Collectively mindful

April Frazier

April has served as a middle school teacher at an under-served school in the South Bronx. She considers herself a lifelong learner of mindfulness and yoga as a tool for self-empowerment and social justice in diverse, resilient communities. She believes, regardless of background, we are all in our breath and body, so might as well tap back into our inner wisdom to navigate life’s challenges. These days, her main mindfulness practice is being a foster mom. 

Fontashia Johnson 

Fontashia is a lifelong learner. After 10 years of working in the banking and management industry Fontashia decided to switch careers to walk in her purpose and has since served an additional 10 plus years working in K-12, Title 1 public schools, alternative education and community partnerships.  She has led mindfulness programs for students, parents and community members- in addition to professional development , one on ones, and workshops for faculty and staff within schools and community recreational centers.  Fontashia has served in various roles as an educator including: Business Education Teacher, Career Development Coordinator, Parent Facilitator, and Restorative Justice Teacher.  Alongside her school presence, she founded a nonprofit in 2017 that focuses on financial literacy and mindfulness.  She is a Co-Creator for a BIPOC mindfulness community group, Mindfulness with People of Color and on 2-24-24 opened a Wellness & Retreat Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, cooking, listening to music, and dancing.    

Devon Sangster Rath

Devon served as a social worker at a San Francisco public high school for ten years. She is a queer woman who cares deeply about the power of mindfulness practice to heal and liberate. Devon is especially passionate about making mindfulness accessible to all, specifically people who have experienced trauma, are recovering from addiction, and historically marginalized populations, including people of color, LGBTQ, and people of size and different body abilities. She has practiced meditation since 1997, has been formally teaching mindfulness since 2010, and currently lives in New Mexico with her little dog Chulito.

Jelena Popovic

Jelena is a school psychologist by training and a peacebuilder by heart. Jelena aspires to educate, advocate, and mobilize others in co-creating a culture of peace. Her passion is facilitating dialogs that are grounded in mindful awareness and empathy. She believes in the power of storytelling, single-tasking, and the importance of starting conversations that create genuine connections, move us toward transformation and help us foster a culture of nonviolence.

Nathalie Monin Voelker

Nathalie has been working for 18 years in nonprofit organizations where she developed community projects and educational programs for low income communities. Born in Paris with a Caribbean background, she studied dance before being enchanted with yoga. 

Her discovery of yoga in 2002 came with a meditation practice thanks to her teacher from an Integral Yoga lineage. Nathalie lives now in New York near the Long Island Sound where she enjoys the beauty of the trees, the rocks and the water… Walking in and “with Nature” is one of her regular practices.

Nathalie started teaching yoga and mindfulness in public schools in 2016 with Little Flower Yoga and The School Wellness Project. She currently offers mindfulness and self-care practices to youth and adults privately and in schools. 

Tapping into her former study of philosophy, she sees mindfulness as a way to foster peace in communities as well as a wonderful tool to re-connect us with inner sources of knowledge. 

Tanya Farmer

Tanya Farmer teaches yoga, meditation and mindfulness in NYC public schools for the past 10 years. Tanya was drawn to mindfulness as a way to access inner peace and she loves sharing what she’s learned to empower, uplift and bring people together. She has a deep belief in the possibility for human transformation through awareness practices and strives to create safe and joyful spaces for all participants. She lives in Brooklyn.

Ray

Ray brings more than 15 years of experience in K-12 education as a teacher, coordinator, and coach. He is dedicated to supporting students and teachers that have been historically underrepresented and often ignored by the dominant culture. He joined Mindful Schools in 2022 and is passionate about meaningful systemic change and leveraging positive energy as a powerful tool to motivate, inspire, and heal. As a School Support Specialist, he helps introduce schools and districts to mindfulness while building relationships with administrators and teachers. He holds a Master’s Degree in Education from William Carey University. Ray has been practicing mindfulness for more than a year now, and describes mindfulness as a much needed grounding experience. As a former athlete, coach, and teacher, Ray understands the importance of using his experience to lead and create an environment of connection and inclusivity. 

