Staff

India Supera

Founder and Visionary of the Feathered Pipe Foundation

India Supera

India left home in her teens for the adventure of foreign travel.  After nearly dying in Pakistan, she began a spiritual quest in India and eventually found Sai Baba, who is considered an avatar by millions of people. Receiving the major part of her education and understanding at his feet, she was able to bring those teachings to the Feathered Pipe Foundation to share with others.

After living at Sai Baba’s ashram for two and a half years, she was brought back to the US by a friend, Jermain Duncan.  Within a year Jerri died of cancer and left India the Feathered Pipe Ranch near Helena, Montana. After making the difficult transition from penniless sadhu to administrator, India established the Ranch as a nationally known center for seminars in the field of yoga, holistic health and personal transformation.

TCEF Children

In 1975 she co-founded the Holistic Life Foundation which later evolved into the Feathered Pipe Foundation and became one of the first yoga centers in the US which is not guru-based.

India is also the president of the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation.  She founded TCEF along with Karma Tensum, Executive Director, in order to provide education, housing and support to the children of Tibetan refugees in India.

India has been a passionate and vibrant leader inspiring many in their personal spiritual journeys.  Her current passion is her work with the United Nations lobbying for a 5^th World Conference on the Status of Women and Children in New Delhi, India.

J.V. Bennett

Executive Director

J.V. Bennett

Attracted to Feathered Pipe by an interest in transformation of consciousness and a love of Montana’s wild places, J.V. began his long, close association with the Ranch and the Foundation as a driver when he was twenty. During his years working summers at the Ranch, he earned a BA in Comparative Religion and an MS in Environmental Studies and doing stints as an environmental activist and lobbyist.

After meeting and marrying Melissa at the Ranch, they formed Integrative Life Practices in 1996. Since then, he has worked as a consultant to organizations and business, with a focus on strategic foresight as he helps them understand the future they are moving into and adapt effectively to it. His favorite tool for working with imagination and discovering emergent possibilities in organizations is LEGO Serious Play. He and Melissa have also worked together organizing seminars and retreats. Most recently he has been involved in alternative energy, green infrastructure and community planning projects.

Over the years, he has continue his connection with Feathered Pipe serving as President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors from 1999 to 2006 and again in 2009 till the summer of 2011. At that time, he stepped down from the Board so he and Melissa could succeed India as Executive Directors, with J.V. overseeing the operations of the Foundation.
Returning to Feathered Pipe also brings J.V. home to where he grew up and his family lives. His family’s roots are deep in Helena and he knows the area and community intimately. JV is a father of two, daughter Rianne and son Seamus.

Melissa McNair

Co-Executive Director

Melissa McNair

Melissa has been working in the transformational arena since 1985, and has accumulated firsthand experience of the many expressions and methods one might turn to when they step on the path. In 1996, she founded Integrative Life Practices, and dedicated her energy to helping people undertake the personal awakening necessary for planetary transformation through coaching, designing and leading programs, and organizing seminars and retreats. She is certified as a Master Coach by the International Coach Federation and the Strozzi Institute.

Melissa is known for her ability to guide people to the right program or study to move their evolution forward. She is also skilled at crafting conversations that bring talented teachers together. She brings these skills in networking and talent development to the Foundation. Melissa will be overseeing program development, enrollment and community building.

Melissa first came to the Feathered Pipe Ranch as a guest in 1994, where she met and later married J.V. As a workshop participant and in visiting Helena with J.V. and their children over the years, she developed a deep connection with the Ranch.

Kim Erica Schleicher

Program Director

Kim Schleicher

Kim Erica Schleicher has been working for the Feathered Pipe for 25 years. She received her B.S. from Utah State University and worked for the US Forest Service as a Botanist prior to the Feathered Pipe. She is a 500 hr. Registered Teacher with the Yoga Alliance and has been  practicing yoga for most of her life. Kim continues her studies of yoga on and off the mat. She has two daughters, Jen Acacia and Lindsey Teal (the FPF food blogger)  and is an avid traveler, lover of life and gardener.

Kim teaches Yoga at the Dancing Lotus Center and Carroll College in Helena, Montana.

Eric D. Myers

IT, Networking & Marketing Director

Eric D. Myers

Eric found his way to the Feathered Pipe fifteen years ago after his wife and he moved from Austin, Texas to Missoula, Montana in 1996. Both were searching for light and direction out of the very dark alley they had ended up in. A scholarship for a Feathered Pipe workshop with Ramanand Patel and George Purvis ("The Cowboy and India") was the hand reaching into the dark that Eric needed to find the path towards the Light. He has been walking it ever since with his relationship to the Feathered Pipe and to sisters, India and VJ Supera, being central to the evolution he has gone through and is continuing to encourage in his life.

Over the years, he has participated in almost every facet of activity at the Feathered Pipe Foundation. From being an ardent student of Patricia Walden and John Schumacher both at the ranch and abroad, overseeing the annual setup of the outdoor lodging (and making sure Shrew tipi was always just perfect for Jill), aiding in landscaping and repairs, cooking, and cleanup, to his current position as IT, Networking & Marketing Director, he has experienced it all.

He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Indiana University and has a history of work and experience too strange to explain. Eric lives in Pune, India where he studies Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi and Yoga. He intends to divide his time in the future between India and the US sharing his experiences in language, philosophy, and culture. As well, Eric will continue to assist the Foundation in mapping out and manifesting the path to a more sustainable and wholistic tomorrow. He hopes to see you at the Ranch or in India for many, many years to come.

Linda Hays

Administrative Assistant

Linda Hays has worked for the Feathered Pipe Foundation for 20 years. She has a Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Carroll College in Helena, Montana and is an avid gardener and knitter. Linda has been India’s secretary for much of this time and feels very fortunate to be able to do good work in this life.