Jonah Spear AKA Benefitz

Jonah has counseled, directed, and run summer camps since he was 15, for young people, families, and grown-ups, all across the country - including at The Esalen Institute and Rancho La Puerta, Digital Detox’s Camp Grounded, and Rowe Camp and Conference Center.

A masterful facilitator, Jonah brings to Camp Wonderful a lifetime of experience working and playing with groups and performing across mediums. He is alumni of the National Theater Institute, the Moscow Art Theater School, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Boston University’s School for the Arts, and the California Institute of Integral Studies, and has appeared on stage in STOMP, in the air with Cirque du Soleil, on screen as a waiter in HBO’s Sex and The City, and the films Across The Universe and We Are The Hartmans, the latter of which he co-produced. Jonah is also the proud and unapologetic founder and co-emcee of the Bay Area Pun-Off, San Francisco’s safe space for wordplay.

Jonah is passionate about working with people experiencing the trauma of natural disasters and has traveled the world with humanitarian aid organization Second Response, offering “PLAYshops,” somatic-based PTSD prevention programs for survivors and caregivers. He believes communities that emerge from the hard work of play have greater resilience, stronger connections, and deeper communication.

Camp Wonderful is part of Jonah’s ongoing dream of teaming up with inspiring collaborations to share the spirit and wonder of camp with the world.