The Team
Angus Finn MacLeod
Web & Video
Angus is an independent filmmaker and multimedia artist, currently studying for a BA in Electronic Media and the Arts at Bard College at Simon's Rock. Alongside helping produce various independent films, Angus also works as a Media Intern with the National Park Service in collaboration with Housatonic Heritage, creating AR displays and short documentaries to preserve and digitize notable cultural heritage sites. His desire to work with the Post Growth Institute comes from a desire to help people and the world, to move past an increasingly toxic world to one where a meaningful, free life can truly be lived. In his spare time, Angus is an avid drummer, artist, and writer, in the form of both creative fiction and journalism, and takes part in political and ecological activism. Angus splits his time between western Massachusetts and southern New York.
Crystal Arnold
Education Director & Facilitator
Crystal is the founder of Money-Morphosis and two online webinar courses. Since graduating from Southern Oregon University in 2007 with a degree in international economics, she has designed and facilitated workshops, community events, and discussion panels about money. In 2016 Crystal began the “Money-Wise Women” podcast, and has interviewed nearly 100 women on the show. She has inspired thousands of people to have a healthier relationship with money. Her courses serve to illuminate the individual’s relationship with money and value. As a financial coach, she encourages people to live their potential. Her written work has appeared in journals, magazines, and in the book called Reinhabiting the Village. She lives in Oregon with her husband and two children.
Dien Vo
Video & Design
Dien is an independent filmmaker and Assistant Professor at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. He has interests in community media, sustainability, and experimental art movements. Dien previously taught at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) and Virginia Tech, where he co-developed the filmmaking program. Dien became interested in post-growth economics through his interests in sociology, philosophy, and ecological wisdom. He lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and New York City, where he is most happy experiencing the colorful diversity of Jackson Heights.
Donnie Maclurcan
Executive Director & Facilitator
Donnie is a facilitator, author and social entrepreneur, passionate about all things not-for-profit. Originally from Australia, Donnie moved to the U.S. in 2013, from where he coordinates the Post Growth Institute.
A dynamic facilitator, Donnie has worked with community groups in Egypt, Australia, Europe, and the United States and is the creator of the Offers and Needs Market process. An Affiliate Professor of Economics at Southern Oregon University and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Donnie holds a Ph.D. in social science and has helped more than 500 not-for-profit projects start, scale and sustain their work across more than 30 countries.
Vannessa Michael
Design
Vanessa, a trained packaging engineer with a background in nutritional science, is passionate about sustainability in the context of business and consumer goods, and truly believes that a shared, prosperous future within planetary boundaries lies beyond the growth dogma. Vanessa is also a director of NOW (No Other Way), an organization working towards a humane ecology through education and business. A practitioner of systemic sustainable living, she publishes articles, delivers talks, and provides support to help people live a more ecological and conscious life. Vanessa is originally from Germany and based in the UK. She loves to leave-no-trace wild camp and wild swim with her husband and daughter.
Patrick Fitzgerald
Fundraising Director & Facilitator
Patrick is a fundraising manager, certified by the Fundraising Institute of Australia. The organising principle of his career has always been advancing social benefit. He majored in Geography and Environmental Science through his Bachelor of Arts, and became engaged in various environmental activism. Entering fundraising as a face-to-face canvasser, representing an environmental charity, he has gone on to lead annual and major giving initiatives at Australia's pre-eminent business school, a national mental health charity, a peak-body for community broadcasting and other causes. In 2020 he will begin a Master of Data Science. Patrick believes in economies and work cultures whose aim is greater wellbeing, and sees current systems failing in this. He is also deeply engaged in yoga philosophy and practice and is excited to be writing his first cabaret in which he will star!
Tyler Harris
Administration
Tyler is a Non-Profit Director and aspiring Project Manager based in Bend, Oregon. Graduating from Oregon Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Population Health Management, Tyler applies a systems-thinking mindset to implement sustainable programming within his community. His education, coupled with considerable experience leading diverse teams and coordinating projects, has provided the foundation to support his drive to make a positive impact alongside his neighbors. Tyler enjoys hiking in the sunshine, contemplating life's intricacies, and spending time with positive people.
Joel Zaslofsky
Project Manager & Facilitator
Mike Strode
Facilitator
Tannur Ali
Facilitator
Aidan Peterson
Web
Anto Ferraro
Facilitator
Kathryn Foubister
Fundraising & Facilitator
Viv Rockach
Graphics
Dani Leonardo
Facilitator
Natalie Holmes
Communications Director