Staff

Owner / Director

Jyoti Sharp, MA, has been a professional in the fields of elder care and mental health for two decades.  After a successful career in finance and human resources in the private sector, a significant loss in 1991 changed the course of her life work. She learned to meditate at a Benedictine monastery in Oklahoma and moved to Boulder, CO in 1997 to attend graduate school at Naropa University. While completing a Master’s degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy she concurrently held the position of Assistant Controller. Jyoti had a strong desire to develop right livelihood and envisioned working with ordinary life transitions such as aging and dying within a contemplative framework of presence and mindfulness. She manifested this aspiration in 2000 when she founded Windhorse Elder Care, a conscious home care agency in Boulder, CO.  She continues to dedicate her life to working with elders and families around aging and end-of-life issues by creating circles of mindful care.

Director of Operations 

Stephanie Kindberg , has 20 years of experience working in various clinical settings; inpatient psychiatric, physical rehabilitation, skilled nursing facilities and home care agencies. Currently, at Windhorse Elder Care she is the Director of Operations. Her clinical work consists of being a Lead Basic Attender, Team Leader and Team Supervisor. She has been employed at WEC since 2015 prior to that she worked at our sister companies Windhorse Community Services and Mindful Works, Boulder.

From 2007-2012 she attended a special educational program in India and received a degree in Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Translation. She loves her job and the wonderful Windhorse community that she works with. She also enjoys meditating, hiking, camping, being in nature, laughing and spending time with her friends and family.

 

Clinical Supervisors 

Kathy Emery, MA, LPC , is a graduate of the Naropa University’s East/West Psychology program in 1980 and has been actively working with the Windhorse approach to treatment and care of individuals since its inception in 1981 as Maitri Psychological Services. She currently is employed with Windhorse Elder Care and Windhorse Community Services as a Team Supervisor and Psychotherapist for both organizations. At Windhorse Elder Care, she co-facilitates the Caregiver’s Support Group and Team Leader’s Supervision Group with Lou Stenger. She also is a Senior Teacher of the approach and feels a lifelong commitment to bringing the Contemplative view and practice of care and therapy into her work with individuals and groups as well as through her teaching and writing.

Emily (Williams) Trevillian, MA, has worked and volunteered in the mental health and elder care fields since 2006.  She holds BA degrees in Sociology and Photography from Purdue University, and her MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University.  Emily has been with Windhorse Elder Care since 2011, in the roles of Basic Attender, Team Leader and Supervisor.  She cares most about supporting elders and their families through the changes that arise with traumatic brain injury and strokes, with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and end-of-life transitions.

Michelle Pelc, MA, NLC, has been been with Windhorse Elder Care since May 2014.  She earned her Masters degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University in 2010.  She has 8+ years of professional and personal experience working in long term care, adhering to a holistic approach while attending to the emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing of her clients.  Her varied experience working with seniors who have physical and mental disabilities, as well as end-of-life care needs, affords her insight into the complexity of the challenges for this population and how to approach them, as well as a solid knowledge base of community resources. As a Windhorse Team Leader, she is passionate about using her ability to build relationship and provide guidance, education, and therapeutic interventions to support and empower seniors, families, and care staff.

Lou Stenger, MA, WEC Team Leader and Team Supervisor, has worked with elders for several years and currently co-facilitates the Caregiver Support Group and the Team Leader Supervision Group with Kathy Emery. She is a graduate of Naropa University’s Masters of Contemplative Psychotherapy & Buddhist Psychology and also holds Master’s degrees in Marriage & Family Therapy and Human Resource Development.

In addition, Lou has studied Astrology for several years and has a private Astrology Consultation Practice here in Colorado and beyond! She lives in Louisville, Colorado with her little dog, Chichi.

Patti Chenis, MA, LPC, WEC Team Supervisor is a student of the founder of Naropa University and has studied and practiced the Buddhist and Shambhala teachings for over 40 years. She lived at Karme Choling Meditation Center in Vermont and spent a year on retreat at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia as part of the three year retreat.

