Full Moon 2026 July
Apply Now for Global Paqo School 2027
DONATE NOW
DONATE NOW
Full Moon 2026 July
Apply Now for Global Paqo School 2027

Our Board of Directors

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." —Margaret Mead

The Wiraqocha Foundation is governed by a small group of unpaid, volunteer global citizens: Elizabeth, Denisse, Erin, Cyntha, Theresa and Rochelle advised by a larger group listed here, who are committed to the mission of the organization. Board Members serve a term of two years and are responsible for fiscal and strategic oversight of the organization.


A renowned spiritual teacher of the Inka Nature Wisdom Tradition, Wiraqocha Foundation Founder & Executive Director, Elizabeth B. Jenkins is the international bestselling author of The Return of the Inka, Journey to Q'eros, and The Fourth Level, widely regarded as the most influential books on the Inka Nature Mysticism Tradition. For 30 years she has worked to better the lives of the Q’ero people, and to promote the teachings of their Inka path and in 1996 founded Wiraqocha Foundation to resolve a 60% infant mortality rate and provide educational assistance to Q'ero youth. In 2010, Elizabeth led a Discovery Channel team to film never-before-seen rituals on Wamanlipa, the most sacred Q'ero mountain. In 2020, during the pandemic, Elizabeth began teaching courses with the Q'ero on Zoom to put food on their tables and WF sent over 30,000 lbs. of food by truck to Q'eros, installed WiFi in 4 Q'ero Villages for education and communication as well as water reservoirs needed due to global warming. In January, 2021 Elizabeth and 12 Q'ero Masters founded the GLOBAL PAQO SCHOOL, a year-long training with direct Quechua to English translation. In August of 2022, Elizabeth with GPS Faculty, all Presidents of Hatun Q'eros and about 80 Q'ero Community members, inaugurated the HATUN Q'EROS CULTURAL CENTER in Cuzco, Peru. Elizabeth B. Jenkins' works have been published throughout the world in 27 countries and translated into 24 languages. Her profound yet simple teachings have helped countless people from diverse paths across the globe to achieve wellbeing and find inner and outer harmony and personal power. She is also a licensed psychotherapist, cultural investigator, sought-after public speaker and organic farmer. She and her family live and work on their farm on the Big Island of Hawaii.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ELIZABETH

Denise, along with her husband, Ric Conner, and son Cameron Conner founded Conscious Connections Foundation in July of 2014. As co-founder and CEO of the Spokane, WA based, fair-trade import company, Ganesh Himal Trading, she has traveled back and forth to Nepal since 1984 working directly with Nepali producers.

Ganesh Himal Trading is a longstanding member of the Fair Trade Federation and Green America.

Denise and Sita Gurung co-founded the Baseri Health clinic in central Nepal in February of 2010, providing the first ever health care to a remote region of the country (CCF later became a clinic supporter). She has a passion for working collaboratively with local partners to bring opportunity to Nepali women. She strongly believes women are key to thriving communities and creating lasting change.

Denise graduated with a degree in Environmental Science from Huxley College in 1984 and holds a J.D. from the University of Washington Law School from 1988.

Cyntha Gonzalez comes from American and Mexican backgrounds, having lived in both countries, and delved into the indigenous ways of both. She lived in Peru in the mid-1980’s, studying the coastal shamanic path. She currently lives in Dubai, UAE, her home for the last 24 years, where she regularly leads desert retreats of silence, fasting and deep connection to the land and self. She is a teacher, seminar leader, expressive arts trainer, coach and emotional and energy bodyworker, providing a safe place to encounter one’s deepest truth, face anything preventing its full expression and the support to live one’s most realized life – personally, professionally and as a contributing community member. Cyntha serves as WF secretary.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CYNTHA

For over 30 years, Theresa Puchley has practiced as a Naturopathic doctor and holistic practitioner focusing on women's health. Her specialty is in lymphatic drainage and healing energy work as a Reiki Master. For over 25 years, Theresa has served as a covenant companion journeying with the Wheaton Franciscan community. As a board member with the Care of Creation team through the Wheaton Franciscans and board member with the Covenant companion leadership team, Theresa is active in helping humanity. Theresa also enjoys being on the Emergency response team in Dupage county in Illinois and lives in the western suburbs of Chicago, Il.

