Legacy Council
The Legacy Council is a small group of dedicated individuals who are committed to holding the institutional memory and legacy of Mission Be. Every Legacy Council Member was a dedicated member of the Executive Board for many years during the first decade and continue to support Mission Be with their wisdom, dedication and care.
Carin Winter
Carin Winter founded Mission Be, Mindful Education in 2013 and had brought their program to hundreds of schools in New York and California, trained thousands of educators and impacted over 148,000 students. Carin is a Licensed Master Social Worker, completing graduate school with the highest honors, Summa Cum Laude from Adelphi University. She has extensive clinical experience working with youth in schools, foster care and the juvenile justice system.
Carin founded and maintained Healing Arts of the South Shore, a private counseling and healing practice for over a decade, as well as Embrace Yoga Studio in NY for eight years. She also spent ten years as a school social worker in New York specializing in substance abuse. Carin co-chaired the Islip Drug Education and Awareness Task Force for 10 years combating substance abuse and the heroin epidemic on Long Island.
Since 2015, she has been a committee leader with the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Social Movement in Sandy Hook, CT. She is also an advisory member to GIFT, the Global Investment Foundation for Tomorrow and a member of the advisory board at Global Mana. She is a speaker for Safe and Sound Schools founded in Sandy Hook, CT.
Carin has presented at: The White House, The Palo Alto VA Hospital, Singularity, Facebook, Tiger 21, Americorp, CIIS, The NY Open Center, The Omega Institute, Wisdom 2.0, the Assemblage, Santa Clara University, Menlo College, St. Joseph’s College and Long Island University. She has also served as a substitute teacher and guest lecturer at Stanford University.
Carin served as the President of the Mission Be Board from Feb 2013 to Feb 2023 and is currently the CEO of Mission Be.
Monica Iken
Monica Iken is the founder and chair of the board of September’s Mission. Mrs. Iken lost her husband Michael, a bond broker on the 84th floor of Tower Two, in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and channeled her grief into establishing September’s Mission soon after September 11. In January 2002, New York Governor George Pataki appointed Mrs. Iken to the advisory board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In this capacity, Mrs. Iken has met regularly with civic, business, political and family leaders to help establish a proper process for honoring the lives that were lost on September 11. In addition, Mrs. Iken has been featured in prominent news media outlets.
Monica quickly became one of the most prominent spokespersons and representatives of victims’ families. She has been featured in prominent news media outlets including among many others: CNN, 20/20, BBC, PBS, CNBC, MSNBC, The Larry King Show, 60 minutes (interviewed by Leslie Stahl), AP, Discovery channel (included in a 5-part series on the building at Ground Zero). The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, The New York Observer, New York magazine, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, Newsday, 10/10 Wins, ABC radio and many more. She was awarded the 2003 Pace Setter Award by the New York City Council and was nominated for the New York Public Library’s 2004 Brooke Russell Astor Award.
Iken was born, raised and currently resides in Manhattan with her husband and has 2 girls. She graduated with a degree in education and sociology from Hunter College in 1995 and was an Elementary School Teacher for several years in the New York public school system prior to founding September’s Mission. Monica is also the founder of Iken Science Academy Preschool. Monica also has a podcast called “Once Upon a Time” that has. been featured around the world! She is also a Board member of the National September 11th Memorial & Museum. Monica is the CEO of September’s Mission, our founding fiscal sponsor organization.
Monica has been a part of Mission Be from the very start, as Mission Be was under September’s Mission Foundation fiscal sponsorship and Monica helped support and guide us on the Executive Board. Monica served on the Executive Board from Feb 2013 to Feb 2023. Monica was Vice President from 2013-2016, Treasurer from 2016-2020 and an active board member for an entire decade. Monica continues to guide and support the work of Mission Be’s Legacy on the Legacy Council with our incredible team!
Learn more about Monica’s Work here:
Www.Septembersmission.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlALTfukbzk;
Louis Medina
Louis Medina has worked with community-based not-for-profits for over 40 years. Lou started out as a career counselor. During that time he attended Adelphi University, where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Welfare. He was then employed as Program Director for a group home for boys in Riverhead, NY and later became the Executive Director for the Three Village Boys and Girls Club for 12 years. Lou attended Stony Brook University, where he received his Master of Social Work Degree and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.
