Staff
Brooke Cressler
Yoga in Public Schools Coordinator (and overall “Glue Gal”)
A resident of Silver City since 2014, Brooke landed in Silver City during the 2014 Tour of the Gila bike race; it was during the downtown stage of the race that she hired on as a barista at the Three Dogs Coffeehouse. After three months of working as a barista, the owner of the coffeehouse asked Brooke if she and her husband, Ray, would like to buy the business. They did, in fact, buy the business, gave it a new name, and “Jumping Cactus Coffeehouse” was born! After six successful years in the “Ma and Pa” coffee shop business, Jumping Cactus closed during the Covid era.
Brooke is married to Ray Cressler, a philosopher, a teacher, and musician. Their daughter, Mabel, is going on her 7th year around the sun.
Brooke has been studying Yoga since 2013 and has taught several classes at Lotus Center. She currently teaches a Kundalini Yoga class on Fridays, and has been and employee of the center since 2022.
Felix Gutierrez
Graphic Design
Felix Gutierrez is a native of Silver City. A graduate of La Plata Middle and Silver High Schools, he received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a focus in graphic design from Western New Mexico University in 2024. Felix’s main interest is creating art by either drawing, painting, or designing something on the computer.
Felix is a graphic designer and illustrator. He was the graphic design officer of the WNMU art club and was responsible for creating their logo, and he is also a first-place winner of numerous exhibitions. As a graphic designer, Felix had started off his career early by doing graphic designs for local businesses in Silver City, and created illustrations for a book titled, The Sky Is Not, Blue It’s True for a published author in Mexico. His Personal artworks have a strong emphasis on narrative and emotion.
When he isn’t creating art, Felix can be found outside running on the track or hiking in the forest. He has been Lotus Center’s graphic artist since 2024.
Jeff Goin
Executive Director
Jeff learned about Silver City in 1995 when he raced in the Tour of the Gila bicycle race. He moved to Silver on Labor Day of 2007.
A long-time environmental activist, Jeff worked for Greenpeace (Washington, DC) and Alliance for the Wild Rockies (Missoula, MT). In the 1990’s he decided to use the political system as a means of saving the planet; to that end, he co-founded the Center for Environmental Politics and sought (unsuccessfully) to induce the Montana State Democratic Party to institute an ultra-green platform.
Seeing, first-hand, the futility of politics as a means of controlling the world, Jeff decided to focus instead on controlling his own mind, and thus he learned how to meditate. A vegetarian since 1992, he teaches Buddhist meditation at Lotus Center and serves as the organization’s executive director.
Kim Ryan
Tech Support
Kim spent much of her youth exploring the Mississippi River bluffs of southern Minnesota. Her work has consisted of many various forms of producing, planning, organizing, and putting pieces together. Currently she serves as the Cultural Coordinator of the Silco Theater, with a focus on supporting independent filmmakers through the creation of the Silver City (New Mexico) Community Film Festival.
Motherhood led Kim to a realization of the true lack of sustainability in modern American city-dwelling, and to spend the past several years studying Earth-building and practicing resource management threw off-grid living. She is grateful to have found in Silver City – surrounded by the Gila Wilderness – a community of Earth stewards and conscious collaborators.
Seamus Berkeley
Webmaster
Dublin-born, Seamus Berkeley travels extensively for inspiration for his paintings and photographic images. He began visiting Silver City in late 2018 and then spent most of his time there through 2025. He connected with Lotus Center on his first visit and began working there in 2020. In late 2025, he traveled to Ireland, the country where he was born, to explore his early childhood memories, family roots, and art opportunities in Europe.
Tammy Pittman
Cleaning Lady (and more)
Having moved to Silver City from Burlington, Wisconsin in 2019, Tammy is all about love, as evidenced by her caring for others. She’s a midwife assistant. She’s a Reiki master. An animal communicator. And a birth doula.
Fortunately for Lotus Center, Tammy also loves cleanliness. Not only does she keep our floors, windows, and furnishings sparkling clean, she also keeps our space energetically clean. “I love Lotus,” Tammy said recently, “so every week I move old STUFF out, and bring the fresh and the new.”
Tammy is the proud mother of four humans, grandmother of six humans, and the adoptive mama of many non-human animals!
