Radical Family Wellness Conference 2026

Amy Ferguson is a West Virginia native, lifelong learner, and experienced homeschool educator with over 11 years dedicated to homeschooling her two children. She has played an active leadership role in local homeschool co-ops, supporting families through education, community-building, and shared learning experiences. Her commitment to home education is rooted in a deep belief in lifelong learning, family-centered values, and place-based knowledge.

Amy serves as the Program and Event Coordinator for The Local Exchange, where she helps connect families, farmers, and educators through community programs and events that strengthen local food systems and regional resilience. She brings a strong academic foundation to her work, holding a B.S. in Biology and an M.A. in Physical Science with a concentration in Geobiophysical Modeling from Marshall University.

She lives just outside Milton, West Virginia, at Blackberry Woods Farm with her husband of 23 years, John. Together, they manage a diverse homestead that includes laying hens, Pekin ducks, meat chickens, and Katahdin sheep. Deeply rooted in her faith in Jesus, Amy finds joy in nature, traditional skills, and the rhythms of farm life, including raised-bed gardening, fermentation, and sharing knowledge with others.

Deidre Chapman is the owner of Homemade by D’Lynn, a small business specializing in handcrafted herbal goods rooted in nature. A lifelong resident of West Virginia, particularly Wayne County, she brings a deep connection to the land and local traditions into her work.

She has been married to her husband, Randy, for 21 years and is the mother of a 21-year-old daughter, Haley. Deidre strongly promotes community connection, self-reliance, and is passionate about supporting and uplifting small businesses in her local area. Her work is guided by a belief that God provided the natural resources needed to sustain individuals and communities, and that reclaiming this knowledge strengthens both personal and collective wellness.

Outside of her business, Deidre enjoys gardening and foraging, practices that continually inform and inspire her approach to herbalism and local living.

Kelly Ellis is a DONA-trained doula whose work is rooted in deep compassion, advocacy, and connection. With experience supporting over 100 births, Kelly has walked alongside expecting families both in person and virtually across the United States, Germany, and Italy, meeting them wherever they are with unwavering care and respect.  A mother of four through a meaningful blend of birth and adoption, Kelly brings both professional expertise and lived wisdom to her work. Her passion extends beyond birth itself, driven by a deep longing to support mothers in every phase of life. Kelly is devoted to educating, empowering, and advocating for families so they feel seen, heard, and confident as they step into parenthood.  Through her doula services, Kelly creates space for informed choice, emotional safety, and transformative birth experiences—honoring each family’s journey with intention and heart. 

Kelsey Gable is a lifelong West Virginian who grew up in Ripley and has called Salt Rock home since 2013. Like many children raised in Appalachia, her earliest memories include snapping green beans with her grandmother and tying up tomato plants—experiences that sparked a deep appreciation for food, land, and self-sufficiency.

With over 15 years of experience as a K–12 educator, Kelsey brings a unique blend of classroom expertise and hands-on learning to her work. She is also a workshop instructor for various Local Exchange programming, where she teaches practical, accessible skills rooted in community and sustainability.

At home, Kelsey grows vegetables in raised beds, tends a small flock of chickens, and raises food alongside her husband, Jon, and their two young children, who actively help with planting, harvesting, and preserving both vegetables and meat.

Kelsey is passionate about sharing practical strategies for engaging children in growing food, building confidence through hands-on learning, and cultivating a lifelong connection to the land at a young age. She believes that teaching children how to grow and preserve food is one of the most powerful ways families can become more resilient and less dependent on the modern food system.

Sarah Haddox is a women’s health practitioner and homebirth midwife with a foundation in physical therapy and a passion for physiologic birth. She earned her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from West Virginia University in 2005 and spent three years working in inpatient clinical settings before stepping away to begin her family.  Through her own hospital birth experience with an obstetrician, Sarah discovered that homebirth with a midwife more closely aligned with her belief that the human body is intentionally designed to grow and birth babies without routine intervention. She went on to have three homebirths, experiences that deepened her commitment to supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with trust in the body’s natural processes.  Alongside raising her family, Sarah expanded her training in women’s health and breastfeeding, becoming a lactation specialist as well as a pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist. In 2017, she had the opportunity to study under a traditional, unlicensed midwife—an experience that helped shape her understanding of the kind of midwife she aspired to become.  By 2021, Sarah began serving her own homebirth clients and has continued that work to the present day. She has now attended more than 70 natural, physiologic births and remains dedicated to supporting women and families seeking holistic, relationship-centered maternity care. Sarah hopes that future West Virginia legislation will continue to protect the role of traditional midwives, allowing women to have meaningful choices in how and where they give birth. 

