The Team
Danu Folk School is a collective of nature-based educators and cultural programmers. Programs are operated and owned by staff members, whilst Danu provides the platform, mentorship, and growing community to make programs a success.
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This cooperative structure prioritizes ownership and autonomy for program stewards—educators, artists, and programmers—fostering a sustainable business model that strengthens the future of the outdoor and cultural education sectors.
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Get in touch if you'd like to become a collaborator.
Kester Lwin Reid
Founder & Director
Kester is the founder and director of Danu Folk School, stewarding the teen and adult programs and guiding the school’s vision at the intersection of cultural inquiry, nature connection, and education for reconciliation. Prior to launching Danu, Kester was co-founder and director of Fianna Wilderness School for six years, shaping it into a thriving platform of land-based learning.
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A first-generation settler in Canada of Gaelic, Burmese and English ancestry, Kester has spent over a decade engaged in deep cultural inquiry, working alongside Indigenous communities in the Amazon, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories. His work has included land restoration projects, cultural exchanges, and spiritual site reclamation, alongside extensive study with traditional knowledge-keepers, the Animas Valley Institute, and Wilderness Awareness School.
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A musician, storyteller, and artisan, Kester performs traditional Gaelic stories and songs with Siarimis and leads the Latin band El Combo Cumbialandia. His craft practices—basketry, hide tanning, and leatherwork—are part of a broader commitment to rekindling tradition and deepening relationships between people, place, and ancestral knowledge.
Alysia Livesey
Education Director
Allie is an outdoor educator, herbalist, and guide with years of experience mentoring youth in nature-based learning. As Education Director of Danu Folk School, she oversees the educational mission of the school, and stewards the Farm Wayfinders, Cumberland Wayfinders, Wood Sisters, Innisfree Herbalists, and Farm Monthly programs.
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She has worked with outdoor schools in BC and Ontario and studied with the PINE Project, Dominion Herbal College, and Trent University, earning a BA in Indigenous Environmental Studies, and a BC teacher's certification.
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Allie finds joy in exploring her Celtic and Mediterranean ancestry and in the reciprocal relationships between people and place. She is passionate about herbal medicine, natural fibre arts, and storytelling. Whether tending her garden, spinning wool, or climbing mountains, she seeks to honour traditional ways of knowing and being.
Danielle Robinson
Community Director
Dani is a nature-based educator, permaculturist, musician, marine naturalist and community builder with a passion for land-based learning and traditional skills. As Community Director of Danu Folk School, she supports the cultural mission of the school and stewards the Farm Wayfinders, Cumberland Wayfinders, Wood Sisters, Innisfree Herbalists, and Farm Monthly programs.
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Growing up on the prairies, tending an obsession with wild creatures from a young age, she was drawn to the wild spaces that called to her beyond the edges of city life. Her journey led her around the world until she reached O.U.R. Ecovillage, where she deepened her knowledge of permaculture, natural building, animal husbandry and community living—eventually managing a nine-acre garden and teaching visiting students. Her fascination with wild plants, animals, and traditional ways of living sparked an ongoing exploration of self-sufficiency, ancestral skills, and the deep connections between people and place.
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Dani finds immense joy in mentoring youth in nature, fostering curiosity, resilience, and a sense of belonging. Whether tending a garden, preserving food, playing music, immersing herself in the ocean, exploring her heritage or wandering the land, she is always guided by a love for learning, community, and the land that holds us all.