David Benedict , Media and Marketing Intern

Originally from the Boston area and with strong ties to the Mad River Valley, Day comes to Yestermorrow via New York City where he spent most of his time behind the lens, shooting commercials, music videos and everything in between. 

With a passion for travel, love for design and a strong desire to create, Day hopes to lend his background in media to help bring Yestermorrow in front of a wider audience through video and social marketing. 

Day and his dog Laila can most often be found skiing Mad River Glen in the Winter or searching for the perfect surf spot once the snow is gone. 

Heidi Benjamin , Head Chef

Heidi Benjamin had been catering for Yestermorrow for over 10 years before coming onto the team full time in 2007. We affectionately call her our "favorite lunch lady" as she also did a spell of said job at a local elementary school. During her time as a lunch lady, she helped change the palates of most of the kids to appreciate local and organic whole foods. Before that, she did the same for glider pilots and ride takers alike up at the Dinersoar Deli at Sugarbush Glider Airport. She has worked in cooking for the past 22 years since she finished up at UVM in Burlington, Vermont, majoring in social gerontology and French. heidi (at) yestermorrow.org

Heidi is the mom of a delightful plethora of 5 step kids and 2 "out of body experiences", and married to her husband, John. She also has two young grandchildren. She enjoys being with her family while either skiing, fishing, camping, cooking, just hanging out and more. An Ipswich, MA native, she now lives in Warren, VT.

Patrick Black , Woodshop Intern

I'm excited to be here! I feel that my experiences working as an outdoor leader, trades person, counselor for at risk youth, cook and trail crew leader, have set the stage for my time here, and I aim to synthesize my interests and experience with my hopes for self-employment and collaborative effort. In addition to learning as much as I can about carpentry, my interests include drumming, Chinese martial arts, craft beer and non-reductive ways of finding a sense of purpose and awakening in a crazy mixed up world.

Ariadne Brancato , Kitchen/Garden Intern

Ariadne most recently hails from Seattle, where she completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Washington, though she spent most of her time there digging her fingers in the dirt and growing edible plants. She found more inspiration at the UW Farm and in the eclectic communities of Seattle than in the stilted classrooms of the UW, so she ventured east to Yestermorrow to spend more time growing food while exploring new communities and the design/build process.  Ariadne is interested in the ways in which the built environment influences our interactions with each other and with our food systems, and is considering a future in food systems research and policy.  Favorite things include fennel, bicycles, fermented things, intentional communities and laughing.

Taylor Burt , Chef

Taylor landed in Vermont three years ago, teaching elementary school students about nutrition and local agriculture up in the Northeast Kingdom. Although his academic background is in geology, his true passion lies with all things food, and in particular, rebuilding the relationship between the farmer and the consumer. This passion and a love for the kitchen kept him here where he continued an already diverse culinary career. Now at Yestermorrow, he’s thrilled to have the opportunity to continue building those community connections while cooking up tasty, nourishing food for the students, staff and interns.  Outside the kitchen, you’ll find Taylor either climbing around on rocks, running up mountains or digging in the garden with local elementary school kids.

Susan Davidson , Development and Communications Director

Susan is a fundraiser, writer, dancer, and enthusiastic student of the arts of relationship building and diplomacy. She comes to Yestermorrow with extensive experience in program development and project management from her work in fundraising, book publishing, and grassroots organizing. Having grown up in Chicago, Susan cultivated an early appreciation for architecture on both grand and neighborhood scales. The creative energy and enthusiasm of Yestermorrow interns and students is as inspiring and delightful as a steaming cup of coffee on a sunny morning. Susan is a longtime practitioner of yoga and other movement arts.

Monica DiGiovanni , Admissions Director

BFA, Studio for Interrelated Media, Massachusetts College of Art
Monica studied fine art and ceramics at Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon College of Art and Craft before shifting to Media Studies at the Massachusetts College of Art. She also has a background in community organizing, teaching, business management and as a theatrical technician. She is currently enrolled in an herbal apprenticeship at Sage Mountain Herbs and enjoys hiking, cooking, and creating works of art. monica (at) yestermorrow.org

Dan Eckstein , Curriculum Director

BA Literature and Rhetoric, Binghamton University
Dan came to Yestermorrow after a decade working in high schools as a teacher of literature, journalism, and creative writing. He has also worked as a journalist, been involved in the promotion of arts events and festivals, and enjoyed a brief stint as a carpenter. His love for music prompts him to moonlight as a DJ on the Mad River Valley’s community radio station. He lives in Warren with his wife and son.
dan (at) yestermorrow.org

Jose Galarza , Director of Semester Programs

José Galarza is an architectural designer, builder, and educator whose main interest is to produce work that seeks to reveal the primordial, enduring, and essential character of human shelter. José was the 2010 Program Director for Yestermorrow’s Natural Building Intensive, where he lead a group of ten students to build one of our most ambitious student projects yet, enabling a young couple to become first time homeowners. Before that, as our Community Outreach Coordinator through the VHCB AmeriCorps program, he was able to coordinate class building projects with valuable community clients, such as the Vermont Foodbank’s Kingsbury Farm. jose (at) yestermorrow.org

José enjoys using advanced computer modeling coupled with a rigor towards craft; and, when at all possible, tries to apply systems based thinking at the intersections of regenerative design, fine art, and equal opportunity. He brings to Yestermorrow experience that spans design, planning, project management, information technology, and construction. Before starting his own practice he helped to design an assortment of iconic buildings for two well known and highly acclaimed firms in Europe and the United States. Before that he apprenticed as a fine wood worker producing high end custom pieces, while at the same time receiving a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas in Austin. Through his undergraduate education, he received a Bachelor in English Literature with minor studies in Art and Philosophy.  Currently he runs an architectural design studio based out of central Vermont called José Galarza Building Workshop.

