Kaili van Waveren

Executive Director

Originally from California, Kaili first moved to Maryland to attend The Johns Hopkins University. She has lived in Frederick County for the past decade and received a Master’s degree in thanatology from Hood College, where she later taught in the Department of Psychology and Counseling. Kaili has years of experience in end-of-life care and grief counseling, and it is through her role running Camp Jamie – Frederick Health Hospice’s camp for grieving children and adolescents –  that she first fell in love with ThorpeWood.

Being a part of the ThorpeWood team is truly a dream come true for Kaili as she gets to work at one of her favorite places in the world and to combine the things about which she is most passionate: mental health, nature, and serving her community. Outside of work, you might find her backpacking with her husband, Colin, daughter, Harriet, and “trail dog,” Bonny; or with the Umbrella Project: Hiking Journeys for Grieving Young Adults, for whom she is a trip leader and member of the Board of Directors.

Certifications and training include: grief counseling, compassion fatigue, trauma, mindfulness, wilderness first aid, mental health first aid, mindfulness-based ecotherapy.

[email protected]

Jeff Isaac

Property Manager

Jeff is a graduate from University of Pittsburgh Johnstown with a degree in Marketing Management. He started working at ThorpeWood in March 2019 as Assistant Property Manager, and within a few months, he was promoted to Property Manager. Prior to ThorpeWood, Jeff worked in the pool industry for twenty years. He’s enjoying the change of scenery, the various job responsibilities, and the challenges that come with maintaining a 155-acre farm. In addition to his job as Property Manager, Jeff assists the other programs on the farm as needed. Working at ThorpeWood has been, and continues to be, an amazing learning experience!

Jeff and his wife, Katie, got married at Mountain Memories at ThorpeWood in October 2016. They have a son, Luke, who was born in 2018. In his free time, Jeff enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, playing hockey, watching sports (Go Nats!), and playing numerous musical instruments.

[email protected] | 301.271.2823 x102

Angelica Bristor

Clinical Program Manager

Angelica is a first generation college student, Maryland native, and lover of nature. She joined the ThorpeWood staff in April 2024. She holds a Associates Degree from Carroll Community College, a Bachelors in Social Work from Hood College, and a Masters degree from the University of Maryland School of Social work. She has been a licensed social worker for 4 years.

Once she was able to catch her breath and finish her academic career, Angelica entered the workforce and learned that she needed a more mindful, nature-based environment to thrive. Working at ThorpeWood has been one of the most unique experiences she has ever had, and this position has allowed her to grow, challenge herself, and become part of a larger community, all while connecting to nature. Finally, a place she fits in!

Angelica lives in Thurmont with her husband, Austin, her lovable and energetic golden retriever Luna, and her 13 year old cat, Geo. She also has three rescue rabbits, Gizmo, Totoro, and Pumpkin. In her free time, you can find her at the barre taking dance classes, or reading Stephen King novels and exploring local haunts!

[email protected] | 301.271.2823×108

Tim Voigt

Community Liaison

Tim joined the ThorpeWood staff in May of 2023 after 19 years of working as an Operations Manager of a computer distribution company in Frederick, MD. He has been calling ThorpeWood his “home away from home” ever since he and his wife were married here back in 2012. It has been his dream to work for ThorpeWood and 11 years later, that dream came true.

In addition to coordinating the nonprofit events, Tim helps maintain the beautiful 156 acre property, lends an extra hand during programs when needed, and loves spending time with the animals (especially the goats).

Although the whole property is therapeutic to him, the pond is his favorite location at ThorpeWood. The calm water, lush foliage, and wildlife mulling around the pond quiets his mind and gives him peace. He enjoys sharing his love of Thorpewood with all who are willing to be swept up into its magic and picturesque landscape.

Off the farm, Tim lives in Thurmont with his wife, Kristi and their two dogs, Sam and Arlo. In Tim’s free time, he loves going on hikes with his family, going to fall artisan festivals, and loves to play disc golf! He helps maintain the local courses so others can enjoy the sport as much as he does.

[email protected]

Julie Christiansen

Farm Manager

[email protected] | 301.271.2823 x105

Sam Whalen

Facilities Manager

Sam’s bio coming soon!

