Administrative Staff

TAMARA ROSKE – Executive Director

Tamara is the founder of GAYA and their latest project Youth Leaders in Action. In 1992, she co-founded and directed the Earth Guardian Community Resource Center, an accredited experiential learning high school in Maui, Hawaii, where she successfully directed her vision to bring environmental awareness, cultural involvement and positive change to youth. She has taught environmental education and has organized youth outreach programs and cross cultural programs focused on earth restoration for the past 13 years. In 1995-1996, she was the co-coordinator of the Children’s Torch of Hope Tour, which traveled to high-profile events in 29 states throughout the U.S. with youth from different countries speaking on environmental and children’s rights issues. She directed and choreographed the Earth Guardian Performance Group, which supports young people in expressing their creativity by performing message-driven music, dance and theater to educate and inspire their peers to make positive choices in their lives.

MATLA MARTINEZ- Outreach Coordinator/Mexico

Matlal was born in Xochimilco, Mexico in 1976, in a family dedicated to spiritual, ecological and traditional work. In 1998 she participated in cultural exchanges with Aztec dance groups in California, New Mexico and Arizona. In 2000, she departed from Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost point of South America, to begin the Third Continental Run of Peace and Dignity Journeys, a spiritual relay run that began in 1992. For another seven months, she ran through many countries, ending in Teotihuacan, Mexico. In 2002 she organized a group of young dancers that participated in the Gathering of Visions. In the same year, she was asked to organize a group of young people who practice and live traditionally in Mexico to participate in Peace One Day, supported by the United Nations.

SIRI AHUIZOTZIN MARTINEZ – Cultural Program Consultant

Siri was born and raised in Xochimilco, Mexico. He studied environment, organic agriculture and natural construction at the Casa Ecológica Teotihuacan. In 1995 he was invited by Mexcalibur to represent Mexico’s voice of youth in the World Congress of Children for the United Nations 50 th Anniversary. He toured 29 states in the United States carrying the Children’s Torch of Hope. He was the youth representative for Mexico and a spokesperson for the children of the world that addressed members of the General Assembly in New York. After returning to Mexico, the mayor of Mexico City inaugurated a monument in honor of the Children’s Torch of Hope and the Guardians of the Future. He has been working on establishing relationships among the Native Peoples of Mexico and the United States. He is a practicing artist and young leader inspired to keep his culture alive.

MARSHA MONESTERSKY – Organization and Program Manager

Marsha Monestersky is a certified paralegal with an extensive background as an activist in Indigenous and environmental politics. For over 12 years, she lived with traditional Dineh grandmothers without electricity or running water, while organizing on their behalf an international campaign to bring attention to their struggle against Peabody Coal Company and the US Government. She assembled a coalition of major international Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that led to an investigation by the UN High Commission on Human Rights. She served as Co-Chair of the NGO Human Rights and Poverty Eradication Caucus at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, founding Co-Chair of the International Peoples Tribunal on Human Rights and the Environment, facilitator at the UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Her articles have been published in legal journals and UN publications. Her work has been recognized by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Certificate of Merit and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights award.

LEXINE PHILLIPS – MBA Accountant

Lexine graduated with honors from Regis University with an MBA in Accounting and Finance in 1995. She is a member of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants and the National Society of Tax Professionals. She helped GAYA establish their 501c3 status in 1997 and has prepared income taxes for 23 years. Her expertise in management, taxation and accounting matters allow her to serve concerns for a diverse clientele. Lexine consults in business formation, financial reporting and comprehensive planning for individuals and professionals. As a sole-proprietor, Lex is very knowledgeable in small business operations. She also has 10 years of experience in private industry accounting, sales tax preparation, payroll and business management.

ISA ROSKE - Youth Outreach Coordinator

Isa has had extensive experience in the fields of activism and leadership. At the age of six she was part of a motivational performance group called Earth Guardians. E.G. wrote music to communicate their message of protecting the earth and standing up for children’s rights issues, providing Isa with a wide range of experience in the field of performing arts. E.G. also had the honor of being one of the first groups to speak and perform in the United Nations while carrying the Children’s Torch of Hope across the U.S. in 1995.

In 2003 Isa co-founded Youth Leaders in Action. Her first creation was E.A.R.T.H. “Earth Activist Restoring Their Home” a multi-media presentation aimed to educate youth on the current state of the planet. Isa has presented EARTH at schools, community gatherings, and national youth leadership conferences. In her work as a youth activist she has also helped to organize rallies, and community projects, mobilizing youth to stand up and protect the earth. She has received the E-chievment Award from E-Town radio, the Peace Maker of the Year Award from the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center for here outstanding commitment to create a better world.

