Alyce Faye Eichelberger Cleese grew up in Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas. She is a well-known psychoanalytic psychotherapist with degrees and training in America and England from Oklahoma State, Baylor and London Universities and was a Rotary Scholar. She has treated adolescents at the Tavistock Clinic, and in her private practice in London she works with a wide range of adult patients. Alyce Faye co-founded the Lunchtime Lectures, a series of weekly lectures by eminent figures at the Royal Geographical Society in London. In 1999, she wrote the best selling book "How to Manage Your Mother." She is married to John Cleese.

Carolin Phillips was elected by the Esalen Community as their representative to the Board of Trustees.  Carolin first arrived at Esalen in 2005 as a workscholar after leaving New Zealand on a spiritual journey. She returned in 2006 as an extended student at the gate and has continued on as a staff member, and now supervisor. She is proud to be part of the gate team as they are the first to greet people as they arrive at Esalen. She is committed to ongoing education and is a member of the Visiting Teacher Steering Committee, whose aim is providing quality educational opportunities for Esalen staff and community members. Carolin grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand.  Having completed a Bachelors degree in psychology she went on to be a bodyworker for 19 years, while also working in the both corporate and personal training industry. Carolin and her husband Leo Thompson live at Esalen

Mary Ellen Klee has been involved with Esalen Institute since 1965 and has served as a Trustee since the mid-80's. Her particular interests have been with the former Esalen Soviet-American Exchange Program and the current Center for Theory & Research. Mary Ellen graduated with a B.A. from Radcliffe College. She has been a student and teacher of the Arica method and practice developed by Oscar Ichazo for over 35 years. An acupuncturist since 1978 with a practice in Classical Five-Element Acupuncture in Santa Monica, California, she also has maintained a home in Big Sur for over 40 years.

Nancy Lunney-Wheeler, B.A., M.A., is long-time Executive Director of Programming at Esalen, and widely recognized as a pioneering leader in the field of integral and lifelong education.  She has been a member of the Esalen Board of Trustees for many years.  With a background in both music theater and counseling psychology, she is the developer of "Singing Gestalt," a workshop program for the development of expression and relationship through music.  She is a graduate of New York University, holds a Master's degree in psychology, and is a member of the Field Theory Conference.  She and her husband Gordon Wheeler, Esalen's president and CEO, travel widely in the course of recruiting new programs for Esalen.  Together they have eight children, and make their home in Santa Cruz, California as well as at Esalen.

David Lustig graduated Cal State University at San Jose in 1968 and was president of BFI Business Finance San Jose from 1974 to 2001. He has served as board or advisory member to numerous non profit organizations, including Chai House San Jose; the National commercial finance Association NYC; Circle of life foundation; Earth Save International; Challenge Day; and Esalen Institute. David has been involved in Diamond Heart Approach Training for 10 years and continues in that spiritual practice. He has two children: Kaylin, age 23, and Jason, age 21. He lives in Los Gatos, California, and is an avid gardener and world traveler.

Anisa Mehdi, Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker, is thrilled to be on the Esalen board. She covers religion and the arts and is committed to broadening American understanding of Islam, Muslims, and the possibility of interfaithfulness. Anisa is the first American woman to cover the Hajj for US broadcast and won critical acclaim for her 2003 National Geographic Special, "Inside Mecca." She's a commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered," teaches at Seton Hall University, and plays the flute. She went to Wellesley College and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia. She is also a trustee of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and lives in the Garden State with her husband, Peter Zimmermann, and their two daughters.

Michael Murphy is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the Esalen Institute, and author of four novels: The Kingdom of Shivas Irons, Golf in the Kingdom, Jacob Atabet, and An End to Ordinary History. His latest nonfiction work is God and the Evolving Universe, co-authored with James Redfield and Sylvia Timbers. Other nonfiction work includes: In the Zone, an anthology of extraordinary sports experiences, co-authored with Rhea White; The Life We Are Given, a book about transformative practice, co-authored with George Leonard; The Future of the Body, and The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation, co-authored with Steve Donovan.

Lyle Poncher is the co-founder of Voyager Management, a Los Angeles investment firm specializing in hedge fund investing. He also owns and operates residential and commercial real estate properties. Lyle's association with Esalen began in 1968 as a member of an early residential program and has been rekindled in recent years. From 1970-1994, he was a member and trainer in Arica. For the past dozen years, he has been a student and teacher in the Jewish contemplative tradition, as a student of Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man. He also has maintained a long-term practice of Bagua and Tai Chi Chuan. Lyle is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to his work as an Esalen trustee, he has been a trustee of the Wildwood School in Los Angeles since 1991, and was board President from 1995-2001, when he spearheaded the founding of a nationally recognized secondary school. He is also a director of Metivta, a Jewish contemplative community. Lyle has two children, Amy, 20, and Zach, 13.

Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Ph.D. is a clinical research scientist, a medical anthropologist, a writer, a speaker, and a visionary thought leader. Her work over the past three decades explores the interface of consciousness, science, and healing. Her life is directed towards the promotion of human flourishing. Dr. Schlitz currently serves as Vice President for Research and Education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Senior Scientist at the Research Institute, California Pacific Medical Center. She is a trustee at the Esalen Institute and Member of the Board of Directors, Institute of Noetic Sciences. She is now conducting an NIH sponsored grant on expectancy effects of distant healing for wounds, designing a series of transformational learning programs for health professionals, and co-writing a book with Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D. and Tina Amorok on Living Deeply, The Art and Science of Transformation, based on a multi-year research program.

Gordon Wheeler is President and CEO of Esalen. He is a licensed clinical psychologist, with a long experience of practice, teaching, and organizational consultation to non-profits, with a concentration on mission development and strategic planning. The author of numerous books and articles in the field, he is noted for his work integrating the Gestalt tradition with relational and developmental psychology, with a special focus on child and lifelong development and education, individualism, gender issues, and the dynamics of intimacy and shame. His writings have also been in values and cultural psychology, including multi-cultural issues and post-Holocaust studies; they include numerous translations, and have themselves been translated into a dozen foreign languages. He teaches and trains clinicians widely around the world, and also serves as Editor and Director of GestaltPress (a logo of Analytic Press). Gordon and his wife Nancy Lunney-Wheeler have eight children and two grandchildren, and have homes in Big Sur and Santa Cruz, California.

Sam Yau is a recognized business leader and strategist, known for delivering rapid value creation for companies that need strategic repositioning for growth or significant turnaround in a challenging time. His diversified career has spanned many industries, including semiconductor, specialty retailing, computer hardware and software, medical management and for-profit education. Sam currently serves as a director on the boards of SRS Labs and Multi-Fineline Electronix. He is a director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Irvine, and the past Chairman of the Forum for Corporate Directors in Orange County. He has a Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree in Economics from the University of Hong Kong and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago.