Meet our Team

Steve McDonald has been focused on the evolution of humanity for over 25 years, as a big picture futurist and a pathfinder of personal development, healing and transformation. He weaves together advanced science and esoteric knowledge to provide a practical, real world understanding of the current consciousness shift.

Throughout his mainstream career Steve has supported people through life-changing experiences as an army officer and war veteran, rescue helicopter pilot, change management professional and retreat facilitator. His work has always been guided by an innate ability to sense underlying patterns of transformation.

A Life of Service: Military, Humanitarian Work and Indigenous Roots

Steve began his military career as a reconnaissance helicopter pilot. After five years of flying, a strong desire to lead people saw him transfer to the infantry where he served as a platoon and company commander, intelligence officer and an operations officer at brigade and division headquarters level. In 1994 he deployed to Somalia as a company commander with 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment to help create a secure environment for humanitarian operations, amidst social collapse, famine and civil war. His battalion was subsequently awarded a Meritorious Unit Citation for sustained outstanding service.

Upon leaving the army, he worked with the Central Queensland Helicopter Rescue Service, flying emergency medical response and rescue missions. But his journey of service took an even more personal turn when he discovered his Indigenous ancestry.

Steve learned of his Aboriginal heritage only years later, uncovering a family history that had been buried for over a century. His grandmother was a victim of the Stolen Generations, and like many families affected by this trauma, the story had remained quiet until a cousin traced their lineage. This discovery led Steve to reconnect with his Gooreng Gooreng family in Central Queensland. Overjoyed to find the missing pieces of their history, they welcomed him back into the fold.

Recognizing the depth of this reconnection, Steve relocated to his traditional land for three years, immersing himself in his Indigenous roots and serving his family as an advocate during a significant Native Title legal case. This time was pivotal, strengthening his understanding of ancestral wisdom and deepening his commitment to planetary healing.

A Spiritual Awakening: Esoteric Traditions and Healing Work

Following a spiritual epiphany in 1999, Steve was drawn to study both Eastern and Western esoteric traditions. Alongside his career in aviation, he began human development work as a coach, trainer, and management consultant, while also practicing Taoist qigong and martial arts.

His interest in human development led him to the research of Dr Clare W Graves (1914-1986) through the book Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership and Change. He trained with one of the book’s authors, Dr Don Edward Beck (1937-2022) and later qualified as a Spiral Dynamics Integral trainer. Recognizing the model’s predictive potential, he applied it in his work as a futurist through the Future Sense podcast.

In 2002, a synchronistic encounter at a conference triggered past-life memories connected to various spiritual orders and star kindred. Over the next few years while working as a change management consultant in Melbourne, he was formally initiated into both Taoism and the Rosicrucian Order, a Western mystery school.

Years of military and emergency response work took a toll on Steve’s health, leading him to explore the healing properties of South American plant medicines. Initially drawn by their effects on consciousness, he soon realized their profound medicinal qualities and underwent deep personal healing. This work also expanded his understanding of human and planetary consciousness.

The Tao of Evolution: Planetary Consciousness and the Future of Humanity

In 2009 Steve made a sea change from Melbourne to Byron Bay, to further his spiritual path and explore the healing and alchemical properties of psychoactive medicines. While working as a retreat facilitator, in 2011 he co-founded Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine (PRISM), a non-profit organisation which enabled the first clinical trials of psilocybin and MDMA in Australia.

A dedicated Taoist practitioner since 1999, Steve founded the Aadii Mesh Foundation, a Taoist charity dedicated to supporting humanity through the planetary consciousness shift. With a deeply intuitive understanding of cosmic cycles, energetic blueprints, and evolutionary consciousness, he continues to guide individuals and communities toward a more harmonious future.

Through his work, Steve bridges the seen and unseen worlds – integrating science, Indigenous wisdom and higher-dimensional awareness into a singular path of service. His journey is one of reconnection: to self, to ancestry, to the Earth, and to the ever-unfolding dance of evolution.