Founding Board Members
The former board members were the co-owners of the ranch property and now that the ranch has been purchased the Creative Healing Arts Center. All of the partners have been in the healing work with me and have great passion for the healing arts and the natural environment. In 2014 we started to broaden our base with board members and invite in a balance of feminine energy along with more people with outside interests.
David Elliott
Born and raised on a farm in Kentucky, David graduated from the University of Kentucky with an MBA degree. He then ventured to Los Angeles and began acting in films, television shows and commercials throughout the 1980s. After a meeting with mystic healer Tim Heath, Elliott connected the dots of many chance meetings with strangers—people claiming they had been sent to him for “healing” by their guru in India or their psychic in New York. With the help of Tim, David learned to recognize his unique ability to feel, move and shift stuck energy; the healing work soon became his passion and the “reluctant” phase of his life dissipated. By 1997, his acting career had successfully transitioned to a full-time career working as a healing artist. As David recalls, “The Universe obviously had a plan for me, so I decided to get out-of-the-way and do the healing work.” David has had a successful healing practice in Los Angeles for the past 20 years as well as an active practice in many U.S cities and Europe. He has trained healers from around the world and the demand for his teaching and healing work is growing. In recent years David has begun teaching teachers so he can have more support and get in a much-needed vacation! The Creative Healing Arts Center is his vision for the future and his way of giving back to the Mother Earth and all of the beneficial energies that have been supporting him in his healing journey. Creative expression is a shortcut David has used in helping people heal and it will play a big role in this center as artists will be given opportunities to help tell the story about how we have to take care of the Mother Earth, literally as our most important family member.
Julie Brinkley
Julie is a wellness practitioner with over twenty years of experience. She has been a Registered Nurse since 1983 and practices at the UNM Hospital. She is an author and holds certifications in Nutrition, Hydrocolon Therapy, and Yoga, bringing a integrative approach to health and healing. Julie has worked with David for over twenty years managing retreat operations and nourishment.
Monique DiGiorgio
Monique is a conservation leader and Founder of the Chama Peak Land Alliance, with extensive experience building mission-driven organizations across the Rockies. She brings strong nonprofit and program leadership to advance CHAC’s vision of healing the planet and its people. She holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Notre Dame.
Carolina Mello
Carolina is an integrative healing practitioner and regenerative leadership educator with a background in technology, marketing, and investor relations. After more than a decade in corporate leadership, she transitioned into the healing arts, specializing in breath, somatics, and mindfulness. She practices earth-based traditions, herbalism, and permaculture to support regenerative land stewardship.
Bear Decatur
Bear is a somatic practitioner and studio owner whose work centers on the body as a gateway to healing and human connection. For over 22 years, he has led a multidisciplinary wellness studio integrating movement, breathwork, and trauma-aware care.Trained in breathwork, sound therapy, and nervous system regulation, he mentors emerging practitioners and fosters embodied awareness through decades of hands-on practice and community leadership.
Marjorie Bransfield
Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Marjorie pursued a career in theatre and film, shaped by influential teachers such as Liz Swados, Roy London, and Uta Hagen. A lifelong lover of the arts, she believes deeply in their transformative power. Twenty years ago, she joined her family’s oil and gas business. Her involvement with CHAC reflects her commitment to integrating creative expression and healing, grounded in gratitude for her longstanding kinship with David Elliott.
Eric Bendixen
Eric earned a degree in chemistry before completing medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and a residency in anesthesiology at the University of Texas Southwestern. He practiced for decades in New Mexico, serving as Chief of Anesthesia at Presbyterian Health Care Systems. Now retired from clinical practice, he focuses on advancing integrated health and wellness initiatives.
Former Founding Board
Bill Casto
Ronald H. “Bill” Casto was a real estate investment/development executive, outdoorsman, and philanthropist.
As a career real estate professional Bill participated as an investor, lender or consultant on over $500m in transactions primarily involving government assisted multifamily housing. In a small way, Bill helped shape public housing policies and in a large way he helped create 1000’s of units of decent and safe affordable housing for families all over the country. For his efforts in his field he has multiple times been listed in the Business Advisory Council’s Man of the Year as evidenced in the Wall Street Journal.
The outdoors captured Bill as a child in Boy Scouts where he camped and backpacked during 50 mile hiking trips in the Sierra Mountains. He was active in recreation and conservation of the woods and waters all over the country as well as a multitude of remote parts of the world. Bill was a steward of approximately 2000 acres of wilderness in four states and he was a seasoned philanthropist regularly giving his time, energy and resources to a host of charities. He volunteered to build houses for Habitat for Humanity and Baja Christian Ministries. He sponsored the creation of three 501(c) 3 organizations. He was a consistent contributor to his church, schools and universities, youth groups, conservation groups, cancer research groups and he headed up wildlife management with the Creative Healing Arts Center.
In late 2018 we lost Bill after a valiant battle with cancer. He will always be missed but can be felt taking care of so many from his tree stand in the great beyond.
Walter Lutz
Walter grew up on a farm in western Virginia with his parents, a brother, three sisters, several foster children and several exchange students. He went to James Madison University on a Physics scholarship where he majored in Physics and minored in Math and Computer Science. After graduating JMU Magna Cum Laude, he attended the University of Virginia on a scholarship in Engineering Physics, where he concentrated in Physics and Computer Science. Upon graduating, he moved to Northern Virginia and started his career in Software Engineering. During the first 25 years of his career he was involved in technology and computers. While working in technology and computers paid well, he always enjoyed the outdoors and teaching. He is an avid skier, hiker, aviator, and sportsman. He enjoys photography, nature and writing.Thomas Whalen
Thomas “Tom” Whalen has been involved with healing practices his entire adult life. He began a Zen practice in 1971 and is now a student of Alfred Jitsudo Ancheta, Roshi. He became a student of acupuncture in the early 70’s. This interest eventually led to enrollment in Allopathic medical school. He is now board certified in Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine and has limited his practice for the last 15 years to care of people with chronic pain. In the early 90’s, he was responsible for the development of a pre-operative hypnotherapy preparation program for surgery patients. In 1991, he began practicing Archetypal DreamWork, a spiritual dream practice, and has begun to work with other seekers and their dreams. He is an avid hiker and skier, member of the Sierra Club and Greenpeace. He is currently writing a book of poetry and his own commentary on the Zen Koan collection “Transmission of the Lamp”.