ESCRI Board of Directors
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Mercedes Mason, President
Mercedes started her career as an actress, securing roles in award-nominated, as well as Emmy-winning TV shows. She also starred in several award-winning indie films. She is currently pitching two of her TV pilots and her feature script is being shopped by Ahari Films. Her three written and directed shorts are in the festival circuit having already won “Best First Time Director” at Rome International, selected at Cannes and received an Honorable Mention at Berlin.
Mercedes is a BIPOC woman, bisexual, neurodivergent, a mother…and she’s had psychic-medium gifts since she was a child. Her passion for all things esoteric, and her desire to understand and educate about consciousness, is an important aspect of her life. She’s proud to serve as President on the board of the Expanded States of Consciousness Research Institute.
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Julie Rost, Secretary
Julie is a psychic medium and coffee shop owner in Eugene, Oregon. She was born and raised in Portland and moved to Eugene after the pandemic to create a space that was needed for the community.
She discovered her gifts at the young age of three and, due to a strict Catholic upbringing, had to shut them down until she moved out of her parents’ home. Julie is mostly self taught and believes if we listen to our intuition, we have the ability to tap into something much greater than what is presented on this Earthly plane. Along with that comes a large responsibility of psychic protection for ourselves and those around us. This has been her main teaching focus the last several years.
She has always been fascinated with the metaphysical realm! Tarot cards, pendulums, manifesting, Angel guidance, sacred geometry, and more. Julie believes we are now in the most exciting time where the spiritual realm and science are coming together to coexist and share the same space. Technologies have exponentially advanced this process and have helped thousands of people to “open up”, share their experiences and find community all over the world. We continue to strengthen the web that connects us all.
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Mike Dasargo, Treasurer
Mike is a seasoned authority in personal defense, security risk assessment, and use‑of‑force testimony. Drawing on years of hands‑on experience teaching individuals to apply critical skills under life‑threatening, traumatic stress, he has delved deeply into the science of perception, cognition, and decision‑making. Recognizing that effective stress management is essential for skill execution, he has devoted considerable effort to understanding mental‑health practices through both meditation and psychedelic‑assisted therapy.
Intrigued by emerging research on psychedelic‑assisted therapy, he has explored its potential to unlock previously dismissed parapsychological abilities. This curiosity led him to formal training in Controlled Remote Viewing at the Remote Viewing Instructional Institute under former “Psychic Spy” retired Army Major Paul H. Smith, followed by supplementary work in Psychic Mind Science with Dr. Jeffery Tarrant.
Expanding his investigative scope, Mike supported a close‑protection colleague during a cross‑border security operation tied to a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon) investigation in Rosarito, Mexico—a mission featured in the History Channel documentary Unidentified. The insights gained from that experience propelled him to co‑found 5MeO Productions, a production company dedicated to documenting explorations of the broader reality and the mysteries surrounding UAP phenomena.
Through a unique blend of practical expertise, scientific inquiry, and visionary investigation, Mike continues to push the boundaries of personal defense, cognitive resilience, and the understanding of consciousness‑expanding phenomena.
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Hakim Isler, Member-at-Large
Hakim Isler is the creator of the Psi Games. He is a renowned expert in consciousness research, holistic health, and personal development. With a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Health Medicine, specializing in herbal medicine, and extensive study in the Eight Limbs of Yoga, Hakim integrates these practices with his hands-on experience as a wilderness explorer and survival instructor to offer a comprehensive approach to human potential. He is a dedicated practitioner of Remote Viewing and Mind-sight (extra-ocular vision), having trained with some of the field’s top experts.
Hakim is also a 40-year practitioner of martial arts, holding multiple black belts in various arts. All of his experience fuels his research into the extraordinary capabilities of the human mind and body. As an advisory board member of the Monroe Institute, celebrated for the Gateway Program, a board member of the Center Lane Project, focused on preserving Ingo Swann’s Controlled Remote Viewing, Hakim plays a key role in advancing the study and development of human consciousness and Psi potential.
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Ky Dickens, Member-at-Large
Ky Dickens is an award-winning filmmaker celebrated for her transformative documentaries that tackle complex social issues, influence public policy, and ignite cultural change. Known as a storyteller at the intersection of film and societal impact, she has received numerous accolades, including the Focus Award for Achievement in Directing and the Change Maker Award for advancing social change through art and film.
In 2024, Ky created The Telepathy Tapes, a podcast exploring telepathy within the nonspeaking community and raising profound questions about consciousness, language, and inclusion. The series went viral upon release, and in December 2024, it surpassed Joe Rogan as the number one podcast in the world. In 2025, The Telepathy Tapeswon a Webby Award for Best Indie Podcast and topped the 2025 Apple charts, earning the number one episode, the number one most-shared show, and the number one series of the year and received an iHeart Podcast Award nomination
Ky’s fifth film, Show Her the Money, featuring Elizabeth Banks and Sharon Gless, was named one of the decade’s best financial films by U.S. News & World Report. The film has won three Jury Prizes for Best Documentary, including from the Los Angeles International Film Festival.Her film Zero Weeks (Amazon), about America’s paid leave crisis, debuted its trailer at the White House Summit on the State of Women, hosted by Oprah and Michelle Obama. Ky’s other notable projects include The City That Sold America (Freestyle Releasing), a deep dive into Chicago’s pivotal role in American consumer culture, and Sole Survivor (CNN Films), a haunting profile of lone survivors of otherwise fatal plane crashes. She lives in Los Angeles.