The Institute for Not-for-Profit Management Middle Management Program for Youth Service Organizations, as well as attending Clemson University’s Executive Leadership Program. Lou was appointed to the Suffolk County Hispanic Advisory Board in 2004 by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. Lou conducted a community wide assessment of gang activity in Central Islip, where he developed a series of workshops for the youth, parents and community. He has also conducted numerous workshops on gangs throughout Suffolk County. In July 2006 Lou was appointed by County Executive Steve Levy as the Executive Director of the Suffolk County Youth Bureau, a position which he held until March 2012.
In 2007 Lou was appointed to serve as a member of the Independent Review Board by Commissioner Gladys Carrion from the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and held that position until March 2012. Lou was elected President of the Association of NY State Youth Bureau’s in 2011. Lou is currently a trainer at the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Lou continues to volunteer at not-for-profit community based organizations where he mentors and presents on issues relating to gang prevention, violence prevention and anti-bullying programs.
Lou served as the Vice President of the Board from 2013-2018 and was then on the advisory council for two years and rejoined the board from 2020-2023. Lou will continue to offer his wisdom and guidance as a Legacy Council Member.
Mike Dempsey
Mike Dempsey is a founding Board member for the WTC United Family Group, which is now known as The September 11 Education Trust where he has coordinated peer support programs such as the Oklahoma City/September 11th Family Exchange, Mike was also a member of the Coalition of 9/11 Families from 2003-2006. Mike is the Financial Services advisory leader for Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC based in Raleigh, NC and serves his NFL Alumni Carolinas chapter as player engagement coordinator.
Mike has an MBA in Finance from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree from SUNY / Albany. As a survivor of 9/11 and the 2017 Las Vegas shooting Mike has continued to dedicate time and effort to help others who have experienced trauma by hosting events and coordinating roundtables and events with survivors throughout the US.
Over the years, Mike and his daughters Kellie, who’s on the autism spectrum, and Jenna hosted a podcast ‘Dads & Daughters show” which aired on Cablevision and BronxNet with 24 episodes over 2 seasons. Mike has also been honored with awards and recognition from the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame, Mission Be / The Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance and The Risk Management Association Mid-South Chapter.
Mike joined the Mission Be Team in 2015 and served on the Executive Board with the rest of the team until 2023, for 8 years. Mike served as Vice President and has been a dedicated and hard working member of the team. Mike will continue to be engaged and involved in offering his guidance and support as an active member of The Legacy Council alongside the other committed former Executive Board Members.
Daniel Kottke
Daniel Kottke has been immersed in the world of mindfulness since the early 1970’s when he became a close friend of Steve Jobs at Reed College in 1972, which led to a 4-month pilgrimage for the two friends to India in 1974. From there, Dan Kottke practically created tech, in Silicon Valley, with his two friends, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak by helping build the first Apple-I computer in Steve’s garage in 1976. Kottke worked for Apple 1976-1984 as an early member of the Mac design team. From 1984-2008 Dan was involved in: Lucidity Research, EcheLON, General Magic, SleepTrace, Silicon Gaming, Vertical Networks, CubeRoot, Blinkenlabs, Fastmovie.tv.
Kottke earned his JD in 1998 and produced/hosted the cable tv show The Next Step 2005-2012. He was Gen’l. Partner for Cobb Mtn Partners 2010-14. Kottke is now in the marketplace for Smarthome products, where he is now working on a stealth startup aimed at multi-tenant and senior/eldercare market sectors. He has begun working on a memoir about his friendship with Steve Jobs prior to Apple.
Dan joined the Mission Be Team in 2017 and was appointed the position of secretary. Dan also previously served as an Advisory Member. Daniel will continue to serve the mission and vision as a proud member of the Legacy Team.
Advisory Council
the Mission Be Advisory Council is a team of dedicated advisors who help advise and support Mission Be on an as needed basis with their wisdom and compassion.
Lakiba Pittman
Lakiba Pittman is an educator, business consultant and creative artist with decades of leadership experience in corporate America/high tech, academia, and non-profit management. She is currently the Director for the Office of Diversity and an Adjunct Professor teaching Race & Ethnicity at Notre Dame de Namur University and also a Senior Adjunct Professor at Menlo College teaching Diversity in the Workplace & Culture in Media.
Jim McGowan
Jim McGowan is a legend in Bay Shore School District. He was the High School’s social worker for the past 31 years before recently retiring. He coached girl’s softball to multiple championships. He was the creator of Awareness Weekend, a program in which students spend the entire Saturday night at the high school, listening to inspirational speakers and one another discuss personal stories to help students cultivate compassion and empathy. Jim also started a Peer Leaders Program and a Cultural Exchange program across school districts.
