Who We Are

Founders

  • Chris is a former professional kayak and standup paddleboard athlete. In his decades of competition and international travel, he has been fortunate to compete on both the US and Canadian National Teams in several paddlesports disciplines, run multiple 70+ foot waterfall first descents, partner with Fortune 500 sponsors, speak from the TED stage, and manage the Dagger Kayaks Pro Team. Chris’s life in the present tense is different but no less intense. He is a husband, father to three young daughters, a commercial real estate broker and investor by trade, and still loves to throw down in nearly every outdoor sport.

    As Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Board Chair of Bright Shadow, Chris brings experience in human and financial capital stewardship and growth, passion for mental health adoption and acceptance, and a deep well of loss to Mother Nature.

  • Sommerville is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, wilderness guide, yoga instructor, founder of Aspen Roots Collective and Co-Founder of Bright Shadow. She has worked in the mental health field since 2010 and in the outdoors since 2000, incorporating curiosity, humor, deep compassion, and respect into her various roles.

    In her role as Clinical Director of Bright Shadow, she is able to weave together the many tributaries of her life experiences, not only the professional but also her personal knowledge of loss, adventure, and soulful connection with nature. She acts as a guide into the depths of grief, equally into the accompanying expansions of heart and spirit.

OUR MISSION

Bright Shadow creates spaces for community, healing, and reconnection for those grieving losses to and of the natural world.

Our offerings integrate shared story, somatic practice, outdoor play, and ceremony. We welcome all parts of self – light and shadow – exploring connection through collective grief and expanding our capacity for love, purpose, and awe.

Board of Directors

  • Vice Chair / Secretary

    Micah is an artist, catalyst, mother, and community weaver devoted to creating spaces where truth, tenderness, and transformation can take root. With over 18 years of experience in experiential design, strategic partnerships, and large-scale event production, she brings both a systems lens and a sacred one—holding the tension between logistics and mystery with grace.

    As a founding board member of Bright Shadow, Micah helps steward offerings that reconnect us to the wisdom of the natural world, to one another, and the power of collective grief. Her work is guided by a fierce love for equity, belonging, and the beauty that unfolds when we allow both shadow and light to be seen.

  • Treasurer

    Dr. Bob Swoap is a husband, father, nature-lover, and community builder. A professor of Psychology at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, he brings decades of experience in clinical, health, and sport psychology - with a focus on resilience, mindfulness, and healing in both individuals and communities. His work has explored the psychological impact of stress, exercise, and mindfulness-based practices, including with first responders and in group psychotherapy settings. Bob also serves as a sport psychologist for athletes and national teams, including the U.S. Table Tennis Team.

    Beyond academia, Bob is active with the ecstatic dance community and with the Center for Conscious Living & Dying, supporting end-of-life care grounded in meaning, service, and community. A passionate advocate for mental health and the transformative power of nature, he brings a blend of professional insight and heartfelt presence to his work. Bob earned his doctorate in clinical and health psychology from the University of Florida and completed post-doctoral training in behavioral medicine at Duke University.

  • Jennis Warren is a fundraiser, strategist, and former attorney who believes meaningful change comes through great people and strong relationships. After more than a decade at the Southern Environmental Law Center, she launched Jennis Partners, a consultancy helping mission-driven organizations build funding, manage transitions, and grow their ambitions.

    Alabama-born and shaped by years in Virginia, she now lives in Salida, Colorado, steps from the mountains. In 2024 she completed a year-long solo trip around the world. She speaks fluent Spanish, is working on French, and is convinced most problems are best solved on a long walk outside.

Collaborators

  • Caleb is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapist, educator, whitewater canoe instructor, cycling coach, mountain bike instructor, writer, retreat leader, and founder of Gravel Therapy in Asheville. He has worked in the mental health field since 2012 and in the outdoors since 2000. He has instructed with the North Carolina Outward Bound School for nearly twenty years. His latest calling has led him into the arts and crafts of psychospiritual care where his expertise has been used to serve both individuals and families in private practice, health coalitions in underserved communities, a non-profit satellite of a university research hospital, and organizations positioned at the intersection of public health, wisdom traditions, and ecological well-being.

  • Joe (E-RYT500 and C-IAYT) has been teaching yoga for two decades. He has spent thousands of hours on his mat as both the student, yoga teacher, and yoga therapist, which is demonstrated in his acute attention to detail with physical and subtle body alignment. 
    Joe strives to connect our human journey to the yogic principles of alignment. Each class weaves together clear and careful instruction with a fun and flowing synthesis of building balanced strength, core stability, flexibility and breath work. Joe’s students have a deep appreciation for his therapeutic insights and eye for correcting postural habits and helping them become pain-free. 
    His playful disposition, sense of humor and vast array of experience create a warm and safe classroom environment. 

Join Us

We are so fortunate to have a growing crew by our side… leaders, co-conspirators, dreamers, doers, outdoor enthusiasts, fundraisers, elders, mental health gurus, adventure athletes, experienced non-profit stewards, connectors, teachers, and those committed to tending their own bright shadows.

If you feel inspired to join this movement in a service leadership capacity, please REACH OUT. We look forward to hearing from you!