Mindfulness Ambassadors
Elisabeth Waymire
Is a freelance UX Researcher, social entrepreneur and mindfulness teacher and practioner. Her soul•preneur passion lies in creating mindful, social impact products and events that blend her skills and interests in technology, design, mindfulness and social good.
Her bestselling mindfulness self care kit “Mindful Mandala Cards” is sold online via Amazon, in yoga studios and hospital gifts shops, through global retailers such as Athleta, and via subscription services. She also designs and sells a line of casual, witty Mindfulness theme apparel under the brand “Mindful Tees.” Elisabeth donates her time and a percent of her product sales to wellness organizations. She is a lifelong learner of mindfulness practices.
Garrett MacDonald
started the first publicly traded bitcoin mining company in 2012, when he was 15 years old. After selling the business he decided to focus on applying blockchain technology to three sectors that have great potential to positively impact the world: energy, transportation, and agriculture.
Eddie Lee
Is passionate about children’s education, with experience volunteering for after-school programs in the Bay Area and Princeton, NJ, as well as teaching Korean language at the Sup Sogŭi Hosu Korean Language Village camp in Bemidji, MN. He is the cofounder and President of Podo Labs (www.podolabs.com), a consumer brand creating fun products in San Francisco, CA.
Tim
German-Born and Southern-Bred, Tim is a global citizen with a mission to create safe spaces for people to be their authentic selves. Currently, Tim is working at Facebook making the world ‘more open and connected’ thru his work on International Product Growth. Tim spends most of this time trying to be mindful and practices as well as teaches Yoga whenever he can
Aliza (“Ah-lee-zah”)
Has practiced mindfulness since 1997 and co-taught mindfulness and yoga to inmates of maximum security men’s prisons, after developing an interest in human rights law in 2003. She now creates corporate leadership development training for Apple, Inc, where her workshops have influenced 50,000 global employees. With an organization she co-founded called Intelligent Play, she has trained professors and teachers all over the world in the art of play-based learning and cross-cultural communication. Before moving to California.
Aliza spent three years managing the communications department for a federal environmental agency in the Canadian arctic, in an Inuit community called Iqaluktutiak – also known as Cambridge Bay. She learned to kite board on the frozen ocean, to ice fish, and to sew traditional Inuit clothes. With a background in Education, Communications, Biology, Law, and a Masters degree in Environmental Studies.
Aliza also spent several years advising on the Boards of Directors for the North American Association for Environmental Education and the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication. Her creative nonfiction has been nominated for a national literary award, and she recently gave a TEDx talk about the power of helping strangers.
Patrick Furlotti
Propels ideas and experiences into meaningful action. As Global Mana President, Founder, & CEO, Patrick cultivates solutions to issues of our social and environmental impact. Patrick has directed and produced numerous environmental documentaries showcasing both the beauty and devastations of our planet.
His visual narratives tell the story of global interconnections and the urgent need for change. As a respected captain and navigator who has sailed numerous seas, Patrick constantly seeks more fluent and graceful ways of moving through the world. He transforms the way we do this.
His interviews with international leaders and indigenous healers amplify a global perspective that promotes ecological responsibility, cultural inclusion and a revolution in consumer ethics. Patrick identifies and directs projects that deepen our connection to the environment and the lives of others. When you work for a cause you are the effect. Patrick injects dynamic law into his activism: he has swam rivers and oceans from Hawai’i and Tahiti to Thailand raising millions for environmental causes. He sees no stopping.
Gordon Fuller
Is a visionary social entrepreneur, award-winning producer and advocate for accessibility and social change. Gordon believes that 21st-century tools can revolutionize society by ending the social isolation of disadvantaged, vulnerable and oppressed minorities.
He has worked at the forefront of technological innovations—developing industry-leading digital TV, broadband Internet and social networking applications—to restore balance and advance civic engagement. For over 30 years Gordon has consulted for international leaders in the IT, telecom, consumer electronics and entertainment industries as well as private, public and governmental organizations to develop socially-evolved business models. An engaging storyteller and motivational speaker.
Gordon has given numerous lectures at local universities and colleges. Gordon is a lifelong environmental activist. He has established international programs to train students for careers in the media—to help tell the stories that matter, with impact.