Elena Moseng
Elena Moseng is a philanthropist, angel investor and a serial entrepreneur with passion for cutting edge technology and innovation. Elena’s education is withinPsychology, Finance and IT from Altay State Technical University in Russia, where she was born and grew up.After university Elena moved to Norway where she forged a successful career at several multinational companies. Elena’s naturally curious mind, which constantly questions the status quo of life has Brought her on a path of entrepreneurship. In 2012 she launched Irbiz, a creative venture company Irbiz that focuses on innovative technology businesses with an emphasis on VR/AR, computer vision and artificial intelligence. Irbiz believes in game – changing commercial technologies which produce major environmental and social benefits.
To date Irbiz has been supporting award-winning and revolutionary tech companies that focuses on education, accessibility, green energy and carbon footprint.In early 2016 Elena started to investigate the legacy that is being left to future generations both in terms of environmental impact and inequality for women. These have become driving factors in her life and her latest start – up SimplUP – a disruptive new technology that will revolutionise the way we buy clothes. SimplUP combines computer vision and artificial intelligence to provide consumers with sustainable fashion that always fits to battle the enormous environmental footprint of the second worst polluting industry next to oil. Elena is a strong believer of doing business for good.
For the past 10 years she has supported multiple international charitable and social enterprise projects with the focus on disadvantaged communities, education, and equality. Elena also serves as an advisory board member for Conspexit, an innovative tech company helping visually impaired people to experience the world without limitations. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, training, dancing and travel the world.
Alan Weston
Alan Weston is an inventor and cutting-edge technologist with a passion for extreme sports. Alan’s education in the UK & the US led to a career in aerospace science and technology including projects to determine the probability of planets in the Galaxy that could support life, water ice on the moon, photon laser communications in the solar system, small satellites for earth observation and the use of airborne telescopes to observe the formation of stars and galaxies.
Alan is currently developing technology to transform aviation to complement existing humanitarian relief efforts and eliminate the carbon footprint of air transport through the use of Lighter than Air vehicles.
Daniel Rechtschaffen
Marriage and Family Therapist, is the author of The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well – Being in Teachers and Students. He founded the Mindful Education Institute and the Omega Mindfulness in Education conference. He leads mindfulness in education trainings and conferences at institutions such as the Omega Institute, Esalen, and California Institute of Integral Studies. He has helped create curriculum for organizations such as Mindfulness Without Borders, Mindful Schools, and The Mindful Mothering Project. Daniel leads mindfulness trainings for schools and communities around the world, such as the South Burlington School District, The Paideia School in Atlanta, and Phucket International Academy in Thailand. He has had amazing results teaching mindfulness to high-school basketball and baseball teams. Daniel also has a private psychotherapy practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Fred Luskin, Ph.D.
Is the director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects, an ongoing series of workshops and research projects that investigate the effectiveness of his forgiveness methods on a variety of populations. The forgiveness project has successfully explored forgiveness therapy with people who suffered from the violence in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone as well as the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. In addition his work has been successfully applied and researched in corporate, medical, legal and religious settings. He currently also serves as a Senior Consultant in Health Promotion at Stanford University and is a Professor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He presents lectures, workshops, seminars and trainings on the importance, health benefits and training of forgiveness, stress management and emotional competence throughout the United States. He offers presentations and classes that range from one hour to ongoing weekly trainings. He is the author of Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness (HarperSanFrancisco, 2001) and Stress Free for Good: Ten Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness(HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), with Kenneth Pelletier, Ph.D. Dr. Luskin holds a Ph.D. in Counseling and Health Psychology from Stanford University.
Brian Volk
is an intellectual property lawyer and managing partner of his law firm. Brian graduated from Trinity College with a degree in chemistry. While working as a chemist at a pharmaceutical company, he attended the Maurice Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Brian’s law practice focuses on obtaining patents, trademarks and copyrights for small companies and startups.
Brian grew up in Islip and now lives in Sayville with his wife, Kelly, and two children, Gavin and Elisabeth.
Emmie Thomas
is a social entrepreneur and the CEO and Co-Founder of Knowji, Inc. Knowji is an innovative education technology company that makes vocabulary apps that have been featured by Apple, and has helped countless students improve their vocabulary effortlessly. Emmie is the co-inventor of Knowji’s learning algorithm, which is based on scientifically proven learning methodologies.
