Bio:

Rachel Marco-Havens is a multi disciplinary “solutionary” artist.  Her primary medium, communication, ignites collaborative conversations, which often lead motivated people to take inspired, regenerative action in their own communities.

35 years of deliberate personal expansion, including immersion in Tibetan Buddhist studies, provide the foundation for Rachel’s art, advocacy and activation. She continuously invites us to recognize the interconnectivity between social, environmental and spiritual justice movements.

Be it facilitating workshops, sharing stories, creating art, delivering a keynote, moderating or participating in a panel discussion or whipping up a party—Rachel moves the energy from the ripples of conversation to waves of inspired activity.

She brings unique perspective…

Of mixed race heritage and unconventional upbringing, Rachel began inner-exploration early in life in order to find her way within the seemingly disparate cultural communities she was being raised in. Perpetual travel through a landscape of diverse socio-economic, racial, spiritual and environmental experiences has provided her with strong tools.

She says what many wish they could…

As a speaker, she is courageously willing to speak what others wish they could say, effortlessly bringing difficult topics into unlikely conversations with humor, candor and a light heart. Since early 2015, Rachel has been broadcasting The Same Boat Radio, a weekly two hour program, on Pacifica affiliated WIOF LP, Woodstock 104— a valuable platform for bringing people, issues and communities together.

She stands for and with the Youth…

A fierce advocate for the amplification of Youth Voices, she is always looking for a platform to lift the voices of young people.  She cherishes the opportunity to engage in reciprocal intergenerational mentorship exchanges. Rachel came to community organization and movement building as green as the young people she was being led by. Her mentorship comes with spirit-heart connection and the belief that we should all be growing young. She Most recently Joining the team at the Museum at Bethel Woods (Site of the original Woodstock Festival) as an Oral Historian, to co-curate the Youth element of the “We Are Golden” Exhibit, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Woodstock Festival this summer.

She engages locally and globally…

Initially moved into public advocacy by a hyper-local threat to the watershed in her community, Rachel chose to celebrate the unprecedented success of local efforts by opening her eyes and rising to the wider call for people to stand in protection, Sits on the Advisory Boards of The Center for Earth Ethics and Protecting Our Waters and represents Wittenberg Center For Alternative Resources at the United Nations, where she focuses on Indigenous and Environmental issues. Rachel spent 2015-2016 on the Board Of Directors for the Flagship environmental organization, Hudson Valley Clearwater, playing a pivotal role in carrying the organization through one of its most tenuous years to date.

She values personal sovereignty…

Honoring and upholding the missions of the organizations that she represents, Rachel works to support activists and advocates in their efforts to reverse the threats to our lands, water and the inhabitants who depend on both. Her council is valued among many different projects, yet Rachel remains an independent voice among them. A sovereign approach allows her to work with fluidity, as a bridge between communities, projects and individuals.

Programs:

Touching on difficult subjects, serious topics and always including humor, Rachel’s presence and offerings are unique and specific to the topic context and audience of each event.

The “Anti-Keynote”—being an interactive method she prefers—connects personal narrative, song, story and conversation.

Growing Up Woodstock

Join Rachel in a lively, humorous and informative conversation about what becomes of being raised on the values of the sixties, by iconic figures. Growing up in the proverbial Garden Joni Mitchell sang about, was unique, not always easy and while an anomaly to many, it was the only thing she knew. Rachel was born six days after her father, Richie Havens, opened the iconic festival in 1969, grew up in Woodstock, where the festival didn’t happen, behind the counter family business—a health food and metaphysical bookstore, selling the New Age to the town that once fancied itself of the most progressive in the world. Journeying from there to here, Rachel brings the conversation forward, lands us in the now, nudging us toward the practice of protecting our futures, and of our our future replacements… values which rooted deeply. These apples, those trees…

Taking Local Action For Global Regeneration.

In a time when we feel a responsibility to take action in just about every direction we look, the old adage, “World Peace Begins At Home” could not ring truer..
Highlighting actions we can take in our local communities to assist in the regeneration of wider systems, Rachel has an uncanny way of helping us to see the potential to reverberate beyond borders and the confines of our local environment.

Hopping On The Merry Go Round

An overwhelm to the senses, it is almost impossible to imagine how one person’s drop of effort in the ocean of dysfunction could make a difference. But it can.

The way we come to  any work determines how effective we will be. Rachel facilitates a lively interactive discussion, bringing concrete examples, best practices and anecdotes to assist anyone in finding their place in and adding to the momentum of the vibrant and growing movement. Participants will leave with tools for taking concrete action in their campus/community.

Protecting Our Waters

This conversation or workshop highlights best practices, methods and process of thwarting big water business. Rachel will share her experience with success and help participants to find and use their voice in the protection of water.

Exploring Identity

This conversation touches on the many emotions we face, finding our identity within our skin, the movement and social and environmental protection.

Youth Leadership Now!

Young people are leading the charge on Environmental, Social, and Racial Justice movements around the globe. Because young minds access tradition and examples set by their elders in new ways, it is imperative that we include the youth in important global conversations. Implementing the innovation of new ways depends on intergenerational collaboration.
(Inquire about an intergenerational panel and or workshop, including youth leaders from within the US and Canada)