She teaches compassion practices for the Transpersonal Psychology Graduate students at Naropa University and has been a meditation instructor for the Contemplative Psychotherapy Graduate students Maitri Retreats.

Karen Sumey, LCSW, first began working with Windhorse Elder Care in 2013. After taking time away to earn her Master’s degree in Social Work, Karen returned to the team as a clinical supervisor and member of the leadership team. Karen also works as a hospice social worker and brings her dedication to assisting people with end of life and grief journeys to her work with Windhorse. Karen has worked closely with Naropa’s Contemplative Psychotherapy program as the Maitri program coordinator and plans to join the program as adjunct faculty in Fall 2020. Previously in life, Karen has spent extensive time living in Thailand and India, facilitating and participating in meditation retreats. Her joy of exploring life via meditation practice has continued and she adores serving older adults within Windhorse’s contemplative model.

Natalie Davidson, MS, End-of-Life Doula, has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2018. Her work with WEC consists of being a Basic Attender, Team Leader, Team Supervisor and member of the Admissions Team. She holds a BS in Developmental Psychology from Georgia College & State University, and a MS in Holistic Nutrition from American College of Healthcare Sciences. She received her End-of-Life Doula certification through the Conscious Dying Institute, here in Boulder, CO. While Natalie is passionate about helping others, she feels her dharma is serving those during end-of-life transitions and providing support to their family.

In addition, Natalie has been teaching yoga for over ten years and offers domestic and international yoga retreats. She is a plant-based foodie, lover of nature, hiking and camping, avid traveler, steward of the environment and feline enthusiast.

Sara Namgyel, MA, graduated from Naropa University in 2009 with her BA in psychology followed by three years in Nepal studying Tibetan lan-guage and Buddhist philosophy. While completing her MA in Religious Studies in 2019 at the University of Colorado she began working for Windhorse Elder Care. With a background in Buddhism as well as inter-religious dialogue, Sara is interested in finding ways to support clients both practically and spiritually when it comes to end of life care. She has worked as a Basic Attender, Team Leader, and Team Supervisor. Current-ly she is the Team Leader for emergency on call staff and helps train new team leaders to continue supporting and growing the Windhorse community.

Team Leaders

Faith Halverson-Ramos, MA, LPC, MT-BC, has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2017. A graduate from the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Music Therapy program at Naropa University, Faith is a board-certified music therapist passionate about the role that creativity can play in overall health and well-being. As a counselor and music therapist, Faith works with people throughout the lifespan and finds that music can be especially helpful for those who have speech or neurological disorders. Meeting people where they are through humor, presence, and loving kindness, Faith supports people during difficult times in life.

 

Sharon Keegan, Team Supervisor, Team Leader, Basic Attender
The seeds of being at Windhorse Elder Care now, were planted many years ago, when I was 24.

My mother died six weeks after receiving a lung cancer diagnosis. I was with her alone during her final breaths, while my father was asleep. It felt like a transmission of sorts… the vast space after the final breath of someone you love. Just prior, I had formally entered upon the Buddhist path and promptly went into a month long group meditation retreat, to allow the truth of impermanence to deeply penetrate. Four years later, my father died, after experiencing an unexpectedly longer dying process of two years, with leukemia and Alzheimer’s. I served as his sole caregiver during that time and was with him when his final breaths took place. As a result of these two very personal deaths early on, joined with meditation and study, I realized a natural ease with the sacred transitions of dying, death, letting go and the potent raw “grace and grit”. Read more about Sharon Keegan here >>

Annie Seidman, B.A./Certified End of Life Doula, has been with Windhorse Elder Care since January, 2018. Annie earned her B.A. degree in both Anthropology and Humanities from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She was certified as an End of Life Doula through the Conscious Dying Institute. As a Windhorse Team Leader and Basic Attender, Annie is passionate about offering comfort through a caring human connection. She is honored to serve her clients and hear their stories. Annie not only enjoys offering companion care, she is also deeply committed to helping clients and their families navigate the dying process. Those who have worked with Annie remark on her calm manner and empathetic spirit. Annie lives with her family in Boulder and enjoys hiking, camping and simply being in nature.

