Vibrant Lives of Montana is grateful for those who choose to serve on our Board of Directors. Our board is unique in it's positions and it's operation. Collaboration and consensus is our language. We meet quarterly; meetings are open to the public. We also participate in an annual board of directors' day-long planning/co-creating retreat. Recruitment for service is open. If you wish to serve our community in this way, please see our 2024 description and application for Board of Directors service.
2024 Board of Directors
Melainya Ryan, Founder of Vibrant Lives of Montana, serving in the seat of a "Partner" as VLM's President Melainya is a licensed clinical professional counselor, a yoga educator, a meditation instructor, and a transformational coach. She has more than a decade’s experience working in the mental health field and collaborating with community organizations to address the gap in mental health resources in Beaverhead County. She is passionate about and advocates strongly for the freedom and joy that each of us have access to within ourselves. Her greatest joy is love: the opportunity to love herself and others and believes deeply in the good of humanity. Her soul guides, her heart listens, and her human aligns.
Elaine Spicer, serving in the seat of a "Collaborator" Elaine is a licensed massage therapist, yoga teacher, meditation teacher, sound healer, and counselor in training who has spent decades sharing complementary health modalities with our community. She holds an MFA in interdisciplinary Art and has been a leader in nervous community service organizations. She has been with Vibrant Lives of Montana for nearly three years, and has been instrumental in developing and coordinating programming, creating marketing material, and doing outreach via social media.
Pam Buford, serving in the seat of a "Volunteer" as VLM's Treasurer Pam enjoyed a career as an environmental scientist. Spending the last 10 years of her career administering State grants to protect water quality. After retirement she moved to Dillon and enjoys many different activities most involve moving the body. She has volunteered with the Walking School Bus, obtained her Level 1 certificate to coach Crossfit at Topo Fitness, and is learning to practice yoga. She also enjoys reading and is currently involved in two book-clubs. She is continuing to pursue a healthy active life with her husband of 33 years.
Wendy Dumke, serving in the seat of a "Volunteer" Wendy graduated from high school in Dillon in 1996, after which she started her journey serving others in the Army. When her time with the military closed, she served as a Family Readiness Group leader during soldiers deployments after 9/11. She moved back to Dillon in 2005 with her children and started her new civilian journey with the Dillon Jaycees and the American Legion while going to school to obtain a degree in Geology from UMW. Wendy has served on a number of boards including the Jaycee Park Board, bringing the beautiful splash pad and playground to Dillon, Community Youth Initiative, and always with her kids school activities. Currently Wendy is working for the BLM, and consuming much of her time with learning grant writing. Wendy embraces the closing line of the Jaycee Creed, "Service to Humanity is the Best Work of Life."
Sally Cobau, serving in the seat of a "Participant" as VLM's Secretary Sally is a writer/teacher/Mom/yoga practitioner/hiker from Dillon, Montana. Originally from Ohio, she’s lived in Chicago, Connecticut, and California. However, she fell in love with Montana when she came here for graduate school. Having received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana in Missoula, she's had work published in rattle, Ekphrastic Review, Writing in a Woman's Voice, the Sun, Room, Hole in the Head Review and Oyster River Pages. Surprisingly—to her—she recently got honorable mention for her poem “Airbnb” for a humor contest. She doesn’t really think of her writing as funny. She’s taught writing for many years now, at colleges, at elementary schools, for teens, for tweens, and at all-girls writing workshops. Currently, she teaches at University of Montana Western. Besides writing, she loves hiking and taking pictures on her iPhone.
