District Herbs-
Co-Founder Ebony Payne, LMT, Clinical Herbalist
Born and raised in Washington DC,
Ebony Payne is a 2011 graduate of Potomac Massage Training Institute with over
7 years of experience as a licensed massage therapist, specializing in
myofascial therapy. She began studying traditional herbal medicine in 2013 at
the Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism with clinical herbalists including Claudia
Joy Wingo, the director of the three year program.
Inspired by an experience with a
single cup of ginger tea that eased a severe bout of digestive pain, Ebony was
drawn to learning more about the medicinal uses of plants and food. While
studying under practitioners of Western and Ayurvedic herbal traditions, she
first conceptualized District Herbs as a second year student intending to bring
herbal medicine into her massage therapy practice.
At the same time that her herbal
studies began, another herbal movement was underway. The medicinal uses of
cannabis and hemp were beginning to be formally recognized nationwide including
in Washington DC. As Ebony saw more and more people take a sudden interest in
plant medicine, the impact and importance the legitimization of cannabis
and hemp would have for herbal medicine as a whole immediately became evident.
After graduating from the
Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism in 2016, Ebony set out to connect people to
the full scope of traditional herbal medicine by harnessing the excitement
around the rise of cannabis and hemp. Knowing that she would need an expert and
mentor to carry this vision to success, Ebony enlisted the help of Claudia Joy
Wingo to co-found District Herbs into the company it is today. The two are
excited to bring their line of medicinal loose leaf teas and hemp salve for
pain relief to the community and though the journey has been long, it has only
just begun.
Co-Founder- Claudia Joy
Wingo, MPH, RN, FNHAA, Clinical Herbalist
Claudia Joy Wingo brings over 40
years of global experience in the herbal medicine and health care fields. Born
in Washington DC to a botanist father and raised on her grandmother's
handcrafted root teas in the Ozark Mountains, Claudia's entire life has been
steeped in healing plants. As a teenager of the 70s, she began studying herbal
medicine at Smile Herb Shop in College Park, MD where she eventually founded
the Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism in 2012. Embarking on a lifelong journey
of world travel and study after completing training as a chef in the US and
Europe, she traveled to Israel to apprentice under a Yemenite Unani Tibb
practitioner to study medical botany. She continued her integrative health
education in Australia, earning diplomas in Botanical Medicine, Nutrition and
Therapeutic Bodywork from NSW College of Natural Therapies in 1981.
Claudia became a registered nurse
after completing training at Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Sydney,
Australia in 1984. She went on to practice hospital and community-based nursing
in Australia as well as working as a public health nurse, supervising pediatric
and maternal health clinics in Central America, Papua New Guinea and
Bangladesh. She holds a Bachelor's of Applied Science from University of
Sydney, a Naturalist Certification from the USDA Graduate School, a Post
Graduate Diploma in Tropical Medicine and a Master's of Public Health (MPH)
from James Cook University.
In addition to bringing her talents
and wisdom to District Herbs, Claudia is currently the Department Chair of
Health Promotion at Maryland University of Integrative Health and Director of
Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism. She is also an adjunct professor for
Georgetown University's Complementary and Alternative Medicine graduate program
and has served on the executive board of the Rachel Carson Council for the past
nine years. Claudia is driven by her passion for integrative and herbal
medicine, educating the next generation of leading herbalists and wellness
practitioners, and above all, empowering others with the knowledge to care
for their own health.
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