Shayla Lucas is a West Virginia–born, raised, and educated entrepreneur, homesteader,  community organizer, and Christian believer dedicated to building healthier families and more resilient local food systems, families, and economies. She is the Founding Executive Director of The Local Exchange, a community-based nonprofit working to strengthen local food systems, support small businesses, and increase access to nourishing, locally sourced foods, healthcare, and non-traditional wellness support.

In addition to her nonprofit leadership, Shayla is a professional photographer and owner of Shayla Owens Photos, where she documents families, small businesses, and community stories with an eye for authenticity and connection. She brings hands-on experience in small business development, with a strong background in marketing, branding, advertising, and storytelling, helping entrepreneurs clarify their message and connect meaningfully with their communities.

She is also a stay-at-home mother of two and a regenerative farmer, growing and raising food alongside her family on their five-acre homestead, High Water Homestead. Rooted in lived experience, Shayla’s work centers on entrepreneurship, food sovereignty, and family wellness. She is deeply passionate about helping others pursue their small business dreams while creating healthier, more intentional lifestyles for families in her local community. 

Rebekah Messer is the founder and CEO of Wild & Wonderful Forest School, where she leads a nature-based, child-centered learning program rooted in curiosity, connection, and the outdoors. A certified forest school educator, Rebekah brings a strong academic and professional background to her work, holding degrees in Elementary Education and a master’s in Reading and Writing from Morehead State University and the University of the Cumberlands, along with certification in Physical Education.

After six years teaching in public schools, Rebekah followed her calling to create Wild & Wonderful Forest School in 2022. Following three successful years of programming in Tennessee, she brought the forest school home to West Virginia. Her vision is to see forest schools take root and thrive across the state, offering children meaningful opportunities to learn and grow through nature.

Outside of her work, Rebekah enjoys playing soccer, reading, spending time outdoors with her family, calling friends on their birthdays, and relaxing with her favorite show, Impractical Jokers.

Chef Ke is a Charleston, West Virginia–based chef, mother, gardener, and food advocate whose work sits at the intersection of community, culture, and celebration. Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, Chef Ke has been serving West Virginia for the past eight years through immersive culinary experiences that honor both Soul Food heritage and Appalachian traditions.

Chef Ke brings bold, soulful flavors to the table while intentionally showcasing and working alongside small urban farmers, community gardens, and minority farmers throughout West Virginia. She is best known as the first African American and female chef to host a farm-to-table dinner in celebration of Juneteenth, a milestone that reflects her commitment to equity, history, and meaningful food experiences.

At the heart of Chef Ke’s culinary philosophy are the 3 C’s - Community, Culture and Celebration. Agricultural and food education are central to her journey; she believes in teaching food sustainability from seed to plate. By sowing seeds, gardening, and showing communities how to transform fresh harvests into nourishing meals, Chef Ke continues to cultivate empowerment, wellness, and connection through food.

Looking ahead, Chef Ke plans to continue working with West Virginia farmers and gardeners, expanding her farm-to-table dinners while deepening agricultural and food education within her community. Through a focus on self-sustainability and the goal of acquiring her own land, she aims to further these efforts—creating a lasting space for learning, growing, and nourishing future generations.

Sydney Skiles is the founder of Syd’s Nature Kids, a mission rooted in her deep passion for child development, faith, and the natural world. Through her work, she encourages families to embrace play, trust child-led experiences, and reconnect with the wisdom of nature. Sydney believes that nature offers endless developmental benefits for children of all ages—providing sensory-rich experiences, opportunities to build resilience, and space for imagination to flourish. She believes that nature is the best teacher and that God designed it intentionally for this purpose.

A Christian, mother, and special education preschool teacher, Sydney brings both professional experience and personal conviction to her work. Her mission with Syd’s Nature Kids is to inspire parents to lean into play and trust that it is enough. In a culture where childhood is rapidly changing—academic pressures beginning earlier, days becoming increasingly over-scheduled, screen time on the rise, and anxiety, depression, and developmental disorders becoming more prevalent—Sydney believes it is vital for parents to choose a different path. She calls families to take back childhood, not only for the benefit of their children, but for the health and wholeness of the entire family.