VOL. 28 AWE

Born and raised in northern New Mexico, Katy Yanda has lived many other places but always came back. Katy has Studied and worked in maternal and child health throughout the country. Her and her partner have always come home to Santa Fe, where they met in High school and have generations of familial ties. Katy splits time between Santa Fe and Chacon.

Mani Garcia (he/they) has been described as the love child of Bob Ross and Bob Marley. He was born to a Broadway and film actor/musician father and poet/writer mother in Buffalo, New York. Mani lived from ages 4 –17 in Alamogordo, New Mexico — after his parents decided to trade the hippie life for fundamentalist Christian missionary life. Early exposure to brutal gun and gang violence in Alamogordo deeply shaped Mani’s emotional and spiritual life — forging his lifelong love affair with art and the natural world of New Mexico — consistent sources of solace and healing. After learning American Sign Language during a brief missionary stint in Dallas Texas, Mani began working as a professional sign language interpreter in New York and has continued this work for the past 33 years. In 2002, at the age of 29, Mani made the difficult and lifesaving decision to leave the only life he had ever known in the exclusive fundamentalist Christian community — a decision that meant the permanent loss of his entire social network. With one phone number in his phone, the sign language interpreting agency he had worked for since the age of 19, he started life over. Determined to heal and savor his freedom, Mani has spent the past 23 years exploring a variety of “lives,” including: being a frontman/songwriter in a New York City rock band; 15 years in academia as a researcher that included doctoral training in neuroscience, social, health, and clinical psychology—specializing in therapy for trauma, anxiety, depression, and ODC; and training/certification as a holistic yoga teacher and group fitness instructor. During this time, Mani has also had the immense pleasure of raising a wonderful son, Gio. In 2021 Mani founded ::savor:: arts, a multidisciplinary art practice where Mani communicates his experiences of savoring things that touch, bewilder, and fascinate him. Since moving to Santa Fe a little over a year ago, Mani has worked at a Zen center and hosts drop-in community picnics.

Monique Derfuss is the President of SoundWellness, LLC. She offers Reiki to animals and humans, Kundalini Yoga teacher and gong sound meditations. Her animal clients have been some of her most profound teachers and she is grateful for their wisdom. She can be found regularly sharing the latest in wellness on regional television, in podcasts and in national magazines. Monique has supported thousands with her inviting and supportive energy.

Victoria Rabinowe is an internationally recognized, multi-award-winning author, artist, and dream workshop facilitator. She is the director of the DreamingArts Studio in Santa Fe and the author/illustrator of Conversations with Psyche: A Dreamer’s Guide to Soul-Stirring Creativity. Her workshops and books present an innovative approach to dreamwork that explores the wild and willful nature of dreams as tools for provocative and immersive storytelling through creative writing, art-making, and theater arts. At her DreamingArts Studio, Victoria combines the worlds of nocturnal dreams and waking lucidity, creating a vibrant environment for deep personal engagement and interactive communal dreaming. For over 30 years, she has been a presenter and award-winning art show exhibitor at the annual conferences of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Her artwork has been exhibited in museums, botanical gardens, universities and galleries internationally.

Anemone is a life-long, freelance creative writer, and artist with a focus on life empowerment for human beings. She is an enrolled member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, and possesses a deep and profound comprehension of the importance in life, to not only nurture but also understand and live in a fulfilling way, embracing the many caveats of one’s identity. She was born and raised in Rhode Island in a multigenerational home and community of cultural educators, under the precedents of the multigenerational matriarchy of healers and leaders she descends from.

She’s worked extensively throughout North America as an Indigenous designer, cultural ambassador / preservationist and promoter of Native American Artists… and has currently made her second home in Santa Fe, NM.

She is the mother of three highly spirited and engaging sons, who often serve as the anchor for her drive to fully pursue and succeed with creative endeavors.

Janine Johnston is the founder of ARCC Coaching, where compassion meets strategy for parents and professionals navigating the challenges of neurodivergence and burnout. A native Santa Fean, Janine is a transformational coach, Certified Academic Language Therapist, and mother of two neurodivergent daughters—she walks the talk. Her work blends mindfulness, self-compassion, and real-world tools to help clients shift from overwhelm to empowerment. She helps her clients raise awareness about how shame, the sense that one doesn’t belong, influences lives whether consciously or unconsciously, and yet shame’s impact is a matter of choice, once in awareness. Whether in the family home or the boardroom, she’s helping people reconnect with what matters most—resilience, clarity, and meaningful connection.

Nancy Conrad is Chairman and Founder of the Conrad Foundation, the engine behinds global innovation competition—the Conrad Challenge. A lifelong learner and educator, Nancy has become a recognized leader in transformative education and named one of the top 100 leaders in STEM education, serving as a featured speaker at national and international conferences. Her presentations include TED, MIT, and, the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She also presented at the Global Diversity Leadership Conference at Harvard University and the National Modeling and Simulation Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. Nancy has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology detailing how the Conrad Foundation exemplifies the use of partnership to improve STEM education. She is the wife of late astronaut Pete Conrad, who during the Apollo 12 mission became the third man to walk on the Moon. 

Reese Baker, owner and founder of The RainCatcher, has been involved with construction, organic farming, and permaculture in Santa Fe for over 15 years. He holds a B.S. in Biology/Botany from The University of New Mexico, is certified in permaculture design and is a state licensed contractor.

Reese served on the board of directors for the Santa Fe Watershed Association and currently serves on the City of Santa Fe Water Conservation Committee. He has taught classes at Ecoversity, Plants of the Southwest, Santa Fe Prep School, Quivira Coalition, Earthworks Institute, Arboretum Tome, Permaculture Institute and Santa Fe Community College.

He is currently involved in independent research, with a focus on the importance of soil ecology in our landscapes today.

As the Director of the Energy Conservation and Division, Rebecca “Puck” Stair oversees dozens of grant, loan, and other funds and programs to advance New Mexico’s transition to a renewable future. She came to EMNRD after nearly two decades in the New Mexico film industry, where she worked as a producer and location manager on numerous films, television shows, commercials and other media projects, including podcasts and conferences for the Franciscan monk Father Richard Rohr. For two years, Stair served as president of the local film crew union.

In 2020, she ran for State Senate, and subsequently served as a policy analyst for our House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee. Stair graduated Cum Laude from Amherst College with a BA in English Literature, and did some graduate study in Linguistics at Georgetown University. On all the projects she has spearheaded, she loves building great teams and championing clean-energy practices.