Leadership Group
Rebekka Goldsmith (Administrative Director) is the former Director of Resident Services for King County Housing Authority where she spent 14 years creating and administering an array of social programs for youth, immigrants, refugees and families with limited incomes. During her tenure, Rebekka managed multi-million dollar annual budgets, developed housing policy and worked with residents and community workers to build and nurture community. Rebekka leads vocal improvisation workshops and uses her theater and music skills to facilitate empowerment workshops for adults and youth.
Charlie Murphy (Co-Director) is renowned for his group facilitation and program design work integrating the arts into youth development. He is an award-winning singer/songwriter with over 30 years experience in the field of experiential learning. In the 90’s Charlie served as national director of training for the YMCA Earth Service Corps, a youth environmental organization. In 1996 he co-founded Power of Hope and served as co-director for many years. In 2005 he received an Ashoka Fellowship in recognition of his life-long achievements as a change maker and for his work with the Power of Hope program.
Peggy Taylor, M. Ed, (Co-Director) is a writer, musician, and creative development specialist with a Masters of Education in Creative Arts in Learning from Lesley University in Cambridge MA, USA. She has over 30 years experience working in the fields of group facilitation and experiential learning. Peggy is co-founder and for many years was co-director of the Power of Hope. She is co-author of Chop Wood, Carry Water: A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life, which has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide. Peggy is on the board of Hollyhock, a learning center/retreat on Cortes Island, BC (Canada).
Board Members
Nadia Chaney is a poet, writer and arts-based empowerment facilitator
focusing on issues of identity, diversity, participatory process and non-violence. Her workshops have reached many communities, from Portland OR to Cortez Island, BC to Johannesburg, South Africa. She has worked with youth in detention, rehab, on probation, in foster care, in US “failing schools," in local community centers, at camps, at conferences, and at almost every school in the BC Lower Mainland. She was named one of BC’s 100 most influential Indo-Canadians in 2008.
Hanif Fazal is the founder and director of Step Up, an award winning empowerment-based tutor/mentor program in Portland, Oregon. Hanif has extensive experience working with youth of all levels of risk ranging from gang affiliation to some of our most socio-economically privileged youth. Hanif has worked extensively throughout North America providing empowerment, diversity, and intervention trainings for middle and high school students, teachers, and youth work professionals.
Sara Kendall is noted for her expertise in group facilitation, arts-based youth empowerment, social justice work, and performance art. She has traveled widely in South America and brings a strong international focus to her work with youth. She has served in leadership positions in several British Columbia-based youth organizations and has led initiatives related to youth issues for the City of Vancouver. Sara is currently program director for the Vancouver-based LOVE (Leave Out Violence) Program.
Richard Russell is the Board President for the Russell Family Foundation in Gig Harbor, WA. He is an artist, musician, and sustainable rancher on the island of Hawaii. He is also an organizational consultant (a.k.a. graphic facilitator) where he has drawn the “big picture” on the wall for many organizations. Richard’s son, Zac, now a junior at Sarah Lawrence college, participated in Power of Hope throughout his high school years.
Rupinder Sidhu is a Vancouver-based performance artist and facilitator. Rup leads programs with a variety of organizations including Power of Hope; Safe Teen, a violence prevention and gender awareness program; The Sarah MacLaughlin Music Outreach, a free inner-city music school; and his own initiative Metaphor, a program dedicated to bringing hip hop performances and workshops into schools, detention centers and rural communities.
Charles D. Terry, JD is President of Terry-MacGregor Associates, a consulting group in Langley, WA. He has 30 years experience advising philanthropists, foundations and NGO’s. He served as Director of Philanthropy for the Rockefeller Family Office and Rockefeller Financial Services in New York City, and as President of The Philanthropic Collaborative. Charles leads Money and Philanthropy workshops for NGO’s and community groups on dealing with cultural norms, values and taboos regarding money. His current artistic passion is digital photography, particularly documenting the lives of children around the world.
Lynne Twist is an author (of the book The Soul of Money), and co-founder with her husband Bill of The Pachamama Alliance, an organization dedicated to the preservation of indigenous cultures and the rainforest they inhabit. Lynne serves as a trustee of the John E. Fetzer Institute and is on the board of the Global Security Institute, and is president of the Turning Tide Coalition. She is a consultant and advisor to many organizations working on global issues and for 20 years served as an executive of The Hunger Project, an organization dedicated to ending world hunger.
Ian Watson (Chair) is an investor and entrepreneur investing in early stage companies. He is a board member of the Canadian Power of Hope Society. He served as board chair and board member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences for five years, and board chair of the Global Board of Directors of The Hunger Project for nine years. Ian’s daughter Lucinda participated in Power of Hope camps on Cortes island BC and works with the outreach staff of LifeBeat in London.