Kaytie

Kaytie is a dedicated educator and advocate for social justice, born and raised in the vibrant city of San Francisco. Throughout her career, Kaytie has made a significant impact on early learning in the San Francisco Bay Area, contributing not only as an educator but also in administration, coaching, and championing social justice within the education field.  Kaytie holds a double major in Child Development and Afro Latin Literature from Mills College in Oakland, a testament to her commitment to a holistic and inclusive education. Her academic journey and lived experience laid the foundation for her unwavering passion for equity and social justice, which serve as the driving forces behind her impactful work.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Kaytie is a globetrotter and a music enthusiast, finding joy and inspiration in travel and live music.. As a mindfulness advocate, she champions the integration of mindfulness practices in schools, recognizing the profound impact they can have on students’ well-being and learning experiences.  In her personal life, Kaytie is a dog mom, poet, and a perpetual learner, embracing each opportunity for growth and self-discovery. Guided by the wisdom of her ancestors, she navigates her journey with a deep sense of purpose and connection to her roots.

Raúl Betancourt

Raúl is an educator and mindfulness practitioner with 25 years of experience teaching science to middle and high school students. As a teacher, Raúl found that his meditation practice helped him navigate the stress of school, and he began sharing mindfulness tools with students and colleagues. Motivated by the impact he saw on those around him, Raúl increased his focus on mindfulness education in schools, becoming a teacher for the teen group at East Bay Meditation Center and a mentor for iBme teen mindfulness retreats. Raúl began his own mindfulness practice as a teenager, learning from monastics at the International Buddhist Meditation Center in Los Angeles. He then went on to study Zen at centers in the US, Japan and recently in Hawai’i at Chozen-Ji Zen Dojo, where he was a live-in student at the start of the pandemic and continued to study at since then. Raúl’s years of training have focused on integrating mindfulness into daily life, and he’s passionate about sharing these valuable tools with students and teachers.

Argos Gonzalez

Drawing on more than 13 years experience as a high school English teacher in the Bronx, Argos is an equity-driven educator and thought leader who leverages his mindfulness practice to engage communities in creating positive systems change. As Head of Instruction, Argos shapes our program delivery, coaches teachers, and consults with school leaders. Argos recognizes the power of love as a radical tool for change and shares mindfulness to foster healing and transformation, especially for communities most impacted by systems of oppression. Argos immigrated from Venezuela as a boy, grew up in Queens, and currently lives in New York City.

Kelli Love-Yuan

Kelli has 20 years of experience as an educator in the roles of teacher, mentor, curriculum developer, and program facilitator, and draws from her own personal mindfulness practice that began when she was a struggling teenager. Since 2013, she has taught mindfulness and yoga at Girls Prep Bronx Elementary in NYC, supporting students, staff and families. She has coached educators, provided staff and educator training, as well as facilitated educator retreats and public speaking engagements in the mindfulness in education field. Kelli is committed to empowering educators to bring wellbeing into their own lives and into their school communities for the benefit of future generations. She helped design and revise curriculum for several organizations including the Contentment Foundation, RULER (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence), and Mindful Schools. Kelli has a Masters in Education from the University of Phoenix and a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Naropa University.

Lucy MacGregor

As an educator, Lucy has taught children and youth in a variety of classroom and therapeutic settings from instructing teens at North Carolina Outward Bound School to educating young people in preschool. She is currently the Director of Teaching and Learning at Shalom Children’s Program. 

As co-founder of Design to Connect, LLC,  Lucy facilitates professional communities of practice focused on cultivating restorative school communities and increasing capacities of mindful well-being in students, educators, and families.  

Lucy holds a Masters In Education, Mindfulness for Educators, from Antioch University New England, an Early Childhood Montessori Credential form the Center for Guided Montessori Studies, and a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from Oglethorpe University.