Ash Sward maintains roots in both the Rocky Mountains of NW Montana and in the Central Valley of California. Ash received their MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, Missoula where they continue to live as an educator and recreator. Ash is passionate about promoting anti-colonialism in outdoor education as well as facilitating human-land connections through exploration and play. They work as a river guide in the summer, serve as an organizer and volunteer for the non-profit Girls on Shred, and spend a good amount of time crawling around on the forest floor searching for fungi. Ash hopes to inspire others to build their own capacity for solution-oriented thinking and to keep their hearts open through the process of living and becoming.