Dr. Kourtney Sims (aka Dr. Kourtney) is a Georgia native who has become a Texas transplant. She received her undergraduate training from Xavier University of Louisiana and stayed in New Orleans for medical school training at Tulane Medical School. After deciding on a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology she and her family moved to Houston, Texas. Dr. Sims completed her OB/Gyn training at University of Texas Houston and has been in private practice since graduation. She is currently board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG). She was also the FIRST female physician in Houston outside of the medical center who was certified by the North American Menopause Society. Currently Dr. Sims is a member of several professional groups including the Harris County Medical Society, ACOG, the Institute for Functional Medicine and the Texas Medical Association in addition to her membership in AHG.
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Dr. Keren Dolan is a Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (LDN) in Maryland, a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS®), a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (FACN), a Registered Herbalist (RH) through the American Herbalists Guild, and a Regional Director of the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and has the privilege of serving as adjunct faculty in the Nutrition and Herbal Medicine Department at Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH). Keren has been in clinical practice in Northern Virginia since 2007, specializing in functional nutrition with an emphasis on western clinical herbalism and holistic aromatherapy. She lives, plants and plays in Northern Virginia with her husband and three children.
Keren holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia, a certificate in Holistic Aromatherapy from the West Coast Institute of Aromatherapy, an M.S. in Therapeutic Herbalism, a PMC in Clinical Herbalism, and a DCN from MUIH.
Tenby lives in Hawthorne, Wisconsin. She has been a professional Guild member since 1999. She trained in Chinese herbal medicine and pulse diagnosis at the Leon Hammer Dragon Rises Institute in Florida and studied western herbs with Peter Holmes. Tenby had a clinical practice for humans from 1994 - 2004 including work at the St. Luke’s Hospital Holistic Clinic in Duluth, Minnesota. She started Ariel Botanical Company in 1996 (arielbotanical.com) making herb formulations for companion animals and ruminants. Tenby enjoys gardening and wildcrafting. She lives with her partner of 12 years and seven rescue four-leggeds.
Sophia is firstly a non-profit medical advocate and secondly a clinical herbalist. In cooperation with physicians at Stanford, UCSF, USC, MD Andersen, UT Southwestern, et al. -- she leverages her background in computer science and ethnobotany to create big data clustering algorithms that help inform plant medicine-inclusive treatment pathways for rare disease patients. The medical technologist-herbalist's deep-seated belief in ethnobotany's value to the public good stems from that as a teenager, she fell gravely ill with lupus, scleroderma and epilepsy. Over the next decade, Sophia embraced the breadth of Karuk, Tlingit, Javanese, TCM and Ayurvedic healing traditions -- ultimately regaining her health.
Board of Directors
Brandon Elijah Scott is a herbalist, photographer, adventurer, author and artist based in Warsaw, Ohio. Plant medicines called to him over a decade ago when life’s lows felt all too consuming. The fire the plants and fungi lit has grown ever since. Brandon founded Woodland Herbal and Green Path Academy: School of Herbalism in 2018 and 2019 with family. He will say his biggest influence was his family’s generational knowledge of herbalism, the view and respect for the plants they taught, and how they followed the old ways. The relationship with the natural world along with family member Jenni Parsons' mentoring, Rosemary Gladstar's teachings, and the support of the AHG played powerful roles in his development.
Sallie Dixon is a practicing Herbalist living in a beautiful rural setting outside Tallahassee Florida. She began her journey of working with plants to support health and healing in 2008 after an illness called her to them. She completed the Professional Herbalist program with the East West School of Planetary Herbology centered on the traditional use of plants in various cultures including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda as well as more recent Western methods. She continues to study with the plants and through conferences, symposiums, workshops and webinars. Her teaching focuses on ensuring students have a solid foundation in the principles and applications of the energetic systems that will be used throughout their studies. One of Sallie’s passions is helping people access tools to be more confident with their basic healthcare. Sallie was on the faculty with the East West School of Planetary Herbology. Memberships include the American Botanical Council, United Plant Savers, and Herbalists Without Borders.