Katia Bushanski, BA
Katia graduated with a BA in Contemplative Psychology of Health and Healing from Naropa University in 2017. She is a devoted Team Leader and a Caregiver at Windhorse Elder Care, providing team building, companionship and personal care.

Living in and visioning with an intentional community for the past five years, she is deeply inspired by the process of building genuine relationships that embrace care, accountability and mutuality as a model for a meaningful and sustainable lifestyle.

Karl Baumann, MFA, Basic Attendant
Karl Baumann born in Salzburg Austria. He studied classical guitar in Salzburg, Austria and dance at the Juilliard School in New York. Karl was a dancer with the MOMIX dance company and performed in five Cirque du Soleil shows: Mystere, Quidam, Delirium, KA, and Kooza. After retiring from the stage, Karl studied at St. Mary’s College of California receiving his BFA in Dance. Soon after he studied at Naropa University where he received his MFA Theatre: contemporary performance in the spring of 2020.

When I was a dance student at the Juilliard school in New York in the late 1980’s I was attending to an 80-year old female artist in New York. Her name was Loren MacIver. She happened to be the first women represented in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. I was 24. I read the New York Times to her, played guitar and we watched movies together. We talked about art and life. I also cooked and went shopping for her. We became good friends. I will never forget her and the impact she had on my life. Fast forward, when I was studying for my MFA at Naropa University, I saw a flyer from Windhorse Elder Care. I thought about Loren MacIver and became an attender.

Through my work with WEC I was inspired to create a play about dementia and aging, which, due to the pandemic, was performed on Zoom in May of 2020. Sharing my time with the elders is a golden opportunity to make the world a better place.

Kristina Benson, Team Leader and Basic Attender
Kristina first began working with Windhorse Elder Care in November of 2020 after moving to Colorado in June of 2020. She currently serves as a Team Leader and Basic Attender.

Kristina is a graduate student in Naropa University’s Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy program. Previously, Kristina spent 2 years in a rural Nepali community working on food security initiatives, collaborating on maternal and child health projects, and learning the unique rhythms of Nepali agriculture alongside her neighbors. Kristina’s passion lies in connecting with people and natural environments through creativity and presence. Kristina enjoys the mindfulness-based approach to caregiving and finds deep meaning through cultivating relationships with her delightful clients, families, supervisors, and team members. She is consistently learning from her clients and feels honored to spend time with elders in this way. In her spare time, Kristina can be found hiking, meditating, brewing kombucha, rollerblading, and tending to her garden.

Blake Stone
Blake J. Stone (she/they) has been with Windhorse Elder Care since February of 2021. They have been working in eldercare and healthcare for the better part of a decade and living in Boulder for almost two decades. Blake has B.A. in Philosophy from CU Boulder, and is currently writing their thesis for the Masters of Divinity degree at Naropa University.

In addition to working for WEC, Blake is also part of the Spiritual Care Department of Boulder Community Hospital as a chaplain. She is a sometimes yoga & meditation teacher, and has EMT training.

Blake enjoys most things art, music, yoga, nature, and literature related. She is well traveled and frequently hermits in the mountains. They are published author of fiction and poetry, and an avid reader. She has two cats named Mobius and Torus and too many houseplants.

Margo Shean McNichol Office Manager, Windhorse Elder Care
Margo graduated from Naropa University with a degree in Religious studies, also receiving a double minor in visual arts and traditional eastern arts. She spent 3 years in residence at Karme Choling, a retreat center in Vermont, doing meditation study and practice, as well as managing the registration department for retreatants. She loved welcoming people into the care of mindful loving kindness and is grateful to be doing this for Windhorse Elder Care as the office manager. She has 20 years’ experience caring for humans of all ages, from babies to people in their 90’s, needing various degrees of support and care. She is a meditation instructor, lover of Buddhism, hiking, yoga and art and especially loves to be with her young son.