[email protected] | 301.271.2823×107

Paul Kazyak

President

Paul Kazyak is a retired aquatic scientist with about 40 years in the conservation field, and his service to society has included Navy nuclear submarines, state government (Maryland DNR), academia (Johns Hopkins University) and the private sector. In addition to protecting and regenerating the natural world, his passions have long included sustainability and helping others to exercise leadership more often about things they care deeply about.
Over the course of his career, Paul has worked with a wide variety of groups, including high schoolers, undergraduate and graduate students, elected officials, government staff, K-12 educators, NGOs and more. As Advisor for a co-ed Boy Scout Venturing Crew for over a dozen years, he helped guide what may have been the most environmentally active youth group in the US. One of Paul’s sustainability ideas that came to life was a project called Frostburg Grows, a greenhouse training center on barren mined land in a high poverty area of western Maryland. The project incorporated cutting edge concepts from permaculture, renewable energy and organic farming, and the intended benefits included job creation,
reduced food insecurity, reduced flooding and acid mine drainage, reduced carbon emissions, use of food waste to create soil and myriad examples of reused material (including tons of old highway signs and the land itself).

Beyond his teaching interests and working with young people, Paul is totally committed to helping put the world on a path to sustainability. The Kazyak family walks the talk (solar PV, electric cars, LED lighting, carbon offsets, compost, garden, etc.) and he shares these approaches with others. Paul is also a community organizer and Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream (ATD) facilitator for the Pachamamma Alliance. He is a trained Climate Reality presenter and serves as a mentor during CR trainings. He also exercises his right to protest environmental and social injustice. Family is hugely important to Paul. He and his wife Clare have 3 kids that they are very close to, and their four grandchildren have become a focal point of their lives. The family shares many recreational activities, some of which include hiking, backpacking in remote places, fishing, canoeing, travel, and photography.

Paul has been coming to ThorpeWood for over twenty years, including service project weekends with his Venturing Crew, work-related meetings, teaching graduate-level field courses, TW events and more. As a result, he has a unique perspective on how the organization has operated and evolved.

Kim Whitesell

Treasurer

Kim Whitesell is passionate about nature and mental health advocacy. She is a senior environmental protection specialist at the U.S. EPA, where she focuses on chemical risk management to address risks posed to human health and the environment. She is also active in employee-focused wellness programming through Mindful EPA. Prior to this, Kim served in the Peace Corps as a protected areas management specialist in Madagascar, worked as a wildlife biologist for Adventure Scientists, and provided technical assistance to citizen scientists at the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring. She holds an MS in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University and a BS in biology from Dickinson College. Kim lives in DC with her husband, and enjoys playing guitar, volunteering, and is always the first one up for karaoke.

Minyon Lewis

Member

My name is Minyon Lewis and I am a 76-year-old black female. I was born in Frederick but have not always lived here. I have spent time living in places like New York City, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Washington DC, and a few other places. Growing up in Frederick was not always a walk in the park or a piece of cake. Most people do not realize or maybe have forgotten that Maryland is a southern state and Frederick at that time was definitely a southern small town/city. Which means that until I was in the sixth grade, I went to an all-black school
with all black teachers, had all black friends, and I lived in an all-black neighborhood where it took a village to raise a child.

In 1959 (shortly after schools were integrated) all that changed. I entered junior high school or middle school as it is now known. It was really very different for me, and not just in the size of the building, but also in the makeup of the students and the teaching staff. I felt out of place. There were not many adults that looked like me and not much if anything was taught about people who look like me. Growing up in Frederick, I can remember not being able to try clothes on in the downtown stores, having to climb the fire escape on the outside of the movie theater in order to sit upstairs because we could not sit downstairs nor could we go through the front doors, and not being able to sit in certain restaurants, and even seeing the KKK with their white sheets and hoods standing on the corner of Market and Patrick Street. Getting into a car and driving to Thurmont was out of the question, and now look, I’ve been asked to sit on this board which is where of all places but Thurmont.

Over the years I have sat on civil rights panels and even participated in the March on Washington August 28, 1963. There have been many positive changes taking place in Frederick over the past 50 years, it’s been a slow process, but a process, nonetheless.
One of my first jobs was at Thomas Johnson high school about the second year it was open where I worked in the English department. Even at this point in my life, even teaching in a brand new school racism still showed its ugly head. From there I went to Montgomery County public schools, working with developmentally delayed children for a while. My next job was with Frederick County Head Start 1965 which at that time was just a summer program for both children and parents. It moved from a summer program into a four hour a day five day a week program in 1973 and from there it became a 5 day a week 6 hours a day program. By January 2021 my body was telling me that it was time to do the things that I wanted to do. Things like getting up when I wanted to, like not having to worry about getting a kidney infection from not being able to go to the bathroom when I wanted to or like just sitting still for as long as I wanted to. So in September of 2021 I handed in my resignation. I’ve gone back to volunteer 3 days a week 2 hours a day, but this is my choice and I can deal with that.

I do hope that over the years I have had a positive influence on the lives that I have come across. I hope that something I said or did helped others go beyond where they thought they could ever go.

