Ashley Byers
Howdy, I’m Ashley! Living most of my life in the harsh natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country and beginning my herbal journey among the prickliest of plant kin has filled me with much awe and respect for the natural world.
My initiation into herbalism was sparked during the pandemic and I began my formal herbal training in 2021 with Sacred Journey School of Herbalism in Austin, Texas. Most recently I have been a direct student of the land through co-stewardship of ten rustic acres in Llano, Texas for three years prior to relocating to the Twin Cities in the summer of 2025. I’m currently on a side quest in departure from my first career path as a commercial interior designer, digging into the soil to retrieve my creative roots as an artist and experimenting with ways to intersect and alchemize the medicine of art, design and herbalism. I’m excited to join the NCHG board for a 2025-2027 term as a member-at-large hospitality lead which is a perfect opportunity to merge my design skills, creativity and passion for plants in community with the people who love them!
Olive Lewinski Albanese
Hi, I’m Olive. Growing up a lover of the Great Lakes Region, the Kettles, Moraines, prairies, bogs, lakes and forests of Wisconsin, I started learning plant identification as a child, and have never stopped gravitating towards plant spirits and plant people.
The Southeast Women’s Herb Conference introduced me to plant walks and the wisdom of Herbalists that is naturally transmitted while walking. My windy life path brought me to Cuba where the integration of herbs, acupressure and flower essences was a natural part of medical education. Currently a fellow in the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and serving as a General Practitioner PCP for my mostly Spanish-speaking patient population in NE MPLS, I integrate herbs into treatment plans daily and continue to dream up a revolution of the healthcare system in which we collaborate with the earth, water, plants and each other to nurture and sustain thriving families and communities for generations. I am happy to serve in the North Country Herb Guild to continue to strengthen partnerships for healing.
I am Amy Sponaugle. I have been with North Country Herbalist Guild since 2019 and a board member since 2020.
My lifelong love of gardening and herbs encourages me to regularly attend herbal conferences, workshops, and plant walks.
I enjoy visiting and learning from all types of gardens and am especially inspired by LuAnn Raadt’s medicinal herb garden.
I am currently studying the core Horticulture course through the Master Gardener program. I look forward to volunteering and learning more about native perennials in 2024.
Kathy Tran
My name is Kathy Tran. I’ve been Secretary for the last six years. I’m a perpetual learner and I love that herbs are always teaching me. I enjoy being on the board, planning events, sending out the yearly calendar, and sending out the monthly newsletter. Looking forward to another two years and building incredible friendships.
Judit O’Keeffe
My name is Judit O’Keeffe. I was an active member of the Guild even before the Pandemic started. I joined soon after we arrived in the Twin Cities area in 2013. I believe that supporting the Guild is immensely important for the herbal community here in the Twin Cities and would like to join the Board to make further contributions to it.
At the monthly meetings, I enjoy the wide variety of topics offered and the opportunity to interact with like minded people.
I have volunteered for fundraising in my son’s school several times. I contacted business and helped set up the event.
I am also a student of herbal medicine. I studied with many teachers: Lise Wolf, Mathew Wood, Martin Bulgerin, Rosemary Gladstar and Michael Tierra. I am taking a professional Flower Essence course right now. I also have a Masters’ degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology.
My hobbies are gardening, dancing, photography and scrapbooking.
Rachel Zerby
Hi, I’m Rachel! I joined the NCHG board in 2023 as member-at-large, helping with membership tracking, emails, and social media, and then served as president for 2024-25. I am now serving my second term. While I work full-time as an audiologist, I’m also slowly working towards my Registered Herbalist (RH) credential through the American Herbalists Guild, with the goal of one day seeing clients as a clinical herbalist. I first became interested in herbal medicine through an interest in foraging, a hobby that started for me while in graduate school, but that has now become more of a lifestyle. I love getting outside as much as I can to discover new plants and mushrooms. I’m currently enrolled with Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism, and have also taken classes with talented herbal teachers in the upper Midwest like jim mcdonald, Jessie Belden, and Linda Black Elk. In the past, I have also served on the board for the Minnesota Academy of Audiology (MAA), and I try to apply that leadership experience to my work for the NCHG.
Pam Broekemeier
Hi there! I have been studying plants, herbs and weeds for about 15 years now.
I have my own herbal apothecary, called theHERBAL Cache. I love learning and then sharing that knowledge with others. I have teach classes, hold webinars, write blog posts and make videos. I forage a lot of the plants I use in making my herbal products.
I wanted to serve on the North Country Herbalist Guild board because I want to help make a difference and bring knowledge to our community.
When I am not working, I love watching movies, gardening, reading, camping and spending time with my family.
Amy Daws
My name is Amy Daws. My interest in herbalism started after working at a clinic geared towards holistic health. I was exposed to a lot of alternative treatment methods and found herbs to be a game changer in my own healing. In 2018, I signed up for Jessie Belden’s Herban Roots Apprenticeship program and was so delighted to learn that our herbal friends are all around us, especially in my backyard! In 2023, I took Lise Wolff’s Three Seasons of Herbalism programs which helped me hone my identification and clinical herbalist skills. I now incorporate herbalism into my massage + bodywork practice in south Minneapolis. I’m excited to be a part of the NCHG Board and looking forward to connecting more deeply with the plants and the herbal community.
Emily Pearson Ryan
Carolyn Smith
Carolyn began serving as Vice President of the NCHG Board of Directors in January 2020. She has been in consultation practice as an herbalist since 2013. Her educational background in herbal medicine includes intensive study and apprenticeship with herbalist Lise Wolff since 2008, study with various other herbalists and holistic health practitioners over the years, immersive internships in herb cultivation with both Herb Pharm and Red Clover Herbal Apothecary, incorporating plant medicine into her masters thesis, and working in health foods retail specializing in herbal supplements. Her favorite plant is the dandelion, and other interests include reading, hiking, and learning wilderness skills which she finds greatly enriching to her herbal practice and understanding of plants.
Laura Shaw Sanden
Laura is a Master and Teacher of Unlimited Body, Unlimited Breath, and a certified Western Herbalist. She is trained in Flower Essences, Homeopathy, Ho’oponopono, Buddhist Psychology, and Jungian Psychology. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development from St. Mary’s University.
Her search for the keys to healing has led her to many diverse experiences, including sleeping in a cave in Tibet, breathing for 45 minutes while submerged in freezing water, and walking on fire seven times without being burned.
Laura has been in practice for over 20 years and teaches both locally and nationally, most recently: at Minnesota’s Herbal Festival, at the Northwestern Academy of Homeopathy, on public television as part of the Mind-Body Lecture Series, and at The Minnesota Waldorf Holistic Health & Wellness Conference.
She has work experience in non-profit at the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and volunteer experience including chairing the Minnesota Waldorf Schools annual Holiday Fair.
Laura has significant writing, board and fundraising experience, professionally and as a volunteer. In addition to her work as President of the Guild, Laura currently serves on the Orono Softball Association board as Fundraising and Community Development Director.
Laura has a private practice in Excelsior, Minnesota at Peak Life Clinic. She lives in Orono, Minnesota with her husband, two home-birthed daughters, and a Papillon named Cowboy.
laurashawconsulting.com
612-598-7438