Gigi Coyle, co-founder of Walking-Water, lives in Payahuunadu (the Owens Valley in California) and has been focused on the connection to and teachings of water – the care of and the protection of water – throughout her life. She began this relationship spending much time as a child alongside a lively brook, paddling her first river at age 9 and most noticeably at age 12 entering a series of three-day silent retreats at her convent school surrounded on three sides by the sea.

In her early twenties, with an MA in International Relations, Gigi worked as a community organizer and research consultant focused on the use of appropriate technologies, specifically writing grants and channeling government aid and resources to women overseas. She has travelled and worked in 37 countries extensively, spending time alone in nature and in diverse communities and cultures, seeking pathways to regenerative living, integral healing, local and global partnerships. In 45 of her 69 years, she has served in various roles from volunteer to director, educator to student, consultant to facilitator, working to build bridges “between the worlds.”

She has organized and co-led journeys to the rainforest, the oceans, and the desert, journeys dedicated to witnessing and learning from the great suffering and abundant grace found on this planet. She is a leader of Beyond Boundaries, an inter-generational pilgrimage of service and a response team for our times. She continues today as a rite of passage guide for organizations and individuals as well as a council trainer, community activist, and mentor.