Sharon Ball, Retreat Facilitator,owns Big Tent Events, LLC, which operates the Big Tent Cultural Center in Whitney Point, New York. Big Tent is a welcoming venue for personal growth through shared cultural experiences. A professional arts administrator and former journalist, Sharon Ball studies group dynamics and trained as a facilitator with cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien. She has served as moderator, panelist, guest speaker or workshop leader at national conferences of the American Anthropological Association, National Multicultural Association, Independent Sector, Third Coast Audio Festival, the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University. Her 25-year journalism career included 9 years as senior cultural editor for NPR News in Washington, D.C. Past honors include a Case Media Fellowship at Harvard University and she was named Senior Scholar by the Fetzer Institute of Kalamazoo, Michigan. She attended Ohio State University and George Mason University.