About Us
The Madrona Institute is an independent 501(c)3 non-governmental organization based in the San Juan Islands of Washington.
At Madrona, we envision a community and a world in which human beings co-exist peacefully with each other and responsibly with nature.
Our Mission
To engage current and future generations in the conservation and stewardship of our local ecosystem, and to encourage community dialogue and leadership on climate-related issues. This mission is accomplished through youth conservation & stewardship corps in the San Juan Islands, and through initiatives on climate change.
Our Vision is a positive, healthy, resilient San Juan Islands.
The Tree Behind our Name
The Madrona Institute takes its name from the Pacific Madrone tree, known in the Northwest as “Madrona”. In a Straits Salish story, told by Chief Phillip Paul of the Saanich people, the Madrona was the tree used by the survivors of the Great Flood (a tradition common to almost all of the Coast Salish peoples) to anchor their canoe to the top of Vancouver Island’s Mount Newton, known as Lau,Wenew or “place of refuge” to First Nations. To this day, the Saanich people do not burn the Madrona in their stoves, because of the important service this tree provided long ago. The metaphor of being an anchor in service to a community is an apt one for our work.
Board and Advisors
The Board of Directors of the Madrona Institute is responsible for the overall governance of the organization, providing special expertise in resource development that advances the organization’s work. Board members include: Linda Lyshall, President; Sarah Severn, Vice President; Elaine M. Kendall, Secretary-Treasurer; Janet Alderton Director; Gretchen Allison, Director; Lisa Nash Lawrence (Swinomish/Mitchell Bay) Director; and Nikyta Palmisani, Director.
Former Board members include: Sarah Crosby, Kathleen Foley Lewis, Richard Hobbs, Anne Marie Shanks, Jim Skoog, Matthew Wallrath, Brian Wiese, and Ron Zee. We thank them for their past service.
Advisors to the Madrona Institute, responsible for program advice and counsel, include: Phoebe Barnard, Stable Planet Alliance; Sam Barr (Samish); Lincoln Bormann, San Juan County Land Bank; Katie Fleming, San Juan County Department of Environmental Stewardship; Kathleen Foley Lewis, San Juan Preservation Trust; The Honorable Debra Lekanoff (Tlingit), Washington State Representative; Kyle Loring, Loring Advising PLLC; Nora Ferm Nickum, Seattle Aquarium; The Honorable Alex Ramel, Washington State Representative; and Ron Zee, Founder, The Madrona Institute.
Advisor Emeritus: Marcia deChadenedes, Bureau of Land Management
The Madrona Institute acknowledges Shaun Hubbard for her outstanding design services to our organization.
Staff of The Madrona Institute include:
Sam Qolánten Barr (He/him), a tribal member of the Samish Indian Nation, serves as Executive Director of the Coast Salish Youth Coalition. Sam was the Tribal Canoe Skipper for the Samish Indian Nation Canoe Family, and has been a GIS Analyst/Natural Resources Technician for the Samish Indian Nation Department of Natural Resources. Sam has a BA in Environmental Science and Resource Management from the University of Washington, and also serves in the Tribal Historic Preservation Office for the Stillaguamish Indian Tribe. Contact Sam at Sam@madrona.org.
Erin Licata (She/hers) serves as the Executive Administrator of The Madrona Institute and Coordinator of the Stewardship Network. Erin was formerly the program manager of the San Juan Islands Youth Conservation Corps and an Ecosystem Research Specialist with the Samish Indian Nation, and has been a Biological Science Technician for the US Forest Service. Erin has a BS in Environmental Science from the College of the Environment at Western Washington University. Contact Erin at Erin@madrona.org.
Kelsey Kittleson (She/hers) serves as the Community Engagement Manager for The Madrona Institute. Kelsey is a passionate environmental educator and loves working in community-centric & environmental justice-focused roles. Outside of her work with Madrona, she works as the Program Coordinator for Transition Fidalgo, a climate resiliency non-profit based in Anacortes, WA. Kelsey holds a BA in Environmental Studies from the College of the Environment at Western Washington University and is also the former Program Coordinator of the San Juan Islands Youth Conservation Corps. Contact Kelsey at Kelsey@madrona.org.
Collaborations
The Madrona Institute is a proud member of the Stewardship Network of the San Juans.
We acknowledge that we reside on ancestral lands and waters of the Coast Salish people who have called this place home since time immemorial, and we honor inherent, aboriginal and treaty rights that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Our commitment to the recognition of and respect for Coast Salish culture is demonstrated by our operation of the Coast Salish Youth Stewardship Corps, our support for the Tribal Canoe Journey on visits to the San Juans, and our advocacy for a Coast Salish Cultural Center in the islands.