AmAndA GriGGs , Design/Build Intern

Rural SE MN woods are her roots.  She studied at UW-Madison’s Engineering school.   There, consciousness was found.  The industrial world couldn’t spark her soul.  So she reached out her branches to bud into an organic CSA farmer, blossom as a native seed specialist,  & bear fruit in landscaping, woodworking, pottery, & yoga instruction.  Then, nourished by a class experience here in Jan. 2011, she sprouted a strong curiosity and love for natural building.  She has since turned over many new leaves building at alternative schools in OR, WI, & MN.  Now she is very eager and grateful to continue growth as an emerging craftswoman in the luminosity of her internship.  

David Kelly , Design/Build Intern

David grew up with mud pies, micro hydro and the Whole Earth Catalog on a homestead in the Maine woods.  Ever since he could push a broom, David has helped to reinvigorate and re-purpose everything from homes to theatres to factories with his family's historic restoration company.  He returns to New England after years as a nomadic teacher/learner of economics in India, philosophy in Ireland, science in New Orleans and most recently environmental and social regeneration in Northern California.  David seeks to design and build resourceful ecological systems, while helping others do the same.  He treasures soulful harmonics, heirloom seeds, fermentation, yoga, kale, mulberries and everything else. 

Chris Landingin , Design/Build Intern

With jigging feet, eager hands, sponging mind & open heart Chris comes from 2 years of tutelage with the master builders & challenge untanglers of the Smithsonian exhibits team.  While studying cultural transmission through early childhood education in Kenya, Chris was bitten by the natural building bug when she was helping build a classroom. After finishing up her BA in Anthropology she began seeking building and designing environments. This path has led her right to Yestermorrow’s door. She has come to believe hammers create, blades join, needles bind & seeds enlighten. One day she’ll thrive on a homestead with her partner Catie & their dog Gatsby while designing structures that bring people closer to each other and to their land.

 

Abby Martin , Community Outreach Intern

Hailing from Virginia and Maine, Abby is fascinated by the intersection of natural and built environments. She looks forward to complementing her background in architectural, environmental, and maritime studies with hands-on design/build and outreach experience. She is particularly interested in vernacular architecture, and in the junction of sustainable design and historic preservation. An avid naturalist, Abby delights in backpacking, biking, snowshoeing, and exploring back roads.

Lisette Paris , Housekeeper

Born in Chicago, Lisette and her family moved to Vershire, VT when she was twelve.  She left home to go to Antioch College for three years, majoring in film and minoring in Poly Sci.   Afterwards she worked for Loney Construction, Hutch Concrete, Wright + Morrisey and EF Wall until the age of 28 when she became a cabaret performer.  She formed Club St Laveau Productions + Kit Kat Klub – An African American takes back the ‘K’, and produced 36 shows in the New England area. She is now producing her third volume of the television show Celluloid Mirror, Comments on the Silver Screen, and her first volume of St Laveau’s House of Horror, a horror movie TV show.  She has thirteen nieces and nephews, works very part time at Gendron Building as shop/office/field assistant and is working on an encyclopedia of Royal Houses of Europe and a separate work dealing with modern day saints.  She is a self described Midwestern Yankee who also links to think of herself as a Secret Agent Spy.

Lisette Elise Paris, also known as Betty St Laveau, is the eldest of eight children.  Her mother was Ochazania Klarich, nee Sharon Ardella Warfield Paris, a dance teacher who brought the djembe to Vermont.  Her mother was also an accomplished lecturer of metaphysics, and installed iton sculptures along the Banks of the Upper Connecticut River Valley. 

Kate Stephenson , Executive Director

MS, Management, Antioch University New England
BA, Anthropology and Environmental Science, Haverford College
Kate came to Yestermorrow in 2002 with experience planning and facilitating workshops on sustainability education, restoring historic gardens, researching bioenergy projects in developing countries, and promoting land conservation. Kate is the volunteer Residential Green Building Advocate for the state of Vermont, working closely with the Vermont Green Building Network. She is a co-founder of the Mad River Valley Localvore Project and is a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. Her interests include intentional communities, local foods, preserving rural landscapes, baking, historic preservation and frolicking in the snow. kate (at) yestermorrow.org

Peter Stewart , Design/Build Intern

Kangaroo rider extraordinaire, hopping round the globe to America from Australia via wwoofing on biodynamic farms in New Zealand and a sculpture mentorship in England, Peter landed in Yestermorrow with a desire to learn to make bigger things. Lover of making with a background in architecture, furniture design and kiln formed glass, hands on learning is where he’s at. He is hoping to take skills in community building back to projects in his home land.  He’s happy to share a hot cup of vegemite anytime.   

Tom Timmel , Operations Manager

Tom is most recently from Alaska, with a stop off on the way to Vermont in upstate New York to get a masters degree in education. He hopes to use his many years of experience in administration to help Yestermorrow continue to provide a high-quality experience to its students. He spends his free time outdoors hiking, skiing, sailing and playing Ultimate.  His most memorable wood-working project was a seven foot long, solid-oak kitchen table that was sadly left behind on his cross-country move.

Dave Warren , Facilities Manager

With a firm belief in the importance of a creative collaborative relationship between design and building, Dave has found a home at Yestermorrow. He has over 35 years experience in residential and light commercial construction in Oregon as owner/operator of a custom building company and most recently in Vermont as carpenter to project manager for a couple of local contractors. In addition to the use of hand tools and the employment of responsible building practices, Dave enjoys making music, sailing, and politics. dave (at) yestermorrow.org