilantly "Oh! It's HORRible!" They then went to work, devising strategies for passive cooling and heating, bringing light into the space, and opening the building to the beauty of the outdoor surroundings.

Sentient Landscape co-founders Kamala Bennett and Geoff Hall are former Associate Directors of The Permaculture Institute of Northern California. This permaculture design duo-extraordinaire has residential, commercial, hospitality, and public-policy expertise. The many features of Avalon Springs will be skillfully weaved into a verdant, unified tapestry by this talented design team.

 

 

Exos Design is an International Environmental Design Group assisting Avalon in creating a cohesive Master Plan for Avalon and all its land. Co-founders Doug Bullock and Scott Godfredson are world class Master Planners and permaculture based design specialists. Exos has provided Master Planning and design services across the world in over a dozen countries. Exos has assisted the Avalon Design Team to pull together a world class Master Plan that captures the Mystery in a magical and practical way while becoming a bright example and model for those who walk the path in the future.

 


Avalon Springs Onsite Team


Michael Woods: michael@avalonsprings.org
Director of Project Development and Financing

Mellissa Seaman: mellissa@avalonsprings.org
Director of Public Relations and Programming

Richard Bock: richard@avalonsprings.org
Site Facilities Director

Bhakti Rinzler: Bhakti@avalonsprings.org
Hospitality Director, Garden Lead

Solyra Sepulveda: solyra@avalonsprings.org
Bookkeeping and Administration

Bali Bock: bali@avalonsprings.org
Media Director

Iva Tashlick: iva@avalonsprings.org
Investor Relations

Chuck Johnson: chuck@avalonsprings.org
Construction Project Manager

David Shamanik: david.shamanik@avalonsprings.org
Organic Landscape Design

Vibrata Chromodoris: look@vibrata.com
Graphic Design

Gary Frank: gary@avalonsprings.org
Executive Coach

Past Avalon Contributors

Avalon Springs wants to recognize the following people for their special contributions to the project...

Deidre Sommers (Avalon Springs co-founder, former core council member) - www.alchemyoftheheart.com - Deidre Sommers has been living in and around intentional community since before she was born, as her parents were residents of a Sufi community where she spent her childhood. She has been a professional healer since the age of 18, and is a gifted intuitive practitioner in many modalities including Breath Therapy, Bio-dynamic Craniosacral, Energetic Balancing, Core Embodiment Meditation, Integrative Counseling, and Aquatic Bodywork. She founded Alchemy of the Heart, a sanctuary for conscious evolution, in Calistoga, California, four years ago. Deidre has been one of the primary vision keepers for Avalon Springs.

Chris Byrne (former core council member) - www.byrnegreen.com - Christopher Byrne earned an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise from New College of California. He is one of a growing movement of professionals bridging the gaps between business practices, sustainable technologies, and the wisdom of ecology. Chris’ mission is to promote sustainability through business by assisting companies and organizations in successfully meeting the challenges and realizing the rewards of “going green”.