Irasha Talifero

Irasha Talifero has lived in the Ojai Valley since 1976 and has cultivated a wealth of local connections. She moved to Ojai to have and raise her son, Snowshadow Talifero, who is now a local hero — a fireman who protected the ridge that Topa Institute now calls home during the Thomas Fire. The same year Irasha arrived in Ojai was the first time she went up to the ridge above what is now the Besant Hill School, then the home of Human Dimensions Institute West. She soon began volunteering and gardening on the site, planting some of what remains there today.

Irasha has had the privilege of experiencing many new ways of learning from teachers from all over the world. Here, in her own backyard, she was blessed to know and interact with the prominent spiritual and cultural figures of the Upper Ojai, including Jiddu Krishnamurti, Beatrice Woods, as well as Chumash elders Grandfather Vincent Tumamait and Grandfather Semu Huate. This was a new awakening for her. Over the decades, she continued her involvement with the Ojai Foundation and began facilitating programs for thousands of students, some of which were her most valuable teachers. In 2016, she became a Council Trainer. Four generations of her family have become a part of the ridge’s practices and communities: at present, her granddaughter Tara Talifero is a junior at Besant Hill School — a star student and representative at the campus. Irasha brings this long history on the ridge to Topa Institute, continuing to introduce this special place to new generations of people.