Melanie Myers
Co-Founder
Melanie was born in Brandon, Manitoba and spent her early years playing outdoors in ALL types of weather. “Just bundle up!” was the phrase during the cold winter months used by her mother before all the children were sent outside until the next meal time. Playing and learning outside was one of the best parts of growing up and she is full of gratitude to be a part of the amazing Budding Minds team!
Melanie moved to the mountains to pursue her love of snowboarding after completing her degree in Communications from the University of Calgary. After living in such places as Banff, Jasper and Whistler, she finally put down roots in Golden, BC. She and her family now live on their dream property outside of town with the Columbia River and 70 acres of forest as their playground. Raising two boys in this place has been such a blessing and she can be heard saying “Just bundle up!” daily in the winter months before sending her own children out to play.
Melanie has worked in the non-profit sector in Golden for the last 10 years (Golden Women’s Resource Centre, Golden Food Bank and the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy) and it has allowed her to work closely with community partners and develop relationships in the community that eventually brought her to this incredibly special team of hard working women at Budding Minds. Let the children play and explore in this beautiful place we call home!
Katie Hodder
Co-Founder
Katie was born and raised in the Qu’Appelle Valley in southern Saskatchewan. As a child, Katie was encouraged to ‘go outside until it’s dark!’, she would swim in the cold Katepwa Lake and wander the hills of the valley. With the rich smell of sweetgrass and sage the prairies are her first and forever love. Katie followed her family west, to explore the vastness of the mountains and the adventure that awaited her. She has since called Golden her home on and off for 15 years.
Katie Hodder is a scholar-practitioner primarily focused on child and family development. Katie is especially interested in action oriented leadership approaches within the Early Childhood Development sector, cultivated by co-creative relationships and value-based collectives.
Katie has presented at national and international conferences, and written early years curriculum for jurisdictions around the world primarily in areas such as: Risky play and Preschool Physical Literacy. Katie is the Infant Development Consultant with the Golden Family Center where she works with families with children under the age of 6.
Katie has a Bachelor of Child Studies Degree, majoring in Child and Youth Care and is currently a Graduate student in the School of Leadership at Royal Roads University.