Emmie is passionate about education, and loves learning and design. She feels strongly that we must love what we do. For her, a big part of that means doing something that makes a difference in another person’s life.
She is advising Mission Be in our digital application development.
Danny Paradise
has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga since May 1976 and teaching publicly (and occasionally privately) worldwide since 1979. He teaches all levels of students and teachers and was in one of the earliest groups of westerners to learn all the classical sequences of Ashtanga Yoga. His first teachers were David Williams & Nancy Gilgoff. David was the first western Ashtanga adept. Danny began teaching with David Williams in 1979 and was asked to assist him at that time.
Danny introduces the forms to beginning students, experienced/advanced practitioners and teachers. Many people he has taught are now themselves teaching and have their own schools. He’s also introduced the Ashtanga forms to many people who were Yoga teachers in other traditions and styles. He’s taught numerous well known artists, musicians, dancers, sports champions and studied with K. Patabbhi Jois in 1978 in Hawaii and 1980 in Hawaii in the USA. This included K.P. Jois’s first advanced series public classes in 1980 which were in Maui, Hawaii.
Danny is also a musician, songwriter and performer. He has produced two CDs and a music/Yoga DVD He’s also studied and practiced with numerous teachers of other Yoga forms as well as various martial arts including Karate, Kung Fu and Tai Chi.
Danny will be advising the mindful music committee.
Jeff Reynolds
An experienced, dynamic and committed public health professional, Dr. Jeffrey L. Reynolds is the Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD). LICADD provides screening, brief intervention, referrals, relapse prevention and anger management. Under Dr. Reynolds’ leadership, LICADD has pioneered the launch of “Too Good for Drugs, an evidence-based K-12 substance abuse prevention program in several schools, initiated a new mentoring program for children of incarcerated parents and re-branded its Employee Assistance Program, now called “Open Arms EAP.”Dr. Reynolds worked for the Long Island Association for AIDS Care for 19 years, finished his tenure as Vice President for Public Affairs. In 1997, he co-founded BiasHELP of Long Island, an organization dedicated to assisting victims of hate crimes. He also secured federal, state and local grants and launched a wide array of crime victim services and school-based violence prevention.
Dr. Reynolds currently serves as Chair of the Suffolk County Heroin/Opiate Epidemic Advisory Panel, is on the Executive Committee of the Nassau County Heroin Prevention Task Force and serves on Suffolk County’s Welfare-to-Work Commission, the Suffolk County’s Sober Home Oversight Board and remains the longest serving member of the NYS AIDS Advisory Council. He has served as a consultant and grant reviewer for SAMHSA and is a presenter at NHHS conferences. He has authored more than 200 news and op-ed articles. Dr. Reynolds was named one of the “50 most influential Long Islanders” in 2010-12 by the Long Island Press.
Dr. Reynolds holds a Bachelors degree in psychology from Dowling College (1988), a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) with a specialization in health administration from Long Island University (1997) and a doctorate from Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare (2007). He remains an Assistant Clinical Professor at Stony Brook, a Certified Anger Management Professional, a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP) and a U.S. Department of Transportation-qualified SAP.
Jeff is advising the business end of the project and the NFP aspects.
Sarah Drew
Author of Gaia Codex, is a passionate explorer of culture and consciousness. She has traveled extensively around the world from the high peaks of Bhutan to the jungles of the Amazon. An experienced lecturer, who has taught at the graduate level and at organizations such as Google, Sarah is committed to the evolution of consciousness and the protection and revitalization of the earth at this critical turning point in history. Her professional background is as a cultural curator and creator of innovative media. She lives with her partner in Manhattan and on a lush forested farm in the Hudson Valley.
Sarah is honored to be part of the Mission Be family and feels that the future well being of all beings, the health of our culture and society is dependent on how we nurture and educate our children. Cultivating mindfulness and compassion from an early age is a powerful tool for nourishing the long-term health our culture at large. It is one true step we can take for change.
Gary Malkin
Is a seven time Emmy® award-winning composer, producer, performer and public speaker dedicated to making a difference in the world by creating music-driven media and experiences that inspire the heart and catalyze individual and societal healing. As a keynote presenter, he is passionate about the vital role music, media, and the arts can play during these extraordinary times of change as an innovative tool to enhance our humanity, deepen our sense of meaning in our lives, and cultivate greater emotional/social intelligence in an increasingly complex and distracted world.