PAM WILLIAMS – Web and Technical Coordinator

Pam has held several administrative and technical positions over the last twenty plus years. Some of the duties have included processing of professional newsletters, magazines and email newsletters; graphics, web design and development. Pam has experience in networking, various operating systems (Unix/Ultrix, VAX/VMS, Macintosh and PC) and compatibility issues between these systems. In the past she has volunteered her technical and teaching services to various organizations including the Literacy Project in Greenfield, Massachusetts, the Brick House (battered women’s educational center) in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, the Wellness Network of Franklin County, Massachusetts, Women In Action (educational organization) in Greenfield, Massachusetts and Sacred Mountains Foundation, Inc. of Massachusetts, Arizona and Colorado. She currently is the owner/fiscal manger for Feeling Good Day Spa, LLC, a massage therapist and yoga teacher, co-owner of ManyMediaConcepts.com and continues to volunteer and consult for computers and web development.

VICTORIA VALENTINE – Adminstrative Assistant

Is the adminastrative assistant of GAYA. Has been an LPN since 1980 and is the mother of two sons. She was founder of Native Nature Awareness Group, a former member of Four Arrows, and cofounder of Earth Rhythm (www.earthrhythm.org). She has devoted her life to indigenous awareness and spirituality, environmental & social reform & healing. Also, she was a member of Lancaster Coalition of Peace & Justice and is a Green Party member.

Council of Advisors

HANNE STRONG is the President of the Manitou Foundation where she has created and facilitated the largest interfaith and ecumenical retreat center and sustainable teaching community in North America. She is the founder of the Earth Restoration Corps (ERC), an international environmental-educational program designed to conduct and facilitate action-based learning. Over the last 25 years Hanne has worked with indigenous peoples worldwide to assist in their efforts to preserve their spirituality, cultural values and land

JEFF GROSSBERG is a founding partner of Guidestone Consulting and serves as the Founding Executive Director of the Waldorf Alliance, a branch of the Rudolf Steiner Foundation. He was the Executive Director of Omega Institute, the nation's largest holistic education center.  He is also President of the Board of Living Routes, which brings college students on accredited programs to eco-villages around the world to live and learn about sustainability. Jeff has been creating, managing and consulting with visionary organizations for more than 30 years. In both board and staff roles, and for the last 15 years as a consultant to more than a hundred progressive enterprises, he has led visioning, strategic planning, organizational development, change management and business planning efforts and has managed numerous successful campaigns that have raised more than $100 million.

BETTY BALL co-administrator of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Coordinator of the Nonviolence Education Program, the Boulder Environmental Activists’ Resource and the Safety Net Project .

JOY FREEMAN has a, D.C., Ph.D. and has been a pioneer in the healing arts for over 25 years as a natural physician, expressive arts healer, and life transition coach. She brings together a rich background in natural health, transpersonal psychology, expressive arts, alternative therapies and wilderness rites of passage work She has lectured and offered workshops and retreats nationwide and is the author of the Book Express Yourself: Discover Your Inner Truth, Creative Self and The Courage To Let It Out, a companion music CD and a series of five body/mind videos. Joy has a unique way of inspiring people to release their creative selves through the integration of movement, song and spoken word. For excerpts, articles and more go to: www.ExpressYourSoul.com

JOHN STEINER is an activist, organizer, and philanthropist, brings together people, ideas, projects and money around common causes. He has been a founding member and leader of the Threshold Foundation, the Social Venture Network, and is a co-founder of GEMS, Green Economic Movement/Marketing Strategies, which employs entrepreneurial skills to intervene in the market place and is building a consumer/producer movement on behalf of a more ecologically sustainable economy.

MAKASHA ROSKE founding partner of the Hummingbird Community, is a social architect, meta-designer, entrepreneur, networker, health coach and spiritual guide. He is committed to modeling the principles of co-creation (cooperation, synergy and self organization) in all areas of life and as a great grandfather is devoted to serving the well being of future generations

ELLEN KLAVER graduate from the University without Walls in Denver with a bachelor’s degree in environmental education and environmental biology. She is a strong activist for the earth, peace and justice, and indigenous rights. She is also a professional Spanish interpreter.