Our initial founder and visionary, Jessie is an all-around community artisan and passionate activist.  The Maine Yurt Collective began as a shelter project to support local artisans, facilitate rural economic resiliency including fair wages, and to create a container that weaves together permaculture forestry and natural builders.  She spent the last ten years studying and creating permaculture systems, natural buildings, yurts, and practicing regenerative agriculture. She studied Sculpture at New York State College of Ceramics and Cultural Anthropology at Alfred University. She currently practices somatic bodywork and facilitates somatic healing workshops here in Maine, as well as in Peru.

Nick Mukai is a carpenter with a passion for building things to last forever. While manufacturing high performance wooden downhill skis as co-founder of Lucid Skis he learned precision building methods. As a former agricultural worker he became interested in nomadic structures and simple living. Having lived in a self made yurt at a ski resort during a historic 15 meter snow season  he became convinced of the strength and practicality of yurt's simple and elegant design.

Scott is a Natural builder, Compost Educator, inventor and farmer with a Degree in Chemical Engineering from W.P.I. and 10 years of experience in the world of Cooperative business. His project portfolio includes raised bed gardens, permaculture design, greenhouse installation, composting systems, habitat restoration projects, soil testing and remediation, pond installation and all types of stone installations. He brings permaculture to the workplace while keeping the group organized and on task. In collaboration with the permaculture education group, Permatours.org, Scott is building an online education platform to share educational content on various forms of natural building. These connections are positioning us to have a broad reach and deep impact in spreading yurt awareness via our active local and web based communities.

Birdie is our lead seamstress, crafting all of our liners and insulation panels inside her new 25’ yurt shop in Acton, Maine. She spent 25 years as a traveling sewer, performing repairs and alterations on leather goods at motorcycle rallies throughout the country with her daughter and apprentice Haley.

For years, she was very well known in the biker community as an expert sewer and upholsterer. She would arrive with her industrial sewing machines, and sew non-stop for 12 plus hours per day.

Now that she’s sewing from home, she still works closely with her daughter/ apprentice who is learning how to sew yurts with the instruction of her Mother. They work closely with her son, Scott as well who helps lead yurt projects as they come in.

Birdie is a proud matriarch to her 7 children and 7 Grandkids and is overjoyed to be working alongside her children in the Yurt Collective.