As a composer for numerous award-winning television and film projects for nearly thirty years – as well as an Immersive Strategist/Artistic Director for conferences worldwide, Gary is known for participating in globally acclaimed projects that support environmental sustainability, spiritual tolerance, children’s health and welfare, cancer research, and cross-cultural healing. He just received Hollywood Music in Media Award’s Best Soundtrack Award (with music partner, Dan Alvarez) in the Indie Feature Documentary category, for his work on the groundbreaking film, Thrive: What on Earth Will It Take? He is the co-creator (with Michael Stillwater) of Graceful Passages: A Companion For Living and Dying, released by his media company, Wisdom of the World, which offers aesthetic ways to help face life transitions with greater mindfulness.
In 2011, he co-authored a CD/Book called Safe in the Arms of Love: Deepening the Essential Bond with Your Baby, which received an award for Best Contribution to the Field by APPPAH, an International organization focusing on Pre and Peri Natal Psychology. He has just released a new genre called
WisdomFilmsTM – Media for Human Being, short-format films for stress reduction and heart/mind integration In 2008, the CEO commissioned Gary and curator of TED, Chris Anderson, to create the theme music for the global broadcast phenomenon, Pangea Day. He also has served as Artistic Director for the Quest for Global Healing Conferences in Bali, Indonesia, (which featured Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among other Nobel Laureates) and was asked to present on the healing power of music on the stage of the Great Hall of China during the Beijing Olympics. An in-demand public speaker at places such as Google, Harvard’s Conference on Spirituality and Health, Scripps Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, and The Institute for Functional Medicine. He was featured on the national PBS Series, Healing Quest, the Huffington Post, promoting a greater understanding of the power of music and the arts as an essential resource for inspiration, emotional intelligence, enhanced creativity and life/balance integration.
Gary will be helping create and advise our mindful music committee, our Mindful CD, digital application and videos.
Bruce Cryer
Bruce has had a diverse professional career spanning Broadway (actor/singer/dancer), publishing, health and wellness, performance, leadership development, executive management, mentoring and photography.
As one of the founding directors of the HeartMath organizations he helped guide the development of programs designed to reduce stress and improve resilience and performance for both children and adults.
He has worked with teachers, parents, students, CEOs, managers, health care professionals, and everyday people to provide tools to enhance their life on all levels. He has written for Harvard Business Review and many business and health care publications. A two-year journey of major health issues culminated in his decision to step down as CEO of HeartMath in 2011 so he could pursue new creative projects including mentoring, keynote performing, and song-writing. He now consults and mentors visionary entrepreneurs and leaders in all fields. He believes all human beings are innately creative, though the creative energy of each individual is often discouraged by parents, siblings, employers, and society as a whole. His mission is to awaken the creative energy within all people, preferably starting with children (in whom it’s already awake).
His work around Creativity is being taught at Stanford University, 1440 Multiversity (near Silicon Valley) and the New York Open Center. His most recent project is an album of original songs created with the Brothers Koren, released May 2018, called Renaissance Human. He graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music.
Bruce Frederick Damer
PhD is Canadian-American multi disciplinary scientist, designer, and author. Dr. Bruce Damer collaborates with colleagues developing and testing a new model for the origin of life on Earth and in the design of spacecraft architectures to provide a viable path for expansion of human civilization beyond the Earth. He began his career in the 1980s developing some of the earliest user interfaces for personal computers, led a community in the 1990s bringing the first multi-user virtual worlds to the Internet, and since 2000 supported NASA and the space industry on numerous simulations and spacecraft designs.
He has spent 25 years chronicling the history of computing in his DigiBarn Computer Museum. He currently serves as Principal Scientist at DigitalSpace; Associate Researcher in the Department of Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz; Associate of the NASA Astrobiology Center; Member of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life, and Founding Director of the Contact Consortium.
He also served as Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington and as a member of the Faculty at Charles University, Prague. He received his PhD from University College, Dublin; MSEE from the University of Southern California and BSc from the University of Victoria.
Cheryl Kurash, Ph.D
A licensed clinical psychologist, maintains a private practice of psychotherapy and mindfulness training in Stony Brook.