Rochelle Schieck is a mother, artist, embodiment guide, and author devoted to cultivating embodied presence, nourishing our nervous systems, relational skills and deepening our personal relationship with nature. Founder of Qoya Inspired Movement and author of Qoya: A Compass for Navigating an Embodied Life that is Wise, Wild and Free, she has guided over 6,000 classes, trained hundreds of teachers, and led 140+ retreats over the last 17 years.

Rochelle’s work is rooted in the understanding that the body is a sacred vessel through which the soul speaks, and that our personal healing is inseparable from the healing of the earth and the collective. She is deeply grateful for the powerful impact that the teachings of the Q’ero have had on her life, with multiple trips to Peru and being a student in the Global Paqo School run by the Wiraqocha Foundation.

She is honored to serve on the board of Nature Wisdom House, supporting the Q’ero people in preserving and sharing their lineage of earth honoring wisdom.

Advisory Board

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." —Margaret Mead

Kalani is a gifted storyteller, singer, songwriter, musician, performer, poet, philosopher, priest, political satirist and peacemaker. A Hawaiian practitioner and cross-cultural facilitator, he has experience in promoting social justice through conflict resolution. Executive director of the Olohana Foundation, a non-profit focused on community capacity, his workshops and lectures inspire, challenge and entertain the listener while calling all to be their greater self. His native roots allow him a unique perspective of the collision of two worlds: one steeped in traditional culture, the other a juggernaut of new morality and changing economic and political persuasion. He is a messenger of integration and collaboration in a world normally rife with exclusion, oppression and hopelessness. His work in behavior modification research, leadership, team-building and political strategy gives him generous insights into group dynamics and systems of governance.

Dr. Suzy Ross is currently Director of Recreation Therapy for the Department of Health Science and Recreation at San Jose State University College of Applied Sciences and Arts. She also serves as consultant to the Veterans Administration and to individuals in private practice. As a therapist, she specializes in the treatment of women survivors of sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress, and in adventure therapy. Her doctoral research examined the underlying archetypal phenomenon of personal transformation and is the subject of her book, The Map to Wholeness: Finding Yourself through Crisis, Change, and Reinvention.

Audrey Peterman is President and Co-founder of Earthwise Productions, Inc., an environmental consulting and publishing firm focused on connecting the public lands system and the American public. Audrey serves on the board of the National Parks Conservation Association, the Association of Partners for Public Lands, and the National Parks Promotion Council. She is co-author with her husband Frank of Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care, and the recently-released travel guide, Our True Nature: Finding a Zest for Life in the National Park System.

Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey, Ph.D., is the first female National Geographic fellow and the first Polynesian explorer at the National Geographic Society. An award-winning filmmaker and anthropologist, she is committed to ethnographic rescue - the conservation of vanishing indigenous knowledge and tradition. A descendant of Hawaiian chiefs, English seafarers, and Chinese merchants, Lindsey was raised by native Hawaiian elders who prophesied her role as a steward of ancestral wisdom. Lindsey's expeditions now take her to some of the most remote regions of the world. Lindsey has shared her passion for indigenous science with audiences throughout the world, including at Oxford University, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Chrystelle Hadjikakou is a healer, teacher, filmmaker, writer, translator in German, English, and Spanish, and an initiate in the Scandinavian, Toltec, Mexica and Andean paths of energy techniques for self-empowerment and self-healing. A resident of Mexico City, she was featured as a contributing author in the international best -seller Transforming Through 2012, published in 2010.

Fredy grew up in the Andean village of Lares, a place very similar to Q’eros. His first language was Quechua, and he was trained in the tradition by his Grandfather from the tender age of ten. Fredy is the very first official mystical tour guide of Cuzco, authorized by the Peruvian Tourism Authority. Part of Fredy's job is to train other tour guides in the authentic traditions of his land. He is a most excellent guide, a master of organizational details, and an expert simultaneous Quechua-to-English translator. Fredy has worked with Elizabeth Jenkins and the Wiraqocha Foundation for more than 15 years.

Udine, Italy

Udine, Italy

Scroll to Top