Our Founder

Oscar Miro-Quesada, Founder

Respected Peruvian kamasqa curandero, UN Observer to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, OAS Fellow in Ethnopsychology, originator of Pachakuti Mesa cross-cultural shamanism, and founder of The Heart of the Healer Foundation.

Our THOTH Board of Directors

Jeff Schmitt, Chairperson

Professor, Physiology & Pharmacology, Translational Sciences Institute and the Program for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Wake Forest University Health Sciences. Co-Founder Bent Creek Institute. Co-Founder, the Medicinal Plant Germplasm Repository at the North Carolina Arboretum. Founding team member, Targacept, Inc.

Patty Dillon, ARRT - Treasurer

Owner/President of Travel Health of Georgia, INC d/b/a Passport Health. Studied at University of Texas Houston, MD Anderson Hospital and is registered in Radiologic Technology.  Apprentice of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition since 2004. Avid supporter of the Heart of the Healer working on the ground in the US as well as Peru to fulfill the vision of THOTH’s Rainforest Initiative.

Bonnie Knezo, Secretary

Bonnie has been on a spiritual quest virtually all of her life and a mesa carrier for 11 years - grateful apprentice of don Oscar Miro-Quesada. For over 30 years a licensed attorney, most recently partnered with husband-attorney, Steve, she is a Walker Between Worlds. She is the mother of four; gaining her "foundational" experience as member of various Parent Councils and yearly fundraising campaigns for The Westminster Schools in Atlanta. Bonnie is passionate in applying her various skills and legal mind to help THOTH grow and flourish and expand. As a founding member of the regional Qollasuyu Council as well as Secretary of THOTH, she inspires other professionals who are attuned to Earth-centered spirituality to help realize "one humanity living in balance with the Earth and Her inhabitants." Bonnie's deep interest and curiosity about the nature of things, including Nature Herself, is an asset to any Board dynamic...there is no better way, she feels, to get out of the box than to look with stillness at the Living World, the true Source of All that might be deemed pure "Magic."
 

Catherine Kendra Davis, Director

Owner of Kailo; Myopathic Instructor; Myopractor; Injury Specialist; Holistic Healthcare Practitioner. Kendra has been a body worker and myopractor for over 18 years, has retired from Pain Care of San Diego and is currently training therapists in myopathic neuro-muscular re-education. She is a sanctioned Pachakuti Mesa Tradition teacher and community weaver. She is a spiritual counselor, meditation teacher and journey instructor. She is a past community member of Madre Grande Monastery who has taken lifetime vows of service.

Mike McNett, Director

Physician with training/experience in pain management, addictions, publishing, clinical research, family practice, and emergency medicine. Spiritual pursuits include Zen Buddhism for over twenty years, mesa carrier for seven years, personal growth, holotrophic breathworks, and graduate study in transpersonal psychology. Interests include music appreciation/performance, skiing, home improvement, wine, rollerblading, and travel.

Jennifer Schofield, Director

Jennifer brings a professional skill set of working with governments and businesses to put renewable energy technologies into practical use.  In 2004 she began apprenticing the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition through its textiles and human communicants and through this tradition, each day has become an experiment in seeing through to the heart. Jennifer considers the community of earth stewards who have associated themselves with THOTH to be her family and it is a privilege to align with those who align with restoring our earth.

Erin Smith, Director

Erin is a medical herbalist and ethnobotanist, studying medicinal plants for over 20 years, with a MSc in Ethnobiology. She has been consulting internationally on traditional medicine, ethnobotany - with a specific focus on biocultural diversity, community based conservation, traditional ecological knowledge and medical herbalism. Her experience includes being Former Managing Director of Global Diversity Foundation-North America and has also consulted with the Food and Agricultural Organization and Global Initiative for Traditional Systems (GIFTS) of Health. She is currently based in Boulder, Colorado.

Our Staff

Kim Hughes, Operations Manager

Living in beautiful Black Mountain, 15 minutes from Asheville, North Carolina, is our part-time US Operations Manager. Kim brings both business and community building experience to the THOTH team. She is owner/manager of White Horse, a music/arts venue in Black Mountain, and has her own private practice in Spiritual & Personal Coaching.  Kim is currently managing our staff, assisting with communications, extending the outreach of the organization, working alongside our program chairs and has experience in fundraising and acquiring financial assistance.

Joni Stone, Technical Specialist

From the foothills of North Carolina, is our part-time Website and Database Manager. Joni brings extensive experience of Information Technology and Marketing, and throughout her career has worked with well known Fortune 500 corporations, medium to small businesses, as well as nonprofits such as The Art Institue of Chicago and the Iredell Museum in local Statesville, NC. She has over 15 years in Technical Support and can offer training and troubleshooting on a variety of programs. 

Susan Congelosi, Bookkeeper

Hailing from Boone, North Carolina, is our part-time Bookkeeper who brings a keen eye and great caring to her job. She is also the Operations Manager for Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit environmental organization. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree for the California College of the Arts in Oakland, Ca. She moved to Boone to build a glassblowing studio, and has resided there ever since. She pursued further studies in accounting and real estate, and has worked in both fields for some years. Susan still loves art and has always been a passionate defender of the environment. In the last 10 years she has also become an enthusiastic student of Peruvian shamanism.