Our Board of Directors
President: Lluvia Lawyer Aby
Vice President: Ruth Bowman
Secretary: Sheri Kotowski
Treasurer: Bettina Lea
Public Relations: Aiya Faaneshorne
Lluvia Lawyer Aby was born in the Verde Valle of Arizona in 1973 and moved to New Mexico (with her parents) when she was two. She has lived in the Embudo Valley for the last twenty years except for a few years in Albuquerque where she studied Massage at the New Mexico School of Natural Therapeutics (graduated 1995) and Pre-med at TVI (Degree awarded 1996). She has been a practicing Massage therapist ever since. Lluvia lives in Ojo Sarco with her husband Scott and daughters Lorali, Salome, and Hannah Aby.
Ruth Bowman has an interest in health and healing that emerged in elementary school when she started wondering what all the fuss was about with co-op warehouse health food stores, Celestial Seasoning teas and homemade bread replacing Yuban and Wonder bread in her home. A decade later, she found she couldn’t resist reading every book she found on herbal and home remedies, going door to door asking her neighbors if they needed any help. She currently practices as a registered nurse living with her family in Taos, NM.
Sheri Kotowski has grown incessantly from her life as a gypsy, artist and storyteller for more than five decades. While living in Northern New Mexico as a downwind neighbor to Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, she has worked as an activist and amateur scientist on environmental and health issues generated by nuclear weapons industry. She co-founded and led the Embudo Valley Environmental Monitoring Group for nine years. Through this work combining creativity and the inquisitive nature of the artist, she developed an unyielding passion for protecting the people and the environment. She brings to the Carnelian Center an understanding of the holistic relationship between the health of the people and the health of the environment and a desire to continue to serve her community.
Bettina Lea is a founding board member and has served as both Secretary and Treasurer. Bettina publishes the Carnelian Center Newsletter, is the Carnelian Center Webmaster and designs a line of Carnelian Jewelry to benefit the Carnelian Center. Bettina is degreed in both Art and Multimedia and has vast work experience in many fields including the Healing Arts in which she still practices Electromagnetic Therapy with her “Electrosculpture Body Wraps”.
Aiya Faaneshorne has been a resident of Penasco, New Mexico for 15 years. She has been studying and living by natural ways of healing for herself and others, including animals, for most of her adult life. She experiences natural healing modalities as gentle, nurturing and fun. She is certified in Reiki Level 1 and is partners with Cindy Stone in their service called Fairies at Play. Aiya’s position on the Board of Directors is Public Relations. She believes wholeheartedly in the Carnelian Center’s vision and enjoys bringing that vision to the Embudo Watershed people.