Pele Rouge Chadima was born and raised on a farm in Iowa that has been in her family for the last 150 years. From these deep roots, she traveled the world seeking to discover the meaning of life and to experience and understand the underlying web of relationship that connects all life.

Following service in the Peace Corps, she began a 12 year academic appointment at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in which she co-created courses that illuminated the emerging planetary shift from a paradigm of separateness to a paradigm of connectedness and oneness.

These spirited, nationally-recognized gatherings brought together the world’s leading scientists and thinkers who were at the forefront of this emerging paradigm.

This work led her to the International Center for Organization Design where she functioned as Senior Context Designer during her tenure there – applying the research and insights garnered during her university work to the fields of business and organizational design.

In the early 90's, Pele and her husband FireHawk entered into a formal apprenticeship with WindEagle and RainbowHawk, Medicine Keepers of an ancient body of Earth Wisdom Teachings known as "The Origin Teachings of the Delicate Lodge.”

These teachings have been handed down orally for many thousands of years and represent one strand in the web of human wisdom that is dedicated to living in harmony, balance and respect with all of life.

This apprenticeship continued for over eight years and involved sharing of this body of teachings in a wide variety of sacred ceremonies in the United States and Europe. Through ceremony, they guide people in remembering and applying this wisdom to the issues that face each of us as a human being and to healing the fabric of life, which holds us all.

Her passion is co-creating sacred ceremonial space in which people can gather to “do their work and to learn.”

Since the founding of the Thought Leader Gatherings in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999, Pele Rouge and FireHawk have been active partners with Heartland Circle’s co-founders Craig and Patricia Neal in establishing and nourishing a community of leaders committed to taking their visions into whole and balanced action in the world.

She is a contributing author to Community Building and the author of the recently released DVD “Never Shout at a Bear” - a true story of the power of love to transform ourselves and our world.

Pele Rouge and FireHawk have six grown children and make their home in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California.