David A Brown was born into a farming family in 1936; graduated from UC Berkeley in 1958; founded and is still active in a real estate development and management company, Reynolds and Brown; and participates as a board member and investor in a number of other business ventures. He started his philanthropic activity around 1980 with various not-for-profit organizations in the less developed world including small project development and micro-credit. Hidden Leaf Foundation was initiated in this period. Self awareness practice has been a central theme of Dave’s life for decades. He is an active board member of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. He is married to Lowell Brook who is an artist and minister; they reside in Berkeley, California where they have an active life including family and community.
Tara Brown directs Hidden Leaf Foundation and co-chairs the Seasons Fund for Social Transformation. After ten years working in international community development, Tara began her work for transformational social change with a Masters Degree in Integral Anthropology (focusing on Ecology and Social Change). For six years, she then directed the Institute for Deep Ecology, which articulates a mind/body/spirit worldview addressing many of today’s pressing social and environmental quandaries. Tara’s current passions include surfing and parenting her
16-year-old son.
Karie Brown, principal of KB Consulting, partners with individual donors, foundations, and nonprofit groups to promote effective philanthropy and social change. She helps her clients to manage transitions successfully and build robust programs and healthy organizations. She coaches individual board and senior staff members and facilitates group meetings to address key issues, enhance personal and organizational understanding, and develop appropriate structures and systems. Prior to starting her consulting practice, Karie served as the Director of Programs for Tides Foundation, a progressive, donor-advised grantmaking institution based in San Francisco. In this position, she provided strategy design and program services to Tides’ clients, covering such issues as the environment, economic justice, and women’s rights. Previously, she was the Director of Programs for Katalysis Foundation and the first Executive Director for International Development Exchange. Karie has a Masters degree in regional planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford. She currently serves as a trustee for five nonprofit organizations and philanthropic entities. She thoroughly enjoys raising her three teenage children and finds balance through her yoga practice.
Kristen Stinnett-Brown graduated from Stanford University in 1989 receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology with an emphasis on Environmental Science and Policy. Since then she has worked for a number of outdoor and environmental organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, the Environmental Law Foundation, San Mateo Outdoor Education School, and Outward Bound. With Pacific Crest Outward Bound, Kristen served as a wilderness instructor for five years and then as Associate Program Director of the Oregon & Idaho Programs for four years. Most recently, she directed Project Management for Plan It Solar, a locally-owned solar company based in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Kristen has been dedicated to inner reflection since her early 20’s, deeply engaging in practices guided by organizations such as Temenos and Diamond Heart and on her own through yoga and nature.
Jenny George serves as Hidden Leaf’s program officer. She holds a B.A. in Human Ecology and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Alongside her work in transformative social change, she is also a poet and a teacher.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
— George Orwell