Forever grateful to call the majestic mountains of the Kootenays home for 30+ years, Tanin’s professional experiences include a B.A in business, former ECE assistant, over 8 years mentoring youth, leading & facilitating multiple Rites Of Passage programs, offering hiphop/music workshops (as Kosmic T) within SD8, lead-mentor in outdoor nature programs through The Forest Path, Nature Kids, and most recently Kootenay Rites of Passage. He is an ongoing student of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, an earth-honouring wisdom tradition from the heartlands of Peru – with over 8 years of active practice. It brings him great joy to weave some of the beauty of these wisdom-ways into the programs on offer – emphasizing respect for all life, sacred reciprocity, and gratitude for Mother Earth. Few are the things Tanin enjoys more than helping youth re-connect with the beauty, love, and transformative power of Mother Nature. He is honoured to play his role in reviving the lost-art of Rites Of Passage and Mentorship within our community (and beyond) in service to the next generation of boys and young men.

Eric has spent the last 33 years exploring the majesty of the West Kootenay mountains and lush valleys. As well as bering an avid gardener, Eric has created and managed a thriving health food store, as well as guided weeklong ocean kayak adventures off the wild coast of Vancouver Island.
 A proud father of a recently graduated high school son, Eric has felt the deep calling to be of utmost service and support to our youth. He is a certified educational assistant and has been supporting outdoor programs for youth through the Forest Path programs and the PharaTree Learning Centre. He has also worked full time supporting autistic adults.
 Trained in the shamanic arts of the Andean cross cultural Pachakuti Mesa tradition, Eric is excited to help foster a deeper sense of presence and authenticity within each boy through utilizing talking circles and heart felt sharing, as well as modelling, nurturing and instilling a sense of the sacred in all our relations.

Mike Elliott has been devoted to the personal development journey for over 15yrs. With struggles as a teenager and young man it inspired him to seek help and set him on a path of growth. In his journey of self-discovery Mike has worked with therapists, healers and coaches to help him uncover his greatest gifts. He is now working as a life coach supporting others to step more more into their greatness. He is also active in two men’s groups – one he initiated and another one that’s global. His mission is to support others in the depth of their experience and guide them to live their purpose. “I feel really passionate about working with young men out in nature and helping them bridge to the unconditional love, beauty and support Mother Nature offers us. “Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better” -Albert Einstein. This quote guides my life and to be in a mentorship role is a true honour. Experiencing the magic TOGETHER!”

Raised on Vancouver Island where the mountains meet the sea, Sean grew up with a great appreciation for his natural surroundings. Outdoor adventure and community service has been a primary focus in his life.

As a 26-year veteran with the British Columbia Wildfire Service, he has had the opportunity to work, supervise and mentor fire crews throughout the province.

When Sean is not training new recruits or suppressing wildfire he enjoys backcountry skiing, mountain biking, cycle touring, hunting, fishing, paddling and rock climbing. Also, he is a 2023 graduate from Selkirk College, Kootenay School of the Arts Blacksmithing Art/Metal Program.

Having spent the last 22 years living in the Nelson area, his connection to the people and the land continue to grow. In recent years, Sean has been studying the love based and earth honouring spiritual practice of the Andean Pachakuti Mesa Tradition which has allowed him to forge deeper connection with the world, the universe, and others – revealing the interdependent nature and divinity of all things. Sean is stoked to be supporting the Young Men’s Rights of Passage Program to contribute to building confidence and awareness in young men.

Nathaniel has been an elementary educator for a little over six years and is currently teaching a grade 6 class in Castlegar. During his mid-twenties Nathaniel began melding his love of mythology, martial arts, swordplay, and of warrior and spiritual traditions from around the world. This came to fruition when he inadvertently started a youth swordplay group in Nelson that lasted over 6 years, only ending when he had to leave the area to attend school.

During this time, Nathaniel saw the benefits that body awareness, creativity, moving meditation, and rising to meet a challenge had on children when combined with play. He was also happy to hear years later that these benefits continued into adulthood. Twenty years later, Nathaniel still carries this passion with him and continues to learn and refine his art, leaping at any opportunity to pass on his love of holistic swordplay.

