Advisory Board
Burners Without Borders is a program of Burning Man Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. However, BWB wasn’t always officially a part of the BMP nonprofit (and BMP wasn’t always a nonprofit!). We are an ongoing experiment in how to best serve the Burning Man community and the world at large.
A Little History:
BWB began when Burners left Black Rock City to find ways to help out following Hurricane Katrina. Just people trying to help other people out. It was radical because these founder-folks didn’t ask permission from any institutions, they followed their hearts to make direct gifts of their labor. Over time, Burners Without Borders coalesced into a sustainable entity. As organizations grow, they must be scaled and nurtured. It made sense for Burners Without Borders to come under the Burning Man Project’s umbrella. Burning Man Project continues to nurture Burners Without Borders, and Burners Without Borders continues to follow its mission, rooted in the 10 Principles of Burning Man.
Burners Without Borders held onto its Board of Directors in an advisory capacity when the organizations merged. This body meets regularly to help guide the mission of BWB and to provide insight, support, and advice to the Headquarters Team.
Current Advisory Board Members
David Katz
David Katz (DK) first came to Burning Man in 2010, and unfortunately has been hooked ever since. He has been involved in Kostume Kult for many years, including 4 years a theme camp lead and way too many years working on events and the development of the organization. Trained as an attorney, DK has specialized in a number of areas including non-profit law, project finance, real estate and Health Care. Currently working in Revenue Cycle Management for Health Care entities, DK loves lecturing and advising groups on various aspects of non-profit law including entity selection and formation, non-profit governance and contracts. He has developed courses on these subjects for the Burning Man Global Leadership Conference and various regional leadership conferences. DK has been active in Burners Without Borders for a number of years and enjoys lending his expertise to an organization focused on the principle of civic engagement and community building. DK enjoys motorcycle riding, photography and travel.
Jennie Kay Banta
Focused on the intersection of Change, Community, and Communications, Jennie Kay has a long history of building and connecting communities in the Community Arts and Nonprofit sectors. Over the past 20 years in the Burning Man community, she has been a theme camp leader, Regional Contact, and Burning Man regional events producer. Jennie Kay carries a lifelong belief we are all in this together, with a deep passion for inclusion-driven programming and mapping individual behavior change to building greater shared outcomes.
Based in the Bay Area, you can find JKay traveling, spending time outdoors, playing board games, and proselytizing for the hot glue lifestyle.
Jim Taflinger
Burning since 2010. Jim has been Co-Regional Contact for Georgia since 2012, along with being a member of the Southeast Leadership Roundtable (SERT) Planning Committee. On playa he has been found volunteering with Greeters and ManWatch.
Jim has been an active member of the Regional Network LLEO (Local Leadership Event Organizers) group and was introduced to Burners Without Borders at the 2012 Global Leadership Conference. Since then, Jim has been instrumental in facilitating BWB Civic Ignition Grants. Jim brings to BWB an extensive background of working with nonprofits. This includes working with AIDS organizations for over 20 years at the national, state, and local levels. His drive to embrace social responsibility developed around the personal belief that we can only keep our talents and skills by sharing with others.
Besides participating in the Burning Man culture, his other passion is political activism with an emphasis on voter equality. He has been an elected member of the Georgia Democratic State Committee for 12 years. Jim lives in Athens, Georgia with his husband.
Mercedes Martinez
Mercedes Martinez followed a career as a teacher and actor with work in film production. She has combined the most challenging aspects of all three in her latest vocation, parenting. She also serves on the boards of Burning Man Project and Homeboy Industries, a gang rehabilitation program out of Los Angeles.
Mercedes is a longtime Burner and founding member of the theme camp, Ashram Galactica. Her involvement in the mission of Burning Man beyond Black Rock City goes back to the 2005 Burn and the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts that led to the founding of Burners Without Borders.
Foundational Folks and Former Advisory Board Members
BWB is simply people helping people be people. Everyone who has worked with BWB is a mentionable member of this community. However, there are a few folks we’d like to note in particular, either for being a foundational member, their long-standing commitments, how much they’ve given of themselves, or for their unique gifts.
Carmen Mauk
Marian Goodell
Tom Price
Matt and Karine Maynard
Chris Weitz
Spoono
Matt Deluge
Chrissie Wilson
Richard (?) and Matt and Matt’s Dad?
Chris “Chaos” Neary