Team
Meet the Team
Our team is a diverse circle of guides and visionaries walking the path of healing, beauty, and transformation. Each brings unique gifts in service to your journey—and to the evolution of humanity and Earth.
Beyond a team, we are a family, uniting the lands and lineages of North and South America. We share the medicine of love and hope in devotion to a more beautiful, conscious, and just world.
Brian Dunham
Founder/Chief Evolution Officer
Brian is an activist, artist, explorer, and guide whose greatest passion is to weave elegant chrysalises for the evolution of human consciousness with a life-changing journey embedded in the heart of the experience.
He is the founder of Evolutionary Journeys, a social enterprise startup that brought to life A Celebration of Sacred Convergence and A Prayer for the Sanctuary of the Sacred Headwaters, and migrates between the ecosystems of the San Francisco Bay, Mt. Shasta, and Latin America.
In response to his love for our planet and the intertwined ecological and social justice crises facing humanity, Brian has made one unifying commitment to serve as his north star: the Regeneration of Life on Earth in One Generation – by the year 2050 when he turns 70 – and is calling in all allies who share the commitment to this dream.
Karo Munay
Co-Founder/Chief Alchemical Officer
Just a human in love. Explorer of the art of living.
Munay, a servant of Divine Love, is a multidisciplinary woman in sacred service, psychotherapist, ceremonialist, yogui, meditator, artivist and ritual singer from the Andean mountains of Ecuador. Her core guidance in her life is her relationship with God rooted in pure devotion. With a background in Gestalt Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy assisted with Psilocybin Mushrooms, yoga, chi kung, Dances of Universal Peace, sound healing, ayurvedic body work, Buddhism, Sufism, plant medicine facilitation, trauma informed accompaniment, sacred sexuality, nutrition, health, sacred arts, visión quester, she guides transformational experiences rooted in consciousness, science and ancient wisdom.
Her path started at a young age, and she embodied her gifts for service nourished by a spiritual pilgrimage that unfolded over a decade exploring the world. Guided by her intuition and inner call for self knowledge, she trained with masters of diverse lineages and indigenous elders, and received multiple initiations, leading her to be invited to serve and share her presence and experience on retreats, ceremonies, and one-on-one sessions. She is the founder of Vida Munay, an initiative that bridges healing arts, social activism, and spiritual ecology. Co-creator at NunAndes, a conscious business of botanical beauty for women. A devotee of Love, Life, nature, music, art and meditation, her path is one of service, continuous coherent practice, and empowering others to remember their true essence through love in action and presence.
Santiago Ayala
Curandero/Medicine Man
Santiago is a highly respected Shaman and a gifted healer. He has learned sacred teachings from many ancestral traditions. Santiago carries the blessings of his tribal chiefs, family and many indigenous elders. He is a Sun dancer, carrier of the sacred Chanupa (sacred pipe), and holds space for Vision Quests.
Santiago devoted his life to the shamanic path at age 26 after overcoming a serious illness. He is the guardian of one of the last San Pedro and Willka trees forests in southern Ecuador, preparing it in the traditional way to be used for healing purposes. His medicine songs, prayers and blessings carry a powerful intention to heal the heart with the sacred spirit of San Pedro.
Ximena Morales
Curandera/Medicine Woman
Ximena is a mother, vision seeker, and co-founder of Casa del Sol. Her childhood was spent during the bloody internal conflict that occurred in Peru during the 80’s and 90’s, which profoundly marked her spiritual search from early on. She has lived in nature since the age of 21, next to rivers and mountains which feel like family for her in the Sacred Valley of the Longevity, Vilcabamba. Here she welcomed her children into the warmth of her home. Becoming a mother of four was her most sacred spiritual INITIATION, both challenging and sublime.
Ximena is initiated as a Pampamisayoc (Andean Priest) within the Andean Q’ero cosmovision and in the Turpo lineage -guardians of the relation with the Apu Ausangate- in the high Peruvian Andes. She also walk the red path of the North Native traditions such as Sun Dancer and Vision Quester.
Alonso Pilla
Guide/Wisdom Keeper
Alonso is master artisan of traditional Incan weaving, leader in the indigenous community of Salasaca, and seasoned guide with over 30 years of experience. He specializes in the magical art of weaving mama chumbis (sacred belts of protection) with the prayers of his ancestors and the blessing of the Apus (holy mountains). He learned the highly complex art of weaving from his father via an eight year apprenticeship as a youth and is dedicated to protecting this ancestral heritage from the forces of globalism and modern capitalism. He has guided over a thousand voyagers through the Andean highlands of central Ecuador, sharing the wisdom of the plants, trees, mountains, and sacred sites. He is a native Quechua speaker and a humble student of Pachamama.
Mira Jempe
Curandero/Medicine Man
Mira Jempe, born in the Czech Republic, faced debilitating body pain from a young age, ultimately diagnosed with “incurable” rheumatoid arthritis. Determined to find healing, Mira journeyed to Spain, where he discovered the power of movement and meditation with his teacher, John, a Chen-style Tai Chi master. These practices, combined with his creative expression through painting, helped him release physical and emotional blockages.
Mira’s path then led him to the Amazon, where he studied under Shuar healer Miguel Shiriap and other jungle healers, learning the transformative power of Sacred Master Plants. Over three years, Mira fully healed his body, overcoming the pain that had plagued him for years. Since 2010, Mira has been leading healing ceremonies worldwide, alongside his wife, Yana.
The name Jempe, meaning “Hummingbird,” was given to him by his teacher, symbolizing infinite energy, creativity, and a joyful spirit.
