Jasmyne is an International Coaching Federation Certified, Trauma Informed, Professional Life Coach for Teens, Young Adults, and Parents. She is the Mom of two teens, and she has also spent the last 16 years working with teens as a High School Teacher, GED Instructor and Advisor, and as a Life Coach, Council Facilitator, and Mentor.
She is the founder of Guided Passages, which offers Youth programs, Wilderness trips, and Life Coaching for teens, young adults, and parents of teens in Southern Oregon and beyond.
Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, where nature has always held profound importance, Erica Mellon is driven by a deep desire to guide transformative experiences for youth in healing, nature-based spaces.
With extensive experience in youth mentorship, Erica’s path has included a range of teaching and outdoor guiding roles. At Creative Visions in Los Angeles, she supported high school students through a 10-month impact documentary filmmaking lab. Later, with Open Roads, she facilitated transformative outdoor trips for underrepresented youth, weaving together nature immersion with creative practices such as filmmaking and creative writing. For the past two years, Erica has also served as a guide for Rites of Passage journeys, supporting youth through intentional, nature-based thresholds and transitions. She recently completed her own four-day Vision Fast Rite of Passage journey with the School of Lost Borders.
Izabella grew up in Ashland, Oregon, and Lake Tahoe, California, where she developed a deep appreciation for the outdoors at a young age. She has always loved working with kids and has many years of experience in babysitting and teaching youth. Izabella has always been drawn to the curiosity and openness that youth bring. She has spent most of her life in outdoor settings and strongly believes in nature’s capacity to support growth and well-being. She has been studying psychology for the past two years at Prescott College, where she also completed a range of outdoor-focused courses that strengthened her connection to land, learning, and community. She looks forward to supporting others as they develop confidence, curiosity, and a deeper sense of connection with the natural world. Most of all, she is excited to get outside and have some fun!
Chelsea Schinker is an educator, artist, music-lover, and wilderness guide who grew up in Colorado with a lifelong connection to nature and a passion for youth development. She holds undergraduate degrees in Art Education and Biology from Northern Arizona University and completed her Master’s degree in Ecopsychology at Naropa University in 2026.
Chelsea has over thirteen years of experience in youth education and currently teaches Art and Photography at West High School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She is a Social Emotional Learning Facilitator, trauma-informed yoga coach, and NOLS Wilderness First Responder, bringing a grounded, supportive presence rooted in creativity and care.
Her path into wilderness guiding began in childhood through Rocky Mountain camping trips and a formative seventh-grade river trip on Utah’s San Juan River. At fourteen, she and her mother participated in Inipi (sweat lodge) ceremonies facilitated by their Denver-based psychologist Dan Manzanares, Psy.D., who integrated Lakota wisdom traditions with Western psychology. She later trained as a Native River Guide with Diné educator Nikki Cooley and served as a camp counselor and guide with Trail Blazers, supporting teens on multi-day backpacking trips.
Today, Chelsea brings a playful, compassionate, and trauma-informed approach to helping youth build confidence, connection, and joy in nature.
Kiki first began working with youth as a staffer at the Lair of the Golden Bear family summer camp in 2019 and 2021. Amongst the great pines of Stanislaus National Forest, they witnessed the connections that formed through intentional space holding outside – singing over fires, playing games, and sharing meals.
Jo grew up in the Ashland area, and has always loved helping the community anyway they can. They’ve done work in forest restoration and have helped with youth groups. They are a kind person, always ready to help however they can or just offer an ear to listen. They love making a positive impact however they can, and always strive to make a space that everyone feels comfortable and safe. They’re looking forward to helping with the newest youth group and helping everyone feel like they can have fun and be themselves.
Elle often says that she was raised by the Atlantic ocean, a relationship that profoundly shaped her. This sense of belonging with the more-than-human world, and the connection to her own wildness that it fosters, guides Elle through life.
Inspired by nature’s healing potential, Elle studied nature-based therapy, trauma psychology, and gender at Quest University Canada while spending the summers working as an outdoor guide. Continuing her journey on the Big Island of Hawai’i, she spent nearly two years at a nature-based therapy program leading rites of passages for youth and young adults. Deeply moved by the transformative power of these spaces to connect youth to the heart and depth of who they are, Elle sought out her own rite of passage in the form of a vision fast through the School of Lost Borders (SOLB). This life-changing experience confirmed her dedication to bring more of this work into the world.
Emma’s journey began in Oakland, California and took her to Portland, Oregon where she sent many years supporting families living in affordable housing, adults living withHIV/AIDS, students in middle and high schoo, and heling build a variety of programs and services across the non-profit sector. In search of new adventures and expanding her community, Emma now calls the Rogue Valley home.
Max is an energetic, kind person who loves working with youth. He has worked as a camp counselor at Camp Unalayee and Mount Hood Summer Ski Camps and has worked as a Youth Recreation Leader for Bend Parks and Rec. Max is excited to make a positive impact on youth and to be a friend in a critical time, but he’s also ready to play games and have a ton of fun.
Kerrick was raised in the Hill Country of Austin, Texas where he studied at the University of Texas. After some travel, he moved to the Rogue Valley of Oregon with a vision to farm and support youth. He completed his Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Cultural Anthropology with Honors in 2004 at Southern Oregon University, and devoted over a decade supporting youth and their families navigate local and state social service programs. During this time, he and his partner cultivated a food forest at their home and founded Verdant Phoenix as an educational mini-farm in 2016.
Verdant Phoenix Farm became an expression of a way of life for Kerrick. He is interested in the relationships between humans, soil, microbes, plants/trees/shrubs, food, culture, time, and the web of life. As these elements inform his horticultural practice, Kerrick enjoys supporting landscapes, gardens, farms, and their people who are interested in belonging to the land.