Essex currently resides in Auburn,GA with his family of six. He is a proponent of African Herbalism and was a student of the late, world renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Anthony Kweku Andoh. Essex hopes to share his knowledge and promote a herb centric lifestyle to all. He is a software engineer with just as much of a passion for the natural as well as the technical and mechanical. Essex launched www.fleekofnature.com to help showcase the beauty of nature in creative ways and through his publishing company made his mentor's book, The Science and Romance of Herbs Used in Traditional and Medicinal Ceremony, available to the herbal community. Essex is a member of the AHG DEI committee and continues to learn more about being inclusive and execute those learnings in a way that inspires people to be their best selves and be accepted as they are without compromise.
Owner of Omaroti Salud y Bienestar, an apothecary and wellness space located in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Olatokunboh Obasi has been working in the wellness field for over 15 years. A yoga and dance instructor, clinical herbalist, nutritionist and birth doula. Committed to community holistic health, social justice, and education, she works heavily in community service and Afro Indigenous Medicine on the island. As a member of the American Herbalist Guild, she was the 2019 award recipient for her notable work in supporting, diversity and equity and justice in herbalism. Presently, coordinates Herbalists without Borders International on the island of Boriken providing community service to people in need. Also training local and online students in clinical herbalism and healing arts through her school Well of Indigenous Wisdom School. A guest presenter and teacher of many conferences she’s originally from Africa, her travels around the world are extensive as she integrates traditional knowledge of herbs, with her western education. She received her Master’s of Science from Maryland University of Integrative Health. Olatokunboh is a mother of 3 young adults. She continues to learn from her children through challenge and tribulation as she shares her journey of life with them and the human family.
Erika is the Lead Creatrix and Clinical Herbalist at Sovereignty Herbs. She is the host of the Herbal Practice Connexion (HPX) community and the Herbal Sensorium podcast. Her home base and medicine gardens are located just outside of Athens, OH but she serves a national and international community with her renowned herbs & wellness coaching, online and in-person classes and workshops, and clinical mentorship programs.
Erika holds a degree in Herbal Medicine from the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK and Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, Glasgow, UK. She is a professional member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK) and the American Herbalists Guild (USA). Over 20 years of clinical practice has provided a platform for witnessing the efficacy of medicinal plants and aromatics within a clinical environment. It is through this clinical practice that Erika seeks to encourage positive, learned relationships between plants and people and people and their bodies. She is a firm believer in celebrating the role that emotions and the psyche play in the ecology of our physical terrain. Erika is also deeply passionate about the history of botanical medicine in the United States as depicted by the American Botanical Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and has built her clinical philosophy around the principles and practice of Physiomedical and Eclectic traditions.
In addition to clinical practice, Erika is both a student and teacher of horticulture, native medicinal plant conservation and ecology, and the phenomenological and Goethean study of plants and their medicinal virtues. With her dedication to medicinal plants native to Ohio and the Greater Appalachian region, Erika teaches, lectures, and writes on native medicinal plant conservation and applied ecology, propagation, herbalism, and clinical efficacy. She also participates as a member of the Education Advisory Council of the American Herbalists Guild as well as the Stewardship Committee of Appalachia Ohio Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of land and water in Southeast Ohio. She is the author of The Family Guide to Aromatherapy: A Safe Approach to Essential Oils for a Holistic Home
I am the director of CommonWealth Holistic Herbalism, an herb school that offers online herbal education at all levels. My husband and I are the creators of the Holistic Herbalism Podcast, which is one of the ways that we are working to make high quality herbal education accessible for free to all people. I’ve been a member of the AHG Membership Committee for the last two years and the chapter leader of the AHG Business Chapter - I'm excited to increase my involvement and find new ways for us to grow together!
The Board of Directors is comprised of 10-12 elected representatives of the membership. Their duty is to act on behalf of the members to see that the mission of the organization, as stated in the by-laws, is carried out and that the organization is financially sound. The AHG has a working Board. All members of the Board serve on one or two committees and provide leadership for various projects. The Board works closely with the Executive Director who manages the AHG Staff and the day to day operations of the AHG.
A friendly reminder: The views and opinions expressed by AHG contractors, employees, and board members on their personal blogs, publications, websites, and social media are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the American Herbalists Guild as an entity.