She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine and has served as Coordinator of Mindfulness Programs at the Counseling and Psychological Services, Stony Brook University; Assistant Director of Counseling for Training at SBU; and Associate Professor of Psychology at SUNY/Empire State College. Over the past 30 years, Cheryl’s commitment to bringing mindfulness training to the university community led her to develop a wide range of educational and clinical programs for students, staff and faculty at SBU and St. Joseph’s College. Her interest in the integration of psychotherapy and mindfulness guides her own clinical work as well as her educational offerings for health care professionals. In 2010 she completed the Teacher Development Intensive Training in MBSR through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and recently the Integrated Study and Practice Program at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Cheryl’s study of contemplative practices includes yoga, Tibetan Buddhist (Shambhala) and Vipassana meditation, and East/West psychology with John Welwood, Ph.D. In 1987, she journeyed, under the guidance of Swami Rama of the Himalayan Institute to Gangotri and Gomuk, India, the source of the Ganges River.
Cheryl is an active member of the Mindfulness Meditation NY Collaborative
Richard C. Scheinberg
received his undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology in 1975 from the State University of New York at New Paltz and his master’s degree in social work in 1981 from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. He is currently a licensed clinical social worker in the state of New York and a Board Certified Diplomate in clinical social work by the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work. Scheinberg served as an executive board member of the Suffolk County chapter of the Society of Clinical Social Work from 1984 to 1995. Because of his work with graduate students in the 1990s, Scheinberg was recognized as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the New York University School of Social Work in January 2000. As Mr. Scheinberg has evolved spiritually, he has chosen to devote more time and energy to professional development that is directly associated overall mind-body health. These experiences include ancient and modern forms of meditation.
Richard will be advising us on the therapeutic aspects of the program, as well as, advising us on the business end of the project.
Paul Tapogna
Paul Tapogna was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn during the blizzard of 1948, and he’s been catching chills ever since. He grew up in an Italian-American Grocery founded by his Dad and Mom. Paul attended Catholic parochial schools and graduated from Fordham College in 1969. That same year he married his childhood sweetheart, Kathy Borchick. They raised three children, were blessed with six grands, and became teachers over the next 55 years. Paul is coming out of retirement to volunteer for Mission Be, and he hopes to find good work to do for this great organization going forward.
Barry Leigh Margerum
Barry Margerum has over 30 years of executive and board of director level business experience in California high technology companies. As the Chief Strategy Officer of Plantronics and a long-term mindfulness practitioner, he introduced Search Inside Yourself (SIY), a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence for leaders program, to Plantronics in June 2012. Mr. Margerum became a certified SIY teacher in 2015 and currently teaches mindfulness classes to executives and workers around the world.
Mr. Margerum holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.
Kerah Cottrell
Kerah Cottrell is a mindful force-of-nature for good. She’s a multi-award-winning, multi-patented user experience designer. As one of Google’s first designers, she designed the premier Google News and iGoogle. She’s also a mother, dancer, activist; as well as a former CEO, theater manager/actress, competitive cyclist, and award-winning flight attendant. Never one to sit idle, she’s always looking for the next big challenge, and for ways to have a global impact. Whether online or in person, with every interaction, she aims to make the world a better place for everyone. Kerah advises us on user experience and strategy.
Charles Barbieri
Charles Barbieri has been working for the past 28 years of creating joyful times of children in kindergarten afternoon programs and after school activities. He has a Masters in Environmental Education and Peace Education. His interest include; building a global holistic educational experience for children; introducing non violent compassionate communication techniques to children; doing mindful parenting workshops for the past 16 years and Nature awareness education.
Last year for the celebration of MLK day he created 20 jump ropes with elementary school children and created artwork to send to schools around the world encouraging world peace via “jump roping” all over the globe. Charles will be involved in creative classroom curriculum development for the elementary students and a workshop for parents on mindful parenting.
Lisa Benson
Lisa Benson draws from a wealth of experience. She was a stockbroker on Wall Street from 1983 to 1988, both in institutional and retail sales. After her second son was born, she started teaching, and she successfully implemented a grammar curriculum into Chesapeake, Virginia middle schools. Moving to Fire Island, New York, she started a food co-op and wrote a manual for women’s gatherings. Later, she was the Managing Editor of the Fire Island Express, now the South Shore Monthly. Lisa is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance and has been teaching this fountain of healing for over 20 years.
This mother of two artistic, talented sons teaches mindfulness to teachers as well as students and is currently writing a book on mindfulness tips for teachers. Lisa currently teaches high school English on Long Island, teaches Yoga in Ocean Beach, Fire Island, and is an active member of the Ocean Beach Community Fund which raises funds for the communities of Fire Island.
Lisa will be assisting with editing the classroom curriculum and written materials. She will also be assisting in sub-committees on the creative end, as well as implementation in her own classrooms.