MICHELLE LATVALA

Michelle Latvala is a nature-based facilitator, leader, poet and wildcrafter. She has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2001 and served as Executive Director of Spirit Rock Meditation Center from 2011-2022. She currently serves on faculty for poet David Whyte’s Institute for Conversational Leadership and recently founded Insight Outside, which integrates writing and meditation programs in wild places. Michelle’s debut book Between Latitudes (Green Writers Press 2025) addresses themes of climate, ancestry, nature, and kinship  through her accessible, intimate, and deeply relevant poetry.

Michelle worked as a naturalist, guide, and outdoor educator in organizations ranging from Stanford Sierra Camp to Marin County Outdoor Education to Backroads Active Travel, where she served as VP of Leader Development for a decade. Michelle graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Stanford University and migrates thoughtfully between responsibilities in northern California and eastern Alaska, where her Finnish ancestors shared the same circumpolar boreal forest in their genes for centuries.