Elder Council

The Elder Council exists to guide our mission and our values for the highest good of all beings.

Aurelio Diaz Tekpankalli. Chief of Chiefs of the Fuego Sagrado de Itzachilatlan Aurelio is the Chief of Chiefs for the Fuego Sagrado de Itzachilatlan, a confederation of Indigenous tribes that extends from Mexico down into the Amazon basin. He is also a renowned artist and his works are featured in the National Museum of Mexican art in Chicago.

Mona Polacca. Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa tribes. Mona is a Hopi Native American spiritual elder from Arizona. Mona has gained international recognition for her work as the head of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers - a group of spiritual elders, medicine women and wisdom keepers founded in 2004. She is an author of several books and has served on many committees for Indigenous Peoples within the United Nations.

Matt with Grandma Mona & Grandpa Austin

Austin Nunez. Chairman, San Xavier District, Tohono O'odham Nation. Austin is chairman of the San Xavier District, one of the eleven political districts of the Tohono O’odham Nation (formerly known as the Papago Tribe of Arizona). He is currently serving his ninth four-year term, having continuously served since 1987. In his job as chairman, he presides over district council, and community meetings; and is CEO for the district’s governmental operations.

Drupon Lama Dorje. Nepal. Drupon was born in Limi, Nepal and became a traditional Buddhist monk at the age of 5. A student of H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, he is charged with expanding the Buddha Dharma through South America. The Founder of the Lama Dorje Foundation and the Dewachen World Peace Sanctuary, he resides in Costa Rica.

Lama Dorje (on the left) with the Dalai Lama

Chief Haru Kuntanawa. Kuntanawa Nation. Haru is the current president of the social organization of the Kuntanawa people, (the Ascak Association) that advocates the rights and interests of the collective. Haru is recognized by many indigenous people of Brazil as one of the most influential young leaders of his time. Learn more about the Kuntanawaw Nation here.

Kumu Ramsay Taum. Oceania First Nation. Kumu Ramsay is the founder and president of the Life Enhancement Institute (LEI) of the Pacific. A recipient of the Star of Oceania, he is known at the local, national, and international level for transformational leadership in sustainability, cultural, and place-based values integration into contemporary business models.

Phil Lane Jr. Dakota & Chickasaw Nations. Phil Lane Jr. is the founder of the 4 World's Institute, an enrolled member of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations, and is dedicated to unifying the human family through the Fourth Way.

Chief Richard Earl Grimes. Dakota Sioux Tribe. Richard is a Sun Dance Chief of the Sioux Tribe and member of the Chiefs Council for the Lakota Sioux Tribe. He is a student of Leonard Crow Dog, spiritual elder of the Lakota Nation. His family stewards Thunder Ranch and Blue Star Church with a mission to share the teachings of indigenous elders of the North American continent and the unified true teachings of Jesus Christ.