The Ceiba Foundation
About Us
Ceiba is a federally registered not-for-profit corporation in Canada that has existed since 2020. Our primary activities are granting, either through our ibogaine treatment grant programs for individuals, or through training and capacity building for organizations and communities.
We are a group of ibogaine practitioners and other professionals, who for many reasons have come to believe in the healing power of ibogaine. We believe that the ibogaine experience is sacred, and goes beyond the expectations that we place on any medical or psychological therapy, and also share that in our own lives these experiences have been deeply therapeutic.
Ibogaine is not covered by insurance programs anywhere in the world, and current private treatment models will remain inaccessible for many people for some time. Our goal through this granting program is to bridge the further gaps, making ibogaine available to people who can benefit the most and would otherwise not imagine the opportunity to experience it.
“Any person who is addicted to drugs who wishes to be free of that addiction shall be able to have that choice.”
– Howard Lotsof
Ceiba’s Mission Is
To improve the quality, sustainability and accessibility of iboga- and ibogaine-assisted therapies.
Ibogaine is an extract of Tabernanthe iboga, a perennial shrub that is endemic to central West Africa. It has numerous health benefits including drug detoxification, neuroregenetive repair, and improvements in mental health and mental clarity. We provide information resources and funding, including healing grants that help place ibogaine treatment within reach for people who can benefit the most.
Board of Directors
Jonathan Dickinson
Jonathan Dickinson is a psychologist who has been working with iboga and ibogaine in both clinical and ceremonial contexts in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica since 2009. He is licensed and resides in Tijuana, Mexico, where he is a co-founder of Ambio Life Sciences Inc. He previously served as the Director of the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (GITA), during which time he led the development of the Clinical Guidelines for Ibogaine-Assisted Detoxification, a risk management guide that remains a standard in the field. He organized several conferences on ibogaine therapy practice and safety protocols, and has collaborated with researchers in multiple disciplines, publishing peer reviewed work and presenting at numerous conferences internationally. In 2014, Jonathan was initiated into a Dissoumba/Fang tradition of Bwiti in Gabon, and remains actively involved with both clinical and ceremonial approaches.
Trevor Millar
Trevor Millar is a social-entrepreneur who has played a role in advancing the psychedelic movement for nearly a decade. He is a co-founder of Ambio Life Sciences Inc., and has previously served as a board member and co-founder of the Canadian Psychedelic Association and from 2018 to 2021 was on the board of directors for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Canada, where he acted as Chair of the Board for over two years. From 2012 to 2017, Trevor was active as the founder and President of Liberty Root Therapy Inc., a business dedicated to healing and transformation by legally providing the plant medicine ibogaine to people mostly with opiate use disorder. Trevor was featured in the award-winning documentary about using magic mushrooms and Iboga to treat addiction, anxiety and depression called DOSED, which was released in 2019.
Chelsea Freeborn
Chelsea Freeborn is a domestic violence, mental health, and recovery advocate. With a back ground originally in digital media and marketing. She has dedicated the last ten years to addiction recovery services and trauma support. For the last five years she’s been continuing her studies via UC Berkeley and UCLA. She is currently deepening her psychological and holistic studies particularly focused on trauma release and therapeutic support. She’s trained in breathwork, somatic healing, and addiction recovery.
Advisory Board
Dimitri Mugianis
Dimitri Mugianis has worked for nearly two decades with ibogaine and other psychedelics. He is known for his pioneering work with harm reduction modalities, as a writer, poet, musician, activist, and organizer with an anarchist critique of the psychedelic movement. He ended his own 20 year habit with heroin by taking ibogaine 18 years ago, and went on to work underground with ibogaine as an act of radical service. He has since established ibogaine clinics and worked with other psychedelic modalities. He works in Harlem with the New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE) breaking ground in the use of holistic methods for active drug users, sex workers, homeless and formally incarcerated people.
Dr. Erika Zelfand
Dr. Erica Zelfand is a licensed primary care provider extensively trained in integrative and functional medicine. She specializes in psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology (PNEI), the interaction between mental health, neurology, hormones, and the immune system. In addition to seeing patients in her private practice, Dr. Erica is a medical writer and international speaker. She is also a skilled facilitator of psychedelic experiences and trains providers in ketamine- and psychedelic-assisted healing. She has also authored a review of the potential role of sodium ascorbate in abating opioid tolerance and dependency (PMID: 33132774).
Jose Inzunza
Jose Insunza is a paramedic and firefighter with over 11 years of experience in emergency response. He is a co-founder of Ambio Life Sciences Inc. in Tijuana, Mexico. In addition to his work with ibogaine, Jose works with the Mexican Red Cross. He is certified as an instructor with the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians in the majority of their programs, as well as with the American Heart Association. Jose has worked with a number of recognized ibogaine clinics throughout his career, developing and implementing medical safety protocols. As part of his preparation to be an ibogaine provider Jose went through his first treatment in 2014, which he attributes it to a major positive change in his life.
What’s in a name?
Ceiba is the name of a genus of flowering trees native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and West Africa where it is often considered sacred. For the Maya in Southern Mexico and Central America, the ceiba symbolizes the axis mundi, the doorway between the underworld, the earth, and the sky. In branches of the Bwiti tradition in Gabon, the ceiba plays a special role as the place where banzis announce their intentions to the spirits of the forest and their ancestors at the beginning the initiation process.
