About Us
The Madrona Institute is an independent 501(c)3 non-governmental organization based in the San Juan Islands of Washington.
At Madrona, we envision a community and a world in which human beings co-exist peacefully with each other and responsibly with nature.
Our Mission
To engage current and future generations in the conservation and stewardship of our local ecosystem, and to encourage community dialogue and leadership on climate-related issues. This mission is accomplished through youth conservation & stewardship corps in the San Juan Islands, and through initiatives on climate change.
Our Vision is a positive, healthy, resilient San Juan Islands.
The Tree Behind our Name
The Madrona Institute takes its name from the Pacific Madrone tree, known in the Northwest as “Madrona”. In a Straits Salish story, told by Chief Phillip Paul of the Saanich people, the Madrona was the tree used by the survivors of the Great Flood (a tradition common to almost all of the Coast Salish peoples) to anchor their canoe to the top of Vancouver Island’s Mount Newton, known as Lau,Wenew or “place of refuge” to First Nations. To this day, the Saanich people do not burn the Madrona in their stoves, because of the important service this tree provided long ago. The metaphor of being an anchor in service to a community is an apt one for our work.
Board and Advisors
The Board of Directors of the Madrona Institute is responsible for the overall governance of the organization, providing special expertise in resource development that advances the organization’s work. Board members include: Linda Lyshall, President; Sarah Severn, Vice President; Gretchen Allison, Secretary; Janet Alderton Director; Lisa Nash Lawrence (Swinomish/Mitchell Bay) Director; and Nikyta Palmisani, Director.
Former Board members include: Sarah Crosby, Elaine Kendall, Kathleen Foley Lewis, Richard Hobbs, Anne Marie Shanks, Jim Skoog, Matthew Wallrath, Brian Wiese, and Ron Zee. We thank them for their past service.
Advisors to the Madrona Institute, responsible for program advice and counsel, include: Phoebe Barnard, Stable Planet Alliance; Lincoln Bormann, San Juan County Land Bank; Katie Fleming, San Juan County Department of Environmental Stewardship; Kathleen Foley Lewis, San Juan Preservation Trust; The Honorable Debra Lekanoff (Tlingit), Washington State Representative; Kyle Loring, Loring Advising PLLC; Nora Ferm Nickum, Seattle Aquarium; The Honorable Alex Ramel, Washington State Representative; and Ron Zee, Founder, The Madrona Institute.
Advisor Emeritus: Marcia deChadenedes, Bureau of Land Management
The Madrona Institute acknowledges Shaun Hubbard for her outstanding design services to our organization.
Staff of The Madrona Institute include:
Eden Light (She/Hers), Stewardship Coordinator, eden@madrona.org
Eden recently joined The Madrona Institute in the Winter of 2025 as the stewardship coordinator. Her role focuses on website and social media management, planning and promotion of events, grant support, and communication between member organizations. Her upbringing was on San Juan Island, where she spent much of her youth climbing Douglas firs, investigating tide pools, and drawing native flora and fauna. She graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in art and ecology. This interdisciplinary degree combines the two things she is most passionate about: traditional art practices and being a steward of the earth. Upon moving back to San Juan Island from university, she realized that the conservation of the islands would become a crucial part of her professional life. In her free time, you’ll find her throwing pots at Alchemy Art Center, turning plants into dye, painting on mulberry paper, foraging wild foods, and exploring the deep green woods of the San Juan Islands.
Collaborations
The Madrona Institute is a proud member of the Stewardship Network of the San Juans.
We acknowledge that we reside on ancestral lands and waters of the Coast Salish people who have called this place home since time immemorial, and we honor inherent, aboriginal and treaty rights that have been passed down from generation to generation.