The Earthshine Team

Anna Bracco
Owner/ Managing Director
Anna has spent her career working with executives as a leadership development consultant. She brings over 15 years of experience working with corporate groups – assessing, coaching, and developing and facilitating leadership programs. Anna first fell in love with Earthshine Lodge when after visiting over 20 years ago and is excited to bring her leadership development work outside.

Ali Holroyd Lien
Owner/ Director of Outdoor Education
Ali has extensive experience running non-profit organizations in the Western Carolina area and has worked for over 20 years for outdoor / experiential programs across the country. An experienced facilitator, teacher, and business owner, Ali has had a strong connection to Earthshine since getting married on site years ago.

Jessie Johnson
Site Manager
Jessie is one of Earthshine’s Site Managers, alongside her husband, Matt. For the past 20 years, she’s worked with several nonprofit organizations and led thousands of experiential educational programs for all ages. She spent three years living and working on the road, camping 200 nights a year all over the country, and she still thinks western North Carolina is one of the best places in the world!

Matt Schneider
Site Manager
Matt is a Site Manager at Earthshine, alongside his wife, Jessie, and is excited to help guests have amazing experiences in Western North Carolina. Before coming to Earthshine, he spent three years traveling and camping all over the country as an outdoor educator with Leave No Trace, and has worked in the outdoors for most of the past twenty years. He’s a pretty good vegan cook and a competent bicycle mechanic.

Moriah Geer-Hardwick
Lead Program Instructor
Moriah is an experiential educator with 17 years of experience working with children, families, and professional groups. He loves making a difference in the lives of others through outdoor education. At Earthshine, you can find Mo anywhere from black smithing, to leading hikes, to spinning on a spinning wheel. Ask him and he will point out which giant millipedes smell like cherries and which trees taste like wintergreen.

Lucas
Program Instructor
Shelley VanBuren
Chef/ Kitchen Manager
Shelley can’t wait to meet you and your family! She has over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Shelley’s chef skills are extremely versatile as she has an extensive background in catering. One of Shelley’s favorite things to do with her own family is meal time as it is a wonderful time to catch up for the day. Seeing guests enjoying time and meals together really fills her with joy.

Mark English
Instructor

Laura Sullivan
Instructor

M Rathsack
Instructor