Melanie Mindlin has worked with permaculture design, home design, group facilitation, land use planning and intentional communities for many years. She was the founder, designer and project manager of Ashland Cohousing Community, a community of 13 passive solar homes with a common house and community garden. She has been intimate with the process of creating community from the first discussion groups through completion of construction. She has been doing group facilitation and consensus process for over 30 years. Melanie was a founding member of Transition Town Ashland, and has been on the Ashland Planning Commission since 2006.

Melanie is the registrar and primary contact person for Siskiyou Permaculture. She offers counseling and instruction in permaculture home and site design, sustainable land use planning, green building, group process and community organizing, as well as design services. Melanie's ambition is to build an ecovillage in the Pacific NW.