Nathaniel has called the Kootenays his home since he was a wee lad. Raised by homesteading parents with the forest as his backyard, he understands the importance of having a personal connection to the natural world.

Answering a call to the Canadian Rockies at an early age, Alex's life has been one immersed in mountains, learning and adventure. From musician to published writer and overland adventurer to careers in hospitality and transportation, he's worn many hats contributing to a well rounded life of self discovery and personal growth.

Having received so much from the Kootenays community, Alex is honoured to give back as a youth mentor. Leading with an open heart and calm demeanour, his aim is to inspire a deeper understanding of self love and awareness, physical health and spiritual growth, all offered through the wisdom gained from a life of listening, learning, healing and contemplation.

Arie is passionate about guiding the youth back into connection with the larger web of life. He believes the natural world provides an endless resource that allows us to deepen into the fullness of our potential through the meeting of ourselves with our surroundings. Arie is trained with a bachelor of Child and Youth Care and am trained in somatic relational attachment therapy. He practices and facilitates the arts of Sacred Clown and Poetry. He has a longtime philosophical/spiritual practice of meditation and imaginal inquiry inspired by the work of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposohy and the Christian Mystical Tradition. I have recently been expanding this to include Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being through an apprenticeship in the Pachakuti Mesa tradition of the Quero people from the Peruvian Andes.

If you are reading this, you are probably a parent who wants their children to be able to handle the challenges of the coming world. Young men once again need to learn about who they are, what motivates them at their core, and what they uniquely can contribute to society. My life so far has been a journey to find answers to that myself.

After completing Highschool in Germany, I traveled to different places that focus on the growth of human consciousness and the cultivation of new ways of learning, and self-education for current and future generations. During that time, I realized that a significant part of what was needed was my own healing. Consequently, I underwent a 2-year Gestalt therapy training, followed by a 3-year Journey on a modern "Initiation Path" into adulthood, called "Possibility Management". It was during that time, that I started working as an emotional competence coach, offering healing spaces in single sessions and group contexts.

All through that time I felt I was preparing myself to be able to work with children and to have children one day myself. Now with finding the work of Kootenay Rites of Passage, I feel a calling to engage in the work (certainly not as someone perfect, but always learning) with the youth and share my skills and experiences.

David Stegman is an executive mindset coach trained through the Co-Active Training Institute. He has a strong focus on accountability, vulnerability, and practical tools for personal growth. He has extensive experience working with men and a passion for rites of passage work with boys and young men. He is the co-founder of the Rad Dad Collective and strongly believes in the importance of having healthly male role models out in the world. He lives in Nelson BC with his wife and two young kids Noah and Amara.

See bio above*

See bio above*

Dinny Landsowne is a creative entrepreneur, founder of Inspired Source Media Inc. - designer, and a branding strategist for conscious entrepreneurs for the last 20 years. Mentor and advisor for Kootenay ROP.

David Hatfield is a TED Talks featured speaker, leadership consultant and educational facilitator specializing in rites of passage, masculinity, and conflict transformation. He has facilitated Rites Of Passage experiences for young men internationally for over 20 years. David holds an M.Ed. in social ecology and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Oscar Miro-Quesada Solevo is a respected kamasqa curandero and altomisayoq adept from Peru, founder of The Heart of the Healer (THOTH), originator of Pachakuti Mesa Tradition™ cross-cultural shamanism. An internationally acclaimed shamanic teacher and healer, earth-honoring ceremonialist and author, don Oscar is OAS Fellow in Ethnopsychology and member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle and Birth 2012 Welcoming Committee.

Terence lives with his partner on an old homestead near Nelson, British Columbia, on Sinixt, Syilx, and Ktunaxa territory. He was born in England to an English mother and a Canadian father, and has lived most of his life in Canada. His father’s ancestors came to this land from Scotland 150 years ago, and his mother’s came from England and Italy. In his 20’s and 30’s Terence taught yoga and managed a publishing company. In his 40’s he moved to Toronto and worked as a financial advisor and investment executive. In the last twenty years, he travelled extensively in South America and India, and is now a board member of the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute in Nelson.