Board of Advisors

Jason is the co-founder of the Psilocybin Assisted Therapy Association and a retired police officer.

 

Jason has over 18 years of non-profit leadership experience with a Master's degree in Nonprofit Administration. His focus has been on increasing mental health services to underserved communities. Jason is an advocate for foster youth, first responders, and military veterans to receive services that help them live full and productive lives.

 

He's changed legislature in Oregon to allow Equine Assisted Physical Therapy to be covered by OHP and hopes to take the same measures to allow Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy (PAT) to be covered by insurance. Making PAT available to the masses.

 

Jason has personal experience in using psilocybin to overcome PTSD, depression, and anxiety. He believes using psilocybin with a trained mental health therapist can lead to breakthrough sessions thus allowing clinical clients to live productive lives.

As a Marine Corps combat veteran and former firefighter/EMT, Ben Kramer understands the weight carried by first responders. His journey from serving our country and community to becoming a licensed psilocybin facilitator is driven by a deep passion to support their mental well-being. With his company FUNGIMENTAL he has facilitated hundreds of individuals and groups of veterans and first responders, which led to him and Jason teaming up to start the First Responder Collective.

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The FRC is built by first responders, for first responders. As Program Director, Ben is dedicated to providing real, effective tools, resources and education focused on the healing potential of psilocybin.  for issues like PTSD, depression, and addiction that disproportionately affect their ranks.

 

Ben's commitment to this community is extensive and unwavering. He is also proud to serve as a facilitator and coach for the nonprofit Heroic Hearts Project, guiding veterans toward healing, and as a licensed educator shaping the next generation of psilocybin facilitators. At the FRC, he is focused on educating and empowering first responders to explore paths to wellness, and to equip their unions, departments and organizations with the training and knowledge to support their members effectively.

Chris is a seasoned flight paramedic and former firefighter, a founding board member of the First Responder Collective, and founder of the Trial by Fire Foundation, a nonprofit committed to helping first responders become the heroes of their own stories. With over a decade of experience on the front lines of trauma, Chris has seen firsthand the cost of carrying others’ pain without the tools to process his own. Rather than being consumed by the darkness, he chose to walk through it—emerging with a deep conviction to guide others through the same healing. His work at the FRC, and his foundation, fuses ancient wisdom, psychological resilience, and high-performance training to transform suffering into strength and isolation into community.

 

Driven by a profound understanding of the unique challenges first responders face, Chris is deeply passionate about education and curriculum development rooted in real-world experience, not just theory. He speaks from a place of personal scars and triumphs, aiming to offer a raw and redemptive path forward for medics, firefighters, and police officers. Chris envisions empowering individuals through immersive retreats, story-based training, and personal mentorship, reigniting their sense of purpose and inner drive. His central mission with the First Responder Collective and his foundation, is to restore the individual soul behind the uniform.

Sarah served for many years with the American Red Cross as an emergency responder, instructor-trainer, and national response government liaison, supporting communities during small and large-scale disasters. She also worked on a fire-dedicated ambulance unit with a private EMS company, later becoming a wilderness EMT—returning to the forests and wild places where she always felt most at home. When illness and injury forced her to step away from the field, she redirected her skills toward training instructors in emergency response and first responder education. Brought to psychedelics when all other avenues of western medicine failed she found illegal healing and the potential for renewed life through cannabis and psychedelic medicine. 

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Today, she is a certified Healer™ Cannabis Coach and a Psychedelic Health and Wellness Coach, with over a decade of experience working alongside chronically and terminally ill individuals in both the cannabis and psychedelic healing spaces. She is the President and co-founder of the Key Peninsula Psychedelic Society, Event Lead for the Tacoma Psychedelic Society, Education and Event Lead for the Kitsap Psychedelic Society, and a proud volunteer with REACH Washington. Her work now centers on education, integration, and advocacy—bridging the gap between first responders and the healing potential of psychedelic medicine, with the same dedication and heart that fueled her years in the field.

 Dalton served 19 years in the fire service, retiring as an Engineer/Paramedic in the fall of 2024. In addition to his full-time role, he spent a decade working part-time with a rural ambulance service, responding to EMS calls throughout the Pikes Peak region of Colorado. Since 2017, Dalton has been an active member of a PEER support team, a role he continues to fulfill in retirement, offering emotional and mental health support to fellow first responders.

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Dalton was introduced to plant medicine in 2020 after conventional therapeutic approaches failed to bring meaningful relief from his mental health challenges. His first psilocybin experience—an event he credits with saving his life—ignited a deep personal and professional calling. Since then, he has pursued extensive education, worked closely with experienced mentors, advocated for psychedelic access for first responders, and facilitated individual and group psilocybin journeys for others. 

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Dalton is a licensed psilocybin facilitator in the state of Colorado and currently serves as the Program Director of Journey Above The Clouds. He also sits on the advisory board of PATA. In addition, he is a certified breathwork instructor and meditation coach. He is actively collaborating with several nonprofit organizations to secure funding that will help subsidize group healing journeys for first responders across Colorado.