William Spear
Chair and Board Member
William Spear is the Founder and President of Fortunate Blessings Foundation and an international lecturer, consultant, mentor, and author. For fifty years, he has taught and advised on complementary healing arts, self-development, end-of-life care, vital design, and Eastern philosophy, turning time-tested wisdom into practical guidance.
Guided by in-depth training with Michio Kushi, the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Center, and Tibetan Lama Sogyal Rinpoche, William’s approach blends clear instruction with compassionate, real-world application. He led trauma-relief teams after numerous natural disasters, prioritizing the emotional well-being of children and the caregivers, teachers, and community leaders who support them. In these settings, he equips local teams with simple, repeatable practices known as PLAYshops that reduce stress and build resilience long after outside responders have gone.
As a speaker and mentor, William is known for accessible, down-to-earth teaching that connects health, design, and personal growth. His writing on many of these topics in The Huffington Post brings his educational work to a broader audience. Through Fortunate Blessings Foundation, William continues to convene partners, develop programs, and mentor both new students and seasoned practitioners who are committed to human well-being and compassionate care.
James Comes, MD
Board Member
James Comes, MD currently serves as a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF Fresno’s Medical Education Program. He has held numerous leadership roles within the program including but not limited to the following: Program Director for the Transitional Year, Assistant Residency Director, Associate Residency Director, Program Director (PD) of Emergency Medicine, and Chief of the Emergency Medicine Department. He served as PD for over 10 years and successfully facilitated the program’s transition from the County Hospital (Valley Medical Center) to Community Regional Medical Center. The current annual patient Emergency Department census exceeds 130,000 patients per year. For six years, he served as Chief of Emergency Medicine at UCSF Fresno and Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine at UCSF, UCSF School of Medicine until August 2022. Prior to stepping down as Chief to care for his ailing wife, he led a department and hospital through COVID at an institution deeply affected by the pandemic (#1 in California and #2 in the country for FEMA support). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Community Health Foundation, Vice President of Inspire Health Medical Group, and Board Member of EYOL (Entrepreneur Your Own Life) that provides support and oversight for BrainMind, a community of scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and academic institutions collaborating to accelerate impactful brain science innovations.
Ellen Goldsmith
Board Member
Ellen Goldsmith is a nationally board certified, licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist, educator, health and wellness consultant, and author of the book Nutritional Healing with Chinese Medicine: + 175 Recipes for Optimal Health. She co-founded Pearl Natural Health, in 2001 an integrative naturopathic and Chinese medicine out of Portland, Oregon.
She is on faculty at the National University of Natural Medicine’s College of Classical Chinese Medicine, teaching graduate students in the study of Chinese Dietetics and its clinical application. She is also on faculty with the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine teaching integrative medical fellows on the Energetics of Food.
Her international teaching has trained hundreds of health practitioners in the field of Asian bodywork, self-transformation, and End of Life Care, co-facilitating The Passage with William Spear. She was formerly adjunct faculty at NYU’s - Tisch School of the Arts in the drama department where she developed the course Optimizing Performance for undergraduate drama students to improve body awareness, focus, energy, and presence.
Ellen’s expertise and dedication to the advancement of Asian and natural medicine extends to her years of service on the Oregon Medical Board’s Acupuncture Advisory Committee and the National University of Natural Medicine’s board of directors where she served as its chair.
Currently she maintains a consulting, teaching, and Chinese medicine practice out of Portland, Oregon.
Sam Perry
Board Member
Sam Perry is president of Ascendance Ventures, an investment and venture-development consultancy based in Menlo Park, California. Ascendance partners with technology and biotechnology startups on corporate development, strategic marketing, and financing strategy, and advises select hedge and investment funds on technology-driven risk and opportunity worldwide.
Before founding Ascendance, Sam built and led the Silicon Valley office of Reuters Greenhouse (now RVC Greenhouse), the corporate venture arm of Reuters Group PLC, where he sourced and executed investments in enterprise software and infrastructure companies and advised portfolio teams. He previously helped found NextSet Software and NextSet Ventures, serving as senior vice president. Earlier in his career, Sam was an international correspondent and editor with Reuters and United Press International in London, Stockholm, New York, Seattle, and Palo Alto, covering business, technology, and politics.
Sam has invested in, advised, and served on the boards of numerous early- and growth-stage companies. He is a Fellow and Senior Associate of the Foresight Institute and a director of the Institute of Molecular Manufacturing. He is active with E2—Environmental Entrepreneurs—and the Full Circle Fund, supporting environmental innovation and education.
He holds an AB in Social Studies from Harvard University, an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, and an MBA from Cass Business School (City, University of London). A Boston native raised in nearby Concord, he now lives in Menlo Park and has lived and worked in Stockholm, London, Seattle, and New York.
Jessica Porter
Board Member
Jessica Porter is a hypnotherapist and writer. She is the author of The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics and collaborated with Alicia Silverstone, Patricia Heaton, Tia Mowry and Laura Prepon on their diet and lifestyle books. Host of the Sleep Magic podcast, Jessica guides people into sleep all around the world every night.
Jonah Spear
Board Member
Jonah Spear has been a dedicated partner in the work of Second Response and Fortunate Blessings Foundation since 2004, bringing two decades of experience in trauma-informed care, experiential facilitation, and somatic education. His contributions span from on-the-ground post-disaster psychosocial support to long-term curriculum development for caregivers and educators working with children affected by trauma.
A former performing artist with stage credits including Stomp, aerial performance with Cirque du Soleil, and a leading role in the independent feature film We Are the Hartmans, Jonah blends creativity with grounded leadership. He is the founder of the long-running Bay Area Pun-Off and the creator of Camp Wonderful, an experiential retreat for adults focused on connection, play, and personal transformation.
Jonah is also a passionate educator of the Wheel of Consent and brings a systems-thinking approach to both organizational development and embodied learning. His work is informed by a lifelong commitment to fostering resilience, coherence, and community in times of crisis and recovery.
Currently based in the Northeast, Jonah serves as Facilities Manager at Rowe Camp and Conference Center, where he applies his love of infrastructure, optimization, and service to a place close to his heart.
Rev. Mary Tarbell-Green, MA, BCCC
Board Member
Rev. Mary Tarbell-Green is an Interfaith Minister, retired hospice chaplain for adults and pediatrics. Currently a funeral and wedding celebrant, and Assistant Minister for Pastoral Care at the First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati. She recently retired from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as a contract chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator.
Mary served as a hospice chaplain at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, San Diego Hospice, and Scripps Pediatric Hospice/ Medical Center in San Diego.
She’s returned home to Cincinnati where she serves at her First Unitarian Church as Assistant Minister for Pastoral Care. She enjoys being called to officiate funerals/Celebrations of Life for those who are ‘non-affiliated’ which allows Mary to co-create lovely services for and with families.
Mary lives with her excitedly talented husband, Barry, and their dog/Scooby and cats Tai and Chi. She has a large family of siblings, nieces, nephews and beyond. Family gatherings are the highlight of their lives. As well as gardening, walking, music.
The beautiful Ohio River is in their back yard and Mary’s deepest spiritual practice requires she sits outside with her coffee and marvel at the river’s metaphors for life: serene, choppy, reflective, deep undertow, compelling and murky.
Last but certainly not least, at the urging of her dear friend William Spear, Mary has completed an edgy and heartfelt book about children and families and their journey on hospice. “Bursting With Life: When Children Enter Hospice” soon to be published.