About Us

Josette, a specialist in Human Development, is renowned for fostering wisdom-based relationships with children. With expertise spanning human development, transformative adult learning, sustainable family relationships, relationship-based education, and studies in the evolution of consciousness, she serves as a consultant to teachers, parents, and various educational settings, offering professional development across diverse platforms. 

Her research illuminates how adult and child grow together, exemplified in her authored works including “Grow Together” and other co-authored publications. Having taught graduate level courses at esteemed institutions since 1985, such as Antioch University and Portland State University, Josette’s most recent courses are presented at Transformative Learning Foundation (https://www.transformativedynamics.org/).

Together with Ba, she co-created Natural Learning Relationships (NLR), a holistic approach to child development, emphasizing the recapitulation of consciousness evolution in childhood and throughout life. As mentors to educators, they have fostered a network of practitioners utilizing NLR principles in their schools, courses, and programs across the USA and Canada. Josette co-founded three relationship-based holistic education schools and a large learning center for families and children.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Josette resides with her husband, Ba, two grandchildren, Ruby and Celeste, and their father, Albee.

She believes heart-based authentic relationships with children are paramount, recognizing their pivotal roles in shaping the future for the collective benefit of humanity.

Ba is a leader in his field of evolution of consciousness through childhood and has worked as a mentor in just about every phase of life with children and their families. He enjoys providing professional development programs, and has taught courses as faculty in graduate schools (e.g., Antioch, and Portland State University). Currently, he is a consultant and one of the principal architects for the successful reorganization of the Transformative Learning Foundation. (www.transformativedynamics.org) 

As a writer, he authored over six books. The most prominent are, Nurturing a Child’s Consciousness: Natural Learning Relationships and the roles of parents, educators, and caregivers; and Beyond Metaphor: Dialogue from the realm of self-knowledge. His written works can be found on Amazon. Ba co-founded three relationship-based holistic education schools and a large learning center for families and children. Clients include City Year, a nonprofit partner of AmeriCorps in Memphis, TN with an emphasis on teacher-student relationships and SEL.

Together with his wife and colleague, Josette, Ba created Natural Learning Relationships holistic child development. They studied and explored consciousness since they met in 1979 and have been using Natural Learning Relationships with children, families, educators; in programs; and with schools since the 1980s. In addition, they have been instrumental in reinstituting Rites of Passage in contemporary culture.  

Ba and Josette live, work, and play together in Portland, Oregon with their two grandchildren, Ruby and Celeste and their dad, Albee.

In Ba’s words, the deeper we explore consciousness the greater our ability to access wisdom and lead a joyful meaningful life. To carefully include our spiritual, physical, and emotional capacities adds fathomless dimension to our knowing and lays the ground to access ever deepening, ever more expansive consciousness.