meet the board
Our inspiration and guidance comes from the spirits of the land, our hearts, and our interconnection with self and other.
michelle befus
Michelle felt an immediate connection with Aldermarsh during her first visit in 2019. Having led retreats on Whidbey Island since 2013, she knew she had found her new retreat home. She continues to facilitate multiple retreats a year on this magical land.
Michelle began her professional life in movement arts as a professional ballet dancer with Southern Ballet Theatre in Orlando, Florida. Through this vocation, she learned the value of discipline, patience, self-motivation and mental focus. Later, she developed strong business and administrative skills during twelve years in corporate management with a large specialty clothing retail company. Overseeing multiple stores, in widely different markets across Washington and Oregon, she honed leadership, marketing, communication and interpersonal skills.
Today, she weaves these skills together as a yoga educator and retreat leader. She offers yoga and mindfulness classes, workshops and retreats across the United States. She also regularly volunteers with small and mid-size nonprofits, including organizations that provide animal rescue and welfare, and assisting with fundraising events that support reproductive justice.
Michelle is honored to join the board and hopes that her service will help Aldermarsh grow sustainably, while continuing to elevate the retreat experience for all guests and facilitators for years to come.
TESS GALLETLY
Tess is honored to join the Aldermarsh board with a deep appreciation for the sanctuary Aldermarsh represents. As a resident on the island living in Clinton, Tess has cultivated a profound connection to the serene landscapes and transformative experiences of Whidbey and specifically that Aldermarsh offers through its retreats. She is enthusiastic to share Aldermarsh's unique qualities with wellness and non-profit communities, both locally and beyond.
By profession, Tess works in Information Technology, and envisions leveraging technology to expand Aldermarsh's reach and amplify its impact, while remaining grounded in the organization's core values of connection, introspection, and growth. In her spare time, she is passionate about yoga, meditation, and forest bathing, finding inspiration and rejuvenation in the natural world.
Tess is excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. She is committed to contributing her skills, passion, and energy to furthering Aldermarsh's mission of fostering healing, connection, and transformation for all who seek refuge within its tranquil space.
Dawn Huff
Dawn is a founding board member, serving since April 2017. Her first experience with Aldermarsh was as a participant at an Authentic Movement Retreat more than 20 years ago. In that brief weekend on the land Dawn made a deep connection to the land and experienced a flicker of knowing that one day the time may come to serve Aldermarsh. She brings experience from a varied background of yoga teacher and practitioner, stay-at-home mother and home school mentor, avid hiker and lover of the natural world, passionate gardener, and business woman.
Dawn is dedicated to supporting Aldermarsh becoming a self-sustaining and thriving organization that will remain open to serving the community near and far for many years to come. Her focus on the board is fiscal sustainability, community engagement, and policy structure.
In all her years attending retreats at Aldermarsh, Dawn has been deeply served and transformed over the years by her time on the land through her connection with the land and people during her time on retreat. She hopes her service on the board will support others receiving the gifts of Aldermarsh.
Maryon Attwood
Maryon Attwood joins the Aldermarsh Board and hopes to utilize her experience in the non-profit world for the benefit of the organization and the communities that take advantage of the center, it's facilities and it's unique and tranquil atmosphere.
Maryon is a co-founder of Cook on Clay Ceramic Cookware, and is a studio artist and activist living and working in Langley on Whidbey Island. Maryon and her partner moved across the country from Connecticut to Coupeville, Washington in 2005.
Maryon graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Monmouth College in Illinois and studied at the Art Institute in Chicago Illinois. She continued her formal education in Biological Illustration at the University of New Haven in Connecticut and at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Currently Maryon spends part of her time making platters and pizza stones for Cook on Clay, spirit houses, and anatomical sculptures in her studio in Langley and Coupeville.
Maryon has worked and volunteered for small and mid-sized non-profits, aligning her personal values with the values and goals of organizations that she has worked for throughout her career. She helped pass legislation in Olympia that funded Washington State University’s organic education program, locally founded the Organic Farm School, and facilitated in creating the Whidbey Island Grown brand.
Maryon also founded the Sound Defense Alliance and serves as that Board’s legislative chairperson. She is an avid gardener and has three grown children and six grandchildren who live in Florida, Wisconsin and here on Whidbey Island.