Gayle Murdock, Board President
Gayle Murdock is a Senior Partner with World Access Holding Company, a business development firm focused on the application of wireless technology patents. Prior to engaging with World Access, Gayle was a Regional Engineering Director for Qwest Communications Services, Inc. responsible for building and leading high performance teams. She has more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, operations, engineering, and product development in the telecommunications industry. Gayle has held a variety of international, national and local leadership and technical positions with Qwest Communications Services, Inc., US West, AT&T and Pacific Northwest Bell. Gayle holds an MBA and BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington. In her spare time, Gayle enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling and any project involving power tools.

Malcolm Best
Emigrating to the USA from Uruguay in the 60’s with thoughts of becoming an astronaut, Malcolm was at the same time was fascinated with the possibilities of “inner-naut” travel. Degrees in Physics from Bowdoin College , Visual Design from M.I.T, Social Work from the U. of Washington , a year in a Fine Arts program, training in psychodrama, Zen practices, martial arts and adaptive leadership are just some of the facets of a life of learning, discipline and transformation.

As Senior Director, he authored and executed a strategic plan to bring Restaurants Unlimited, with 3000 employees, into the computer age. As Cinnabon was born, he was responsible for the information technology systems that would help the new chain take off. In the telecommunications sector Malcolm took on technical and leadership roles, harmonizing teams, mentoring and innovating.

In the last decade, relationships and social networks emerge as Malcolm’s central life theme leaving technical skills and decades of experience with systems analysis and design as supporting background. His current passion is, as human connectivity and scale increase, exploring and actualizing the incredible capacity that exists between people and between organizations, in service of the common good.

Sheri Herndon
Sheri Herndon is a long term educator, community organizer and practical futurist. With her gift for inspiring people to their highest potential, Sheri is dedicated to "evolutionary leverage" projects that lead to transformative learning and change in human systems. For the last two decades, Sheri has worked to create catalysts and attractors for large-scale change in independent media, global communications, social networks, and diverse communities of practice engaging in the new social DNA. Sheri has spoken extensively on social change, network theory, independent media, global networks, and the intersection of technology and online communities.

In the world of media, she has engaged at the leading edge of media/technology and spent 15 years in media/technology/content development as a journalist, producer, host and online media developer. Media credits include: professor of cinema studies at the UW; news director of KEXP Public Radio; and co-producer and host of the award-winning program "StoryTime."

In 1999, she co-founded the Independent Media Center in Seattle . She was instrumental in designing, developing and nurturing Indymedia's global technical and social architecture, basing self-governance structures and processes on living systems principles. She focuses on new media and communications infrastructures to create new models of innovation to replace outmoded systems. Out of her work as development director and legal liaison, she initiated and co-founded several small micro-granting entities to support independent media in the global south and put together the network’s high profile pro bono legal team.

Through Indymedia, she intimately engaged with the implementation and vision side of network theory and the power of social networks within a local-global context. This experience of profound community building, on- and off-line, immersed her in emergent electronic and social technologies that support the organizational development of productive and wise large-scale distributed networks.

Her current passions and work include: developing the Image of the Future project; supporting community building within WiserEarth; consultant to Being Essence in Mexico City; developing the bioregional initiative Sustainable Cascadia; advisory board member for the Sweet Mother Tour (SMT), an international organization using the tools of popular culture as an empowering force to stimulate positive change.

Art Haines, Integral Strategy Group
Art Haines is a consultant and executive coach with extensive experience in healthcare management, marketing and planning. Prior to joining the Integral Strategy Group – an Eastside consulting firm that helps individuals and organizations achieve accelerated, sustainable growth – Art served as Vice President at Evergreen Healthcare in Kirkland. His professional background also includes Corporate Director of Planning for Multicare Medical Center in Tacoma , Director of Planning at the Washington State Hospital Association, and Senior Associate with Executive Consulting Group, Seattle. In addition, he has taught graduate level courses in health care strategic planning and marketing. Art received his Bachelor’s Degree in economics from Pomona College and a Master’s degree in health care planning and administration from UCLA. Currently residing outside Seattle with his wife and three cats, Art is an avid rock climber, enjoys sea kayaking and backpacking and, in his quiet moments, loves photography and music of all kinds.

Bruce Takata
Bruce Takata has been a practicing “comprehensivist” since the age of twenty, when he was influenced by the work of Buckminster Fuller.

