Warren Berkowitz | Board Member | Blue Hill, ME
Warren Berkowitz was a long-time friend of the Nearings and one of the Good Life Center’s first stewards. After 40 years of service in public education Warren now lives in Blue Hill, Maine with his wife Nancy. Warren’s goals as a Board Member and Farm Manager include maintaining Forest Farm to provide future generations with access to the inspiring Nearing legacy, nurturing the Residential Steward Program and inviting youth groups to participate in the Good Life Center’s Daily activities. A proud parent, Warren’s two adult children have wonderful memories of time spent with Helen at Forest Farm. Daughter Jenny lives in Waterville, ME, with husband Masi, a Colby College administrator, and children Nachshon and Nandi. Warren's son Jacob Scott is an international economics analyst in Washington, DC. Warren’s primary interests include gardening, yoga, and tennis.
Mary Hildebrand | Bookkeeper | Surry, ME
Mary Hildebrand lives with her husband Steve in an owner-built, solar powered off-grid home in Surry, Maine, where they grow a lovely garden on their small, wooded, pastured lot. Mary is a firm believer in Scott and Helen Nearing’s pay-as-you-go philosophy. She enjoys volunteering at The Simmering Pot Community Supper and is a member of the Hancock County Food Security Network. Along with Steve and a small group of close friends she shouts it out with a local rock n’ roll band known as The Free Radicals.
Rachael M Rollson | Board Chair | West Gardiner, ME
Rachael M Rollson lives on a fruit-filled homestead in West Gardiner and runs a radical small press bookstore and sourdough community-supported-bakery with her spouse in Gardiner, ME (Stone Broke Bread & Books). They hold a PhD from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Arts, writing on the Nearings and other progressive American thinkers and artists, and an MFA in Art and Social Theory from Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. Rachael is honored to have been a part of the 2021 Speaker Series at the Good Life Center with a talk entitled "Bread Philosophy: Forgotten Justices in Situating Scott Nearing".
Avery Yale Kamila | Board Member | Portland, ME
Avery Yale Kamila is a writer and history researcher based in Portland. She is the founder of the Maine Vegetarian History Project and the former author of the Vegan Kitchen column in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. She grew up at Sunshine Farm, an organic homestead in Litchfield, Maine, where Living the Good Life and the Nearings were regular topics of conversation. When Avery embraced vegetarianism while in high school, her mother gifted her a copy of Helen Nearing’s vegetarian cookbook Simple Food for the Good Life. Avery has co-curated exhibitions about vegetarian history for the Maine Historical Society in Portland and The Vegan Museum in Chicago. She co-founded the grassroots environmental group Portland Protectors, which convinced the Portland City Council to pass the nation’s strongest organic land care ordinance in 2018. Avery lives with her husband and young son in a 200-year-old downtown Portland home, where the organic courtyard garden is a certified wildlife habitat.
Chris Morrison | Board Member | Portland, ME
After a health scare in his late twenties, Chris came to the realization that he drastically needed to change his eating habits. Inspired by the Nearings, Chris and Carole have 200+ sq. ft. of raised beds, compost bins, and a couple of prolific blueberry bushes on their 1/10 acre property in Portland, Maine. “Do what you can, where you can," is Chris' motto since his second season as a Resident Steward at Forest Farm. The Nearings' example of how to live, “sanely and simply in a troubled world,” has become a touchstone for Chris in countless ways. Chris believes that Helen and Scott Nearing humbly inspired thousands to action by their regenerative farming practices, their social and political activism, and by living what they taught. Chris is a step-father and an outdoor skills educator, and has worked in the Industrial Arts for close to 40 years. Chris spends most of his free time with family and friends, enjoying outdoor activities whenever possible.
Jillian Impastato | Board Member | Waterville, ME
Jillian is a museum worker based in Waterville, Maine. She has experience working in K-12, adult, and higher education in New York, Massachusetts, Norway (the country), and Maine. She enjoys reading, going to the sauna, and volunteering on her friend’s farm.
Samantha Jones | Board Member | Blue Hill, ME
Dr. Samantha Jones is an artist-philosopher, an educator at University of Maine, and a feral woodswoman who grew up in the community of Nearingites. Living close to nature she understands the legacy of human and non-human relations and the work that still needs to be done in care of all beings. She has lived in the Blue Hill area all of her life, now with her spouse and son, a dog, and occasionally some chickens.
Matthew Shank | Board Member | Hallowell, ME
Matt works for the ME Dept of Environmental Protection. Originally from Maryland, Matt owned his own business for many years, and was an educator in Korea. Moving to Maine, Matt hopes to be able to connect with community that wants to make a positive difference in the world and sees how relevant the Nearing's work is still.
David Chapman | Board Member | Blue Hill, ME
David Chapman is originally from New Hampshire, where he studied psychology with a minor in art. He also worked as a ski instructor. Then he spent two decades in the insurance industry before going back to school for a masters in school counseling. This led him to more than a decade of work in New Hampshire high schools. He moved to Blue Hill when he retired during the pandemic looking for community, where he became more interested in organic gardening and vegetarian food.
Greg Joly | Advisory Board Member | Jamiaca, VT
Sam Adels | Advisory Board Member | Beacon, NY
Jocelyn Langer | Advisory Board Member | Northampton, MA
Keith Morton | Advisory Board Member | Warren, RI