The Firefly Gathering is a grassroots, community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Western North Carolina, providing educational and cultural programming to the Asheville area since 2007. By offering a cyclical sharing of traditional craft and wisdom in community, we reconnect people in the Southeast with the teachings of the past to engage with the rapidly changing present to co-create a sustainable future.
Firefly Gathering envisions a world where everybody is empowered with multi-generational perspectives, wisdom and earthskills, handcrafting a beautiful and harmonious reality in which all beings thrive. Our work reflects this vision, guided by the principle that when we understand the strength and extent of the connections between us and everything around us, we realize the impact of our decisions and actions. In this light, our mission is to inspire and empower the people of the Southeast by offering opportunities to connect with self, community and the natural world through year-round earthskills workshops and gatherings. Read our Vision, Mission, and Aims here.
Staff
The Firefly Gathering was founded by and continues to be operated predominantly (but not exclusively) by strong women committed to shifting cultural paradigms. In addition to our core team of year-round staff members, we have many more staff that can be pictured here who join in supporting roles throughout the year and during the Annual Firefly Gathering.
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Executive Director
Administrative Director
Marketing Director
Class Director
Community Equity
Advocate
Donations Coordinator
Ala Fulton
Worktrade Coordinator
Registration & Communications
Kitchen Manager
Kitchen Coordinator
Site Manager
Bookkeeper
Board
The Board of Directors is constituted of around eight members with a broad range of experiences including Earthskills, nonprofit governance, tribal government, law, and technology. In addition, we have a beautiful network of support throughout the region that we have been cultivating for more than a decade. We are so grateful for the opportunities to connect and grow together.
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Jae Ortiz
Gina Beebe
Angel Chung Cutno
History
Firefly’s very first event was organized by Natalie Bogwalker and Kaleb Wallace in 2007. They had a vision to start an accessible and welcoming Earthskills gathering in the Asheville area. Natalie grew the event and ran it for many years, and currently runs her own school, Wild Abundance, in Barnardsville, NC.
Since then, Firefly has hosted annual gatherings in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains providing experiential opportunities for people to connect with themselves, each other, and the natural world. Covid came in our 13th year, providing us a much needed rest period and an opportunity to reimagine the potential of Firefly as a non-profit organization. We now offer year-round workshops, offer an Equity Fund, and more as we grow as an organization. We seek to identify the emerging needs of this rapidly changing time that ALL can be a part of.