He is the former Program Director for the Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation (SBLF). Under his leadership, SBLF launched Imagine Cascadia, a collaboration to ignite civic dialogue and engagement into a 100-year vision of a desired future for the Cascadia bioregion. His current work involves inquiry-based experiential learning to develop extraordinary capacities in people and organizations by employing ancient practices of mastery in combination with cutting-edge developments in multiple intelligences, emergence, networking theory, personality and learning styles, systems theory and cognitive neuroscience.

He is an associate of the Co-Intelligence Institute, a former think-tank member of the Institute for Creative Development and has served on the boards of the Institute for the 21st Century Rural Community and the Seattle Institute of Integrative Medicine.

He is trained in Creative Systems Theory (Charles Johnston, Institute for Creative Development), Adaptive Leadership (Ronald Heifetz, Center for Public Leadership, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard), Leadership for the New Commons (Whidbey Institute), Literacy of Cooperation (Howard Rheingold, Stanford), and the Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations (Berkana Institute).

Bruce was founder and director of the International Conference on Integrative Medicine (ICIM) and Health Expo. In 1999, he drafted the proclamation signed by Governor Gary Locke that created Washington State Health Awareness Week. Prior to that, he worked in Paris, France, assisting in the introduction of cutting-edge developments in spinal surgery; portable telemedicine computer modules; and the organization, planning and execution of the first satellite medical conference in Europe.

He is the author a non-fiction book manuscript, Right & Timely: How the Coming Paradigm Shift is Changing Us and the World. A former tennis teaching pro, Bruce has served on the staff of the Chief Umpire of the US Open Tennis Tournament in New York for the past eight years.

Anh Vo

Anh is known for bringing her enthusiasm and positive energy to every situation.  She worked in the corporate field as an international turn around manager for six years helping her company’s multi million dollar accounts increase their profitability. Using her project management skills, needs assessment, team building, and coaching she was able to improve operational process efficiency, customer satisfaction, and bottom line profits.  Her approach involved leadership development, live action coaching with departmental managers, and performance coaching, through which businesses and their employees aligned their vision and purpose.  It is her firm belief that relationships are the primary building blocks in every successful enterprise.

Anh values her connection to the community and volunteers extensively with local food banks and meal programs, while providing leadership in Board positions for community and city programs.  It is in the "giving back" that her sense of purpose soars.  In her work with local government, she collaborated with city officials and community organizations to help design programs for youth at risk, and youth and parent leadership conferences.  Currently, she is involved with the SAMMI Awards, an organization that recognizes outstanding achievement in community service.

As an environmentalist, she is aware that we are all global citizens needing to be mindful of our resources, and advocates that businesses move beyond sustainability toward restorative practices.

Anh received her undergraduate degree in International Business, and her Masters in Applied Behavioral Science, with emphasis in Coaching and Consulting in Organization from the Leadership Institute of Seattle, through Bastyr University.  She is also a member of the International Coach Federation.  In her spare time, she studies martial arts with her two children and is a black belt instructor in Tae Kwon Do and Arnis, a Filipino weapons martial arts.  She has lived in many countries, but calls the beautiful Pacific Northwest home.

Melanie Wyffels

Born to a family of renowned educators in Brazil, Melanie has worked in international education most of her professional life. From childhood, she has been exposed to the challenges and the resulting creative solutions derived from the countless educational and political reforms in Brazil. She is fluent in Portuguese and English and has extensive experience in intercultural communication. She has been involved in cultural projects in Brazil and ESL exchange programs in the US for the last fifteen years.

As Assistant Curator of Acervo Fernando e Catherine Silva, in São Paulo, Brazil, Melanie organized Arte na 9 de Julho, events promoting the work of young, contemporary Brazilian artists. These bi-monthly events were open to the public and included theater, street art, performances, media, music and literature.

As Executive Director of the Brazilian Center of Philosophy for Children, Melanie and a team of 63 teacher educators traveled around the country to the promote Philosophy for Children program. This program develops critical and caring thinking skills in children from K-12 through philosophical dialogue. As Vice-President of the International Council for the Advancement of Philosophical Inquiry with Children, she organized international seminars in Australia, Spain, Brazil and the US.

Melanie moved to the US in 1999 with her family to work at Internexus, a network of schools specializing in International Education and exchange programs. She was the marketing manager and international internship coordinator for the Latin American and Asian markets until 2006.

Melanie is a member of the Board of Directors of Yazigi International, a network of language schools in Brazil and is a dedicated promoter of community projects related to fairtrade, ethics in business and social responsibility.

Melanie holds degrees in Business Administration and Philosophy of Education from the University of São Paulo, Brazil.