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 a 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.
Lisa Levez-Bordeleau
qathet Steward
Lisa has journeyed from a 12-year career as a professional biologist to pursue a transformative M.Sc. in Human Ecology, focusing on how humans can participate in healthy, life-sustaining systems. This path led her to specialize in land-based education.
Over the past decade, she has designed and facilitated outdoor programs with organizations including The Earth is Hiring, Red-tailed Hawk Forest School, Discovery Forest, Stepping Stones Daycare, and Fianna Wilderness School. This August will mark six years of residence on Texada Island, situated within the traditional territory of the Tla’amin Nation. She has been leading Texada – qathet Naturekids for the past three years as a volunteer.
On Texada, she and her family and manage a hobby farm guided by permaculture principles. She holds deep gratitude for the Tla’amin specifically of the Coastal Salish Peoples, the traditional stewards of this land, whose knowledge continues to inform and inspire all who follow after them.
Through her Forest School Practitioner Certification work and experience, she has developed a profound appreciation for land-based learning and the application of Forest School principles, which cultivate deeper relationships with each other, the land, and our shared stories.
Dave Powrie
qathet Guest Instructor
Dave is a conservationist with over 31 years of experience and a deep commitment to both people and their natural environments. His diverse career includes work in K9 units, conservation bush schools, and as a five-day walking guide in South Africa’s Big Five region. He has also worked in youth ministry in the UK, ecotourism management, and conducted dedicated research on lion feeding ecology and African elephant behaviour.
Dave has held senior roles in protected areas executive management, served as a Fire Incident Commander Level 3, and is a strong advocate against wildlife and human trafficking. He has also supported governance and vertical integration for Indigenous-led land management practices.
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Family is central to Dave’s post-corporate lifestyle, which he shares with his wife and two sons. He spends much of his time outdoors with his boys, enjoying activities such as freshwater and ocean fishing, mountain biking, canoeing, golf, camping (with Freda Lake as a favourite), swimming, pickleball, sailing, hiking, scuba diving, and flying.
Jennifer Moore
qathet Guest Instructor
Jennifer brings 35 years of experience with the Coast Guard, specializing in marine search and rescue and emergency communications. She contributes strong safety awareness and leadership skills to the qathet Light Trekkers program.
Having worked on all three coasts and taught first aid for a decade, Jennifer has developed a deep commitment to care, preparedness, and support.
As a longtime Girl Guides leader, she has led numerous camping trips along the north coast, including Haida Gwaii.
Jennifer is passionate about plants, ancestry, and the enduring connections between land and spirit, remaining attentive to what calls for care and service. She also operates New Earth Healing and volunteers actively on Texada Island.
Sofia Khan
qathet Guest Instructor
Sofia lives in close relationship with the natural world, immersed daily in a landscape that invites deep attunement to seasonal change. Through foraging, wildcrafting, and medicine making, she engages in practices that reconnect her to ancestral ways of knowing.
As a volunteer firefighter, Sofia brings a grounded and responsive presence shaped by training in crisis management and first aid. She is devoted to service and to remaining open-hearted in the ways she is called to contribute.
Holding a deep reverence for the body and movement, Sofia facilitates bi-weekly ecstatic dance gatherings that invite free movement and embodied storytelling. Her daily practice centres on sustaining vitality, openness, and hope for collective transformation.
Tarah Mollie Duncan
qathet Guest Instructor
Tarah supports children in developing deep, meaningful connections with the natural world through forest school education. She helps foster confidence, resilience, and self-awareness through hands-on exploration, recognizing nature as a powerful teacher of curiosity, creativity, and emotional regulation.
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With training in somatic coaching, breathwork, and Indigenous cultural perspectives, Tarah is committed to creating spaces where children feel safe, seen, and inspired. Her goal is to cultivate a calm and inclusive environment that encourages thoughtful risk-taking, curiosity, and joyful engagement, while nurturing lasting relationships with the land, with others, and with oneself.