Sam Castleman

Ex-officio, Merle Thorpe Jr. Charitable Trust

Sam Castleman was Executive Director at ThorpeWood from its inception until August 2023 when he became the Head Trustee for the Merle Thorpe Jr. Charitable Trust. Sam is a longtime lover of Merle’s mountain property. A longer bio from Sam coming soon!

Melissa Willhouse

Secretary

Melissa is an environmentalist with experience in communications, storytelling, photography, and
education. She has a M.Sc in Environmental Science & Policy from The Johns Hopkins University, where
she served as a teaching assistance for a Sustainability Leadership field course. In 2023 co-founded the
mental health nonprofit Mind & Environment Society which is dedicated to the intersectionality of
mental health and the environment. Melissa is also a Maryland Master Naturalist in Training. She is
passionate about environmental protection, social justice, mental health, and the connections between
them. Her life’s mission is to educate, inspire, and empower others.

Laura Fernandez

Member

Laura Fernandez is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Certified Grief Professional. Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Laura has been part of the Frederick Community for many years and received her master’s degree from Hood College. Following grad school, she worked for Brook Lane as the Child and Adolescent Therapist for the partial hospitalization program, and later as the school therapist for Laurel Hall – a school designed to provide education services to students with special needs, including, but not limited to, emotional disabilities, autism or multiple handicaps that require sophisticated, highly structured, and individualized special education services and needed psychiatric support services. Laura
is currently the Bilingual Bereavement Coordinator at Frederick Health Hospice and runs the Equal Access Bereavement Program, which supports the Hispanic Community in Frederick County through individual and group grief counseling, grief support groups in schools, and camps and retreats for bereaved children and adolescents. Outside of work Laura enjoys spending time with her husband, Armando, their talented 14-year-old twins, Diego and Marcelo, and their dogs, Pablo and Cassie.

Andy Nichols

Member

Andy Nichols is currently the owner and director of programs for Teamlink/ Shenandoah Mountain Guides. Teamlink/SMG conducts team and leadership development programs, mountain sports environmental education, and guiding programs throughout the United States, with a focus on the northern Blue Ridge region. Additionally, Teamlink is a close partner with Frederick County Public Schools providing middle school enrichment programming. He is a wilderness EMT, a Leave No Trace Master Educator, a lead instructor for the National Park Service High Angle Technical Rescue Program (rock climbing) and is active as a first responder in Shenandoah National Park. Andy was a faculty member for 30 years at Hood College and has served as an adjunct at over 10 colleges and universities over the years. He was the founder of the Old Rag Mountain Steward Program and has long been active in environmental stewardship in the region. Andy is a retired Navy Commander (O-5) and Eagle Scout.

Kristen Spear

Member

Kristen Spear is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. For 28 years, she has been a Community Agency School Services (CASS) Coordinator with Frederick County Public Schools. In her role with CASS, she oversees partnerships with community agencies who provide psychotherapy to students during the school day. The partnerships provided services to over 1500 students during school year 2022-23 alone, with services totaling 8.2 million dollars. Additional grant funded partnerships focusing specifically on trauma and grief were added to the array of services provided as students began the return to school once COVID closures began to ease. Many of the students served faced barriers to accessing services in the community and would likely not have received care had it not been offered at school. Kristen holds a Master of Social Welfare from the State University of New York at Albany School of Social Welfare and is
licensed in Maryland as a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical (LCSW-C), Board of Social Work Examiners Approved Supervisor and a Certified School Social Work Specialist (C-SSWS).

Given the complexities of the world we inhabit and with an understanding of the need for quiet reflection and self- care that all people experience, Kristen is excited to join with like-minded individuals in furthering the unique and bountiful opportunities ThorpeWood holds for our community.

Phyllis York

Member

Phyllis York is president of Empowering Community Leaders Network (ECLN), a nonprofit that provides leadership mentoring, educational and cultural enhancement experiences for middle school girls in Frederick, Maryland. After 30 years as an educator in elementary and middle school with a specialization in Learning Disabilities, Phyllis retired from Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools as an Assistant School Administrator. She has also been an initiator of leadership mentoring programs for children in public schools in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Maryland. Phyllis has received numerous community service awards from civic, religious and community service organizations. She is a cohort member of the 2017 class of Leadership Frederick County (LFC). In 2015, Rotary International presented her with their highest award, Paul Harris Award, for her comprehensive proactive volunteer services to
enhance learning opportunities for children in Frederick County. Throughout her career, Phyllis has led an assortment of teams: from a school leadership team of 20 educators to her current leadership of over 30 volunteers at ECLN, who participate both locally and virtually across the country. Her work adds value to volunteers’ service and drives her organization to year over year growth, including the addition of paid staff.