People - Four Winds Adventure Company

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About The People
Of The Four Winds Adventure Races

Four Winds Adventures LLC is an organization spearheaded by an American of indigenous peoples descent - a a Costa Rican-Nicaraguan Indian businesswoman and horsewoman. Four Winds was established with the abilities and by the efforts of the individuals below to provide a new and exciting medium to adventure and specialty events - especially sports and racing!

KAREN Co-Founder	LIVESAY Sedona, AZ
	Entrepreneur and businesswoman Karen Livesay realized that she had become an extreme outdoor adventure lover following years of horseback riding, mountain biking, backpacking, river rafting, mountain climbing, rappelling, cross-country skiing and lots of hiking. A native Southern Californian of Costa Rica-Nicaragua Indian descent, she has been President of Management Systems and Designs, a consulting firm specializing in business and economic growth and development, working hands-on to lead and implement change in business and the community, acting as an executive coach through TEC, thanks to her diverse business background and education - as a UCLA grad with an MBA from Pepperdine's Graziado School of Business and doctoral studies in Systems Theory from Fielding Institute. She formerly owned and ran a successful high-volume women's wear manufacturing company, and her skills as an award-winning trainer are in consistent demand in the business, community and government arenas. A BFI flight instructor, she also loves her 1st Lieutenant role in the all volunteer Arizona Rangers as a post trained and certified mounted Ranger, also teaching as a Ranger in the local elementary schools in character-building programs. For Karen, Four Winds Adventures is a culmination of a lifetime of loves and expertise.

Dr. BILL Co-Founder	LIONBERGER Sedona, AZ
	Though no longer with the company, Dr. Bill Lionberger as a founder brought his chiropractic knowledge and life-long athletic background to the inception of Four Winds. He began competing in sports as a teen then set high school and college records in the Pole Vault. He also raced on a national championship cross-country team at the college level. Bill has raced triathlons since the early 1980s in addition to 10K’s, marathons, 50 milers and half iron man distances. Adventure racing was the next step in his evolution of looking for the next exciting adventure sports challenge. Bill is of Choctaw-Chickasaw descent, and a black belt in karate. For several years he worked as a bodyguard for actor Sylvester Stallone. Bill also has been a nationally ranked master slalom water skier, as well as an advanced open water scuba diver with search and recovery training. Bill is a BFI and AFI flight instructor. His love for the outdoors, combined with his extensive background as a competitive athlete made him sensitive to the Four Winds Adventure Race experience. Bill is a Qualified medical examiner, an Independent Medical Examiner, and an Industrial Disability Evaluator with more than two decades in diagnosing and treating patients in his field. Bill has specialized in areas of sports injuries and Forensics and is a self-published author. He has also worked as a post-septor doctor helping to educate graduating interns prepare for private practice. Bill's strong business and marketing background has built successful businesses from the ground up and he has always enjoyed being somewhat of a maverick and business entrepreneur, which fits well as one of adventure racings earliest event producers.

DON Director	YAMAGAMI
	Don Yamagami has worked in the field of graphic design for over 25 years, starting out as a technical artist for Hughes Aircraft Company. Events for which he has lent his design expertise include the 1984 Olympics Tall Ship Parade, the 1985 Hawaiian Island Tall Ship Parade, the Walnut Valley (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce July 4th Celebration and the City of Walnut Family Festivals in 1993 and 1994. His work comprises a variety of projects ranging from designing logos for small businesses to mid-size companies, and events from small to large. He counts in his training the Art Center School of Design and Cal State Los Angeles, among others. He spends his free time with his wife, Shelley, and daughter, Noelle, and is excited to be working on Four Winds Adventure Races.

NEIL Director of Operations	RADICIC
	Active-duty Army officer and freelance organizational operations consultant, Neil Radicic, brings over a decade of strategic, tactical, and technical operations leadership experience to Four Winds Adventures events production. Equipped with additional skills as a practicing digital communications engineer with a B.S. and M.S. in analytical chemistry, Neil is responsible for designing & managing product development cycles for the growing constellation of Four Winds Adventures produced events. He is assisted in product research and development by his wife Anell.

DEB Event Operations	NICKSON
	Deb started working with Four Winds in 2000. Growing up on a farm in Illinois where her curiosity and the love for the outdoors started, took her into backpacking at the age of 9. It’s only been more of the same as her vacations include artic kayaking, inestimable backpacking, biking (road) kayaking and canoe trips, playing both the participant and a trip leader roles. Deb has a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering, and is currently working on a MBA - TM (Technology Management). In real life she is a Bio-Med Tech for Northern Arizona Healthcare in Flagstaff Arizona, moving to Arizona for the active lifestyle after a stint in colder climes as a Bio-Med Team Facilitator (supervisor) and Senior tech for critical care. Her intense training and emergency medical background give her good grounding for adventure sports events management.

AARON Technical Operations	SEIFERT
	Aaron has had a life-long love for the outdoors whether road cycling, mountain biking, backpacking, camping, skiing, hiking, or traveling all over the western United States. Growing up in northwest Denver, Aaron learned from an early age to enjoy and experience the outdoors through family camping vacations and Boy Scouts. Currently Aaron is working in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with municipalities and private businesses specializing in paper and internet mapping, GPS data collection, project management, and spatial analysis for the past 8 years. During the 6 years in Sedona, Arizona he has also been a Reserve EMT/Firefighter, and part of the Technical Rescue Team (Rope Rescue) for the Sedona Fire District.

The Crew	Gail Matsunaga - race relations is a public relations specialist formerly with Disney, backed by more than 25 years experience. Don Yamagami a skilled graphic artist has over 25 years experience in corporate and special events graphics design. Randy Conilogue, PhD oversees course communications and logistics coordinator, the website and has over a quarter century history in technical sciences and project leadership.