SOL Forest School
We'll have 9 revolutions around the sun in October!
Soulful ~ Outdoor ~ Learning
Board of Directors
Sally Wren Stevens
President
Sally was the first person born outside the United Kingdom in her family line, and she grew up wild and feral in the green, rolling hills of northern New Jersey, where she climbed trees, foraged for berries, played with the fairies, and got into just-enough mischief with her younger brother. Mother of one child, she made sure he, too, had copious amounts of outdoor play and nature connection while growing up. After several decades spent inside the four walls as a Special Educator and Principal, Sally founded SOL Forest School as a part-time passion project, which has since grown beyond what she could have ever imagined. Sally, through the SOL 501(c)3, is committed to finding ways to broaden our forest circle to include children and families from all backgrounds and abilities; to support our Guides through Professional Development opportunities and increased pay; and to planting trees in the ground and hope in the hearts through our SOLwoods program, inspired by the Children’s Forest.
Allison Gagliardi
Vice President and Lead Land Steward (SOLwoods)
Allison is a proud Burqueña who returned to live on several acres in Tijeras with her two daughters and husband in the fall of 2019, after nearly a decade away. She immediately enrolled her oldest daughter at SOL Forest School. When this daughter returned to APS following the pandemic, her youngest daughter became a full-time SOL Treeschooler. Allison was a regular parent volunteer and, eventually, a substitute teacher with SOL. She and her family were the first SOLWoods Land Stewards for a tree-planting program inspired by the UK Children's Forest Project in 2024. Allison was invited to join the SOL non-profit Board of Directors in June 2025. She is, also, working to grow the SOLWoods Program by planting trees with children and co-guiding Family Treeschool. She has a Bachelor of University Studies from UNM, in Art Studio, Film and Marketing. She brings her passion for this SOuLful community, business and marketing knowledge, graphic design skills, green-thumb talents, and general LOVE for the Earth and all of its inhabitants tuned for more details in 2026!
Allison, as our first Land Guardian, also plays important roles in our SOLwoods and Family Tree School programming. She has completed some training with the Children's Forest, is a current Tree NM Steward, and hopes to encourage any East Mountain families with open acreage to consider planting trees!
Leila Von Stein
Secretary
Leila grew up in Brevard, North Carolina, “The Land of Waterfalls”, free-range on hundreds of acres in her ancestors’ old apple orchards. Her hometown is recognized as one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world due to its unique temperate rainforest climate, varying topography, and vast, protected public lands. To herself and her brothers, nature was just life, and it wasn’t until she was much older that she realized the rarity of their childhood. She moved to New Mexico first in 2008 to study Ayurveda and put down roots in 2014 after the birth of her first daughter. She ran a 230-acre retreat center called Blue Desert in the East Mountains for nearly a decade. When she brought her adopted son home from Bulgaria in 2019, she wanted him to ground in his new land, and he attended SOL for several years. She closed the retreat version of Blue Desert in 2023 and is transitioning into land stewarding to create a protected space for generations to come. She is a massage therapist and author.
Dagny Cosby
Introducing our newest Board Member
Dagny is a native New Mexican, and lives in Albuquerque with her husband and son – a former Treeschooler and current Saturday Adventurer. Though she grew up in suburban Rio Rancho, her family regularly went camping across all of New Mexico. Her favorite sites were, and still are, "somewhere tree-y". She credits SOL for teaching her how to properly prepare for extended outdoor play in all weather, and strongly believes in the benefits SOL provides to children and their families. With a background in Marketing, Graphic Design, and Project Management, Dagny is excited to bring her skills to SOL's Board of Directors and to help spread the treasures of Forest School and the SOL community to more children and parents.
