Heather Manning

Heather Manning is a dedicated Garden Educator and Yoga Instructor based in Pittsburgh, committed to promoting sustainability and well-being through horticulture and mindfulness practices. As a full-time Garden Educator at Grow Pittsburgh, Heather oversees several school gardens, providing hands-on gardening experiences that connect young learners to nature and environmental stewardship. With a 500-hour Registered Yoga Instructor certification and Phipps Sustainable Landcare accreditation, Heather combines her expertise in wellness and ecological sustainability to create holistic, enriching educational experiences. Click the button below to learn more.

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Carrie McCann

Carrie McCann is a death and grief companion, educator, gardener, and wellness consultant with 15 years of experience in supporting people through life’s biggest transitions and changes. She strives to hold exploratory, accessible, and gentle space for people to honor endings and difficult moments, acknowledge death, and be with grief. Drawing on her background in social work, breath and movement practices, and nature based approaches. Carrie offers practical, emotional, and spiritual support for dying, grief and loss of all kinds to individuals, communities, and organizations. Carrie is passionate about helping people experience more moments of care and connection and explores the many ways this can look through her work as the founder of Moonset & Co. Click the button below to learn more.

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Lisa Story

Lisa Story, a nature enthusiast, is the founder of Hope Grows, a non-profit organization Cultivating Caregiver Wellness. A Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Thanatologist, Lisa’s professional experience in grief and bereavement and the connection to the natural world has led her to the path of the non-profit. She also holds certificates in addictions counseling and horticultural therapy. Working in hospice as a spiritual and bereavement counselor, Lisa saw firsthand the strain and stress of the family caregiver and soon the Hope Grows mission became the forefront of her existence.  A blogger, author, part-time faculty member of Robert Morris University in psychology, national and local speaker on the topic of caregiver respite, Jefferson award recipient, and 2022 UPMC Caregiver Champion recipient, Lisa believes that mindfulness, having a positive outlook, and connecting to nature is therapeutic. You can follow Lisa on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Juliet Wahlenmayer, NCC, LPC, CCTP, Director, Glade Run Adventures 

Julie has a passion for connecting individuals to the natural environment in order to gain the numerous mental health benefits that this intentional connection has to offer.  She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies then, realizing the innate connection between humans and their environments, gained her Master's degree in Community Mental Health Counseling. With decades of experience in providing horticultural and animal assisted therapies, and a penchant for lifelong learning, Julie continues to accrue certifications in providing evidence based treatments for mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, ASD and PTSD. Serving as the Director of Glade Run Adventures for more than 20 years, Julie directs nature based educational programming, summer camps, individual and group counseling and wellness workshops.  Focused more recently on the treatment of trauma, Julie primarily partners with the environment and animals in order to establish a sense of safety and calm in clients’ nervous systems in order to progress into trauma healing. Julie firmly believes that humans are not separate from, but an integral part of, our natural world and that our mental and physical health is connected to that of the Earth. Click the button below to learn more about Julie's work.

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Jacquelin Walker

Jacquelin Walker is a lawyer, organizer of arts experiences, yoga instructor, and advocate for equity in the arts and entertainment sectors, dedicating her career to using the power of storytelling to transform American culture. Her mission is to create agency for those marginalized by or completely missing from American media, utilizing her legal, creative, and yoga practices as laboratories to explore the possibilities of centering the care, concerns and visions of artists. Click the button below to learn more.

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