About Us

Denise Rushing, founder

Denise is an environmental engineer, organic grower and regenerative ecological designer (certified permaculturist) in Lake County California. At Dancing TreePeople Orchard, she is working to regenerate the fertility of what was once traditional agricultural land. She is focused on implementing the core ethics of permaculture in her own sphere of influence.

Denise is an engineering graduate of Stanford University where she studied alternative energy and environmental science. She holds a Master's Degree in Culture and Spirituality from the Sophia Center at Holy Names College and She has led a variety of web-related energy efficiency businesses. Recently, she was elected to public office on a platform of smart growth and stewardship of the land, water and resources. She is serving her first term as County Supervisor for Lake County's District 3.

Denise's career as a management consultant and an energy-efficiency technology executive spans two decades and includes a number of technology start-ups: eMeter corporation as Vice President of Marketing, Sage Systems in Alameda as the Vice President of Business Development and CellNet Data Systems, in San Carlos: first as Director of Sales and later as the VP of Sales and Marketing. Up until 1996, she held a variety of leadership positions at PG&E in San Francisco, including Director of Energy Efficiency Programs and Manager of Clean Air Vehicle Programs.

Denise is most interested in aligning her life and work with The Great Work: the task of restoring and participating in the renewal of Earth and developing humankind's right relationship to the broader community of life. It is this task of creating a new compelling vision, to which we all can all align and which gives us meaning and purpose, that propels her passion.

To follow her progress in these endeavors, check in on her web log (blog) from time to time.

Others At Dancing TreePeople

Anna Forsythe, Artist

Renee Shields, cofounder, life-partner and friend

(In Memorium)

Born: March 11, 1944 Died: May 12, 2007

Renee Shields, co-founder of Dancing TreePeople and resident and teacher in Upper Lake, CA, died on May 12, 2007 after a brief illness. She was 63 years old.

Renee was born Lorraine Gail Shields, in Merced, California on March 11, 1944. She entered religious life as a Sister of the Holy Family in 1963, and remained in religious life for 30 years. She entered into a committed partnership with Denise Rushing in 1993 and helped raise two children: Brian and Teresa Rushing. Renee taught Special Education at Upper Lake High School and was a licensed family counselor.

When she was not at Dancing TreePeople, Renee taught at Upper Lake High School where she worked to integrate sustainable living principles into the curriculum for her students. Renee held two Masters Degrees: One in counselling from California State University-Fresno and one in religious education from University of San Francisco.

At Dancing Treepeople, Renee enjoyed caring for the livestock and implementing a variety of sustainability projects and creative tasks, including baking cookies and cakes using the fruits and nuts produced at Dancing TreePeople Farm. She relished the process of gathering walnuts and shelling them, considering it a sacred gift. Her motto: "No Walnut Left Behind" is still a rallying cry during the months of October and November.

Renee was most interested in developing her own and her students creativity and curiousity. She appreciated the beauty of the landscape and life at Dancing TreePeople Farm.

(c) Dancing TreePeople, 2008