H Leopold, Springhouse Vitality Centered Design Lead
After realizing the limits of the US public education system, a structure that wasn’t built to support the creative education work that they were after, H left their 5-year teacher education program a year early, graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies with minors in Elementary Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Upon receiving their diploma, they left the town of their undergraduate university in pursuit of a new way of educating and learning - one that truly supports the potential and life in each individual. Now, after 6 years of immersion in and the co-creation of a vitality-centered learning environment, H is inspired to work alongside other educators yearning for something different - for an educational design in which ALL learners can thrive. A queer, gender-noncomforming womxn, H is committed to anti-racist, abolitionist teaching, the decolonization of education and themselves, and being a coconspirator. H is the lead facilitator of the Sourced Design Lab.
After realizing the limits of the US public education system, a structure that wasn’t built to support the creative education work that they were after, H left their 5-year teacher education program a year early, graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies with minors in Elementary Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Upon receiving their diploma, they left the town of their undergraduate university in pursuit of a new way of educating and learning - one that truly supports the potential and life in each individual. Now, after 6 years of immersion in and the co-creation of a vitality-centered learning environment, H is inspired to work alongside other educators yearning for something different - for an educational design in which ALL learners can thrive. A queer, gender-noncomforming womxn, H is committed to anti-racist, abolitionist teaching, the decolonization of education and themselves, and being a coconspirator. H is the lead facilitator of the Sourced Design Lab.
Dr. Jenny Finn, Springhouse Founding Visionary
Jenny holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education from Prescott College and a master’s degree in Social Work from Colorado State University. For the past twenty years, she has been committed to creating healthy culture by starting with an unwavering commitment to her own personal growth and transformation. As a result of her own journey with addiction and cancer, Jenny understands that a healthy relationship with the world begins with a strong connection to ourselves. In a culture that often fosters separation and disconnection, Jenny’s research, mentoring, and teaching invites people to deepen the relationship they have with themselves in order to serve the world with greater clarity, compassion, creativity, and courage. Jenny's work has taken many forms including non-profit management, trauma and hospice care, spiritual care and chaplaincy, clinical private practice, community building through the expressive arts, and educational design. She is a co-founder of Springhouse and sees community-based education as a primary agent to transform culture. She is honored to work with the outstanding Springhouse team and is deeply committed to the Springhouse mission of reimagining the purpose and practice of education. Jenny lives on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her family. Jenny is the lead facilitator of the Sourced Design Immersion and co-facilitates the Sourced Design Lab with H.