Yana Bartova
Curandera/Medicine Woman
Yana Bartova, known as Tatzimoi (“the bird that accompanies families with its song”), is a healer and teacher rooted in ancient traditions. Originally from the Czech Republic, she spent 10 years in Mexico studying medicine, temazcales, moon dances, and sacred singing. After a transformative experience with Ayahuasca, she moved to South America to deepen her connection with the plant, working alongside her husband, Mira Jempe, to guide healing and ceremonies worldwide.
In the Vilcabamba Valley, Yana founded the Agua Women’s Collective, a space for women to explore ancestral medicines, art, and singing. She lives with her family in the mountains, nurturing a sanctuary dedicated to the sacred mother, and is deeply grateful for the life and wisdom she shares.
Suzannah Ohlune
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Suzannah expresses an authentic joy for life that is contagious, affirming her deep compassion and love for all beings. From a passionate dedication to the journey of awakening, she supports others in their growth, healing and self-realization. Through her skills as an intuitive life coach, teacher and guide, she helps people move into greater states of wellness and body-mind-spirit integration. Her conscious embodiment of ancestral earth wisdom brings the healing gift of remembrance of belonging and relationship to earth and all living things.
Suzannah co-founded Cancion del Corazon center in Vilcabamba, Ecuador in 2011, where she shares her vast experience in Permaculture, holistic wellness, and ancestral wisdom traditions. Suzannah assists her community in reclaiming sovereign self-empowerment to live a masterpiece of embodied spirituality, creating a deeper connection to nature and belonging to the whole.
Lalita Vega
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Lalita is a yoga, meditation, and mindfulness teacher. Her spiritual inclination started very early on in her life and later became the full-time passion that brought her to deepen her studies in Asia. She studied yoga in various schools and ashrams in India (YA 900h+), and also immersed herself in Buddhist monasteries in Thailand and Myanmar. Her passion for mantras and devotional chanting led her on a journey to discover her own singing potential, and to study the energetics of the voice and nada yoga (the yoga of sound). Currently, she is training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield to become a certified mindfulness teacher. And she teaches and hosts
workshops, retreats, and trainings.
Mateo Buki
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Mateo has been close to shamanic medicines and ancestral practices from a young age as the son of Ximena & Santiago. He assists the shamans with his beautiful healing gifts of heartfelt songs, mantras and prayers. His presence brings a playful, caring and brotherly energy to each ceremony.
Mateo has been given blessings to share the medicine of the sacred Kambo frog in ceremony. The Kambo is harvested from responsible sources of the Matse tribe in Peru. Between ceremonies, he leads voice workshops, yoga practices and meditations. Mateo is a seeker of knowledge.
Lauren Oiye
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Lauren is a Licensed Psychologist in Hawaii with over ten years of experience working with individuals and families with extensive experience with issues related to feminine traumas and sexual abuse. She is connected to many paths including those of the North and South Americas as well as the traditions from the Aina (lands) and Wai (waters) in Hawaii. She is currently a Vision Quester, a La’au student (Hawaiian medicine), and hopes to soon participate in the prayer of the Sun Dance.
Lucero
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Lucero is an IAKP Kambo Practitioner certified with 4 years of experience, Vision Quester, fire keeper, pottery artist, plants & animal lover. She is a global citizen who has been living and working in many countries as a Senior UI/UX designer. Her mystical experience and introduction to shamanism began in 2010; since then she loves to share the ancestral knowledge learned and is interested in deepening her relationship with San Pedro medicine, entheogen, and the fungi kingdom. She loves herbalism and enjoys sharing her soul in sisterhood during women’s gatherings. She is a student of Life’s mysteries, walking with the intention to be part of the Sun Dance one day.
Dorothy Farrell
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Dorothy is a teacher and a mystic. She works with breath, cacao, sound baths, astrology, and sacred spaces to activate the divine genome. She is the cofounder of Cacao Source, a social enterprise startup based in Lake Atitlan that produces ceremonial cacao that honors the land and indigenous guardians of this medicine. The cacao comes from one of the ancient cradles where cacao was first domesticated for the highest medicinal properties, and to this day supports biodiversity and food forest practices. Through working with cacao and sharing this medicine, she has been able to help people open their hearts and find their own guiding light in life.
Eileen Chang
Facilitator/Coach
Eileen is a leadership coach, musician, and nature lover who believes in the unfolding potential in each of us to grow and sow seeds of love in the world. As a coach and former marketing professional, Eileen supports courageous leaders to awaken to their deepest values and walk their path of purpose, so they find more meaning in their work and bend the world towards greater beauty and kindness. Her medicine experiences have called her to go beyond her current work to help leaders become more conscious stewards of Earth’s ecosystems. Eileen holds a coaching certification from New Ventures West, an MBA from Berkeley-Haas, and a BA in History from Harvard University.
Megan Pytleski
Facilitator/Ceremonialist
Megan has been walking the Medicine Path for a decade and is a student of Mother Earth. She is currently studying herbalism and the Bardic grade of the Celtic tradition, Druidism, and is initiated into the traditional Andean Cosmovision path under the Q’ero and Turpo lineages. She is a Writer, Improver, Great Lake Guardian, Sister, Daughter, Storyteller, Artist, Creator, and Despacho offerer.
Juan Zea
Tech Guru/Strategist
Juan is a business developer, designer, and musician devoted to bridging the ancestral and the modern. Born in Peru and initiated in the Turpo lineage of Apu Ausangate, he walks a path rooted in Andean wisdom and guided by service.
At Evolutionary Journeys, Juan supports the vision by bringing structure to the sacred. He helps translate the soul of the offering into digital form: through elegant design, thoughtful systems, and intentional strategy, ensuring the energy of the journeys reaches those who are called.
Whether through music, visual storytelling, or behind-the-scenes planning, Juan weaves the unseen threads that allow transformation to be held and shared with beauty and clarity.
A 12 Day Visionary Retreat of Inner Transformation in the Andean Mountains of Ecuador