Founders and Operators
When you get to the farm, this is the dynamic husband and wife team you will be living and working with...
We look forward to meeting you!!
Stephen Brooks is the founder, primary Director and has been living in Punta Mona, Costa Rica since 1995. Stephen was inspired to make a positive impact on the planet started Costa Rican Adventures, an educational eco-tour company striving to raise environmental awareness. Brooks identified the problems facing small farmers and communities in Central America and Costa Rica and wanted to present possible solutions. Punta Mona, founded in 1997 grows over 200 varieties of tropical fruits, nuts and spices, produces all its electrical needs from solar panels and obtains methane gas from the septic system to fuel the kitchen. Thousands of students, interns and guests have been educated at Punta Mona over the past 14 years, and the site has become known as a world leader in tropical, sustainable agriculture and sustainable living techniques.
In 2003, Stephen founded the Sustainable Solutions Caravan, a mission-driven, nonprofit organization promoting sustainable living through the use of alternative fuels. Caravaning through Central America, Brooks and his team touched millions of lives through personal contact, front-page newspaper articles and countless international news programs.
In 2005, Stephen co-founded Kopali Organics, a company, which sources and develops sustainable, organic products from small farms and small farm cooperatives around the world and is distributed through out the United States.
Translating his knowledge of alternative fuel into action, Stephen was the cofounder of the Conscious Goods Alliance, which traveled the country as an eco showroom featuring coconut floors, bamboo paneling, natural latex cushions covered in hemp, recycled paper countertops, an alcohol fueled stove and solar panels providing electricity. The bus brought together fourteen conscious companies as sponsors, working together to promote "Conscious Capitalism."
In 2006, Stephen envisioned and co-founded Kopali Communities, an ultra ecological developer and builder of planned communities in Costa Rica. The first project, Eco-Villa Kopali, is a 45-acre community featuring a slow sand filtered water supply system, "Living Systems" waste disposal, alternative energies and permaculture and organic food supplies.
In 2007 Stephen also founded the Tacotal Eco-Village, a Permaculture based community of 33 families, homesteading their way to a more sustainable future. The inhabitants feature artists, healers, builders, activists and farmers from 5 different countries.
Stephen is an entertainer and has done numerous TV shows including: Edible Adventures for the Travel Channel, G Word for Discovery's Planet Green and Save My Planet for ABC's Livewell HD. He recently did a TedX Talk in San Miguel de Illenda, one of Mexico's World Heritage sites.
Stephen's passion lies in seeking more sustainable ways to live our daily lives without compromising quality of life. He is also passionate about cooking and eating unusual and exotic foods and he specializes in tropical fruit trees.
Sarah Wu is the current Educational Director and On Site Manager of the Punta Mona Center for Sustainable Living and Education. She leads projects and workshops in nutrition, wholistic cooking and herbal medicine….
Prior to arrival at Punta Mona, Sarah was in the organic food world, handling sales for over 125 of the industry leaders in various territories, independent and large accounts on the East Coast. She also managed East then West Coast sales for Kopali Organics, a fair trade, triple bottom line brand, which supports small farming cooperatives in over 7 developing nations on 4 continents.
Sarah has been an herbalist for 10 years, formally studied Traditional Chinese and Cherokee Plant Medicine with American Herbalist Guild founder, David Winston at Herbal Therapeutics School of Botanical Medicine in Washington, NJ from 2006-2008. Sarah currently practices and teaches Planetary Energetic and Wise Woman Tradition herbal medicine with a focus on food based healing. She is an avid naturalist, endangered plant advocate and environmentalist with a deep understanding of the complexities of sustainable living, transitional ethics and positive movement towards a more sustainable and evolved future.
Sarah has over 10 years formal training in the fine arts, holds a degree in Art History from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, with a focus on Visual Culture, the interaction of people with their visual environment, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2004. She taught visual arts to toddlers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and was a part of an educational art activist program at The Art Sanctuary in Northern Philadelphia, supporting out reach, artistic and personal development for at risk youth.
Sarah is a pencil and pen & ink illustrator of primarily in situ botanical themes and surreal floral goddess motifs and is an overall crafty woman….
Sarah studied and practiced Re-Evaluation Co-Counseling for the past 5 years and has integrated this mode of communication and listening skills in her everyday life.
Dedicated to education and practical sustainable living, Sarah is moving toward her next degree in Ethnobotany, specializing in food, culture and traditional plant medicine.