Mellisa Sutor
Melissa is a Mindfulness Teacher, Corporate Retreat Consultant, and Advocate for Diversity and Inclusion working at the intersection of mindfulness, technology, and social impact. She was the first African-American to obtain a Masters Degree in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and then worked as an engineer and IT project manager in Silicon Valley. Feeling at odds with corporate culture, she chose to realize a childhood dream of traveling around the world and experienced over 50 countries on a two year backpacking journey interacting with people of diverse cultures and engaging in indigenous spiritual practices.
Melissa was called to support others in living balanced, authentic, and happy so obtained a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University where she studied with Shauna Shapiro, mindfulness expert. Included on her professional mindfulness journey, she completed trainings with Bob Stahl as well as Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli. Connecting with the courage to live with deep meaning and purpose in her own life allows her to effectively and heartfully guide others in doing the same.
She became the Founder and Director of Happiness at Dragonfly Healing Center in 2011.Melissa has led mindfulness workshops at many organizations including Google as well as retreat centers including Esalen Institute Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR training) at Kaiser in Maui, Hawaii where she now lives with her sweet husband. She assisted Mission Be in expanding to California and is passionate about making connections and spreading the beautiful work of this organization.
Chris Zdenek
Began meditating in 1990. Inspired by Brother David Steindl-Rast a long time advocate of of Gratefulness. Chris has a wide range of experience in entrepreneurship, business planning, marketing, sales and operations, architecture, furniture and product design, ergonomics, and real estate development plus he is a creative intellectual writer, having developed a comprehensive theory on the fractal nature of consciousness, socio-cultural development, the driving forces of history and organizational development.
He is the principal founder of Soma Ergonomics and is a graduate of Cal Poly SLO and Bellarmine College Prep where, among other things he learned the importance of being of service to others.
Shamash Alidina
Shamash has been practicing mindfulness since 1998 and runs his own successful training organization. He is the international bestselling author of the Mindfulness For Dummies series and has now written The Mindful Way through Stress. He frequently pops up in newspapers, magazines, and on radio shows. He’s also the founder of the world’s first Museum of Happiness in London and founder of the Happier World Conference. Based in London, he runs workshops and speaks at conferences all over the world and now uses webinars to show others how to teach mindfulness, too.
Shamash has had the honour and privilege of training with the fathers of ‘Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction’, Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD and Saki Santorelli PhD through the Center for Mindfulness in Massachusetts, United States. He has also trained extensively with the Centre of Mindfulness at Bangor University in Wales.
He loves coaching people to live in the present moment in a calm and focused way, leading to greater health and wellbeing. And, with his strong background in science, Shamash loves the way that mindfulness has been proven to work scientifically many times.
Arnaud Saint-Paul
The CEO and co-founder of Heal Through words. Arnaud, conscious technologist, author, and visionary is inspiring businesses and individuals around the world by helping them reach their highest potential. As a visionary and technologist, he has been awarded for his many outstanding achievements in innovations, technology and methodology.
Driven by the knowledge that technology is the expression of Consciousness. Arnaud Saint-Paul is elevating business owners and individuals alike in their business and personal lives. Using his latest methodology he paves the way for their best potential. This is the key for his clients’ continuous growth, financial success and well-being.
Jessie Megrelishvili
Is a man on a mission to bring emotional responsibility to teenagers and young adults across the country.
With a background in participating in and coaching emotional intelligence/leadership workshops, he is able to identify thought and behavioral patterns that can be self-sabotaging, as well as providing the tools to eradicate them.
Best of all, growing up in Brooklyn, NY and working odd jobs since he was 12 years old has given him the chance to connect with every type of person under the sun. Therefore, giving him the ability to bring this type of information to anyone, on any level.
Dru Babcock
Is an SF Realtor, experienced property manager, world-class coach, and investor. He started his real estate career at age twelve as the “blue print boy” at his father’s legendary international architectural firm Sandy Babcock International. He’s an SF native, who considers San Francisco his neighborhood. He went through his schooling and education with Town School, Saint Ignatius College Prep, University of San Francisco. He’s a husband and parent (of three vibrant young children), and he manages to stay extraordinarily energetic, healthy, and present. He’s also a former commercial and instructor pilot.
Julia Baschiera
Julia Baschiera is both a student and a teacher. She started teaching English as a second language in Costa Rica, which inspired her to go on and receive her yoga teacher training at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. She is currently a student at CIIS where she is receiving her Master’s degree in Integrative Health Studies.
After taking a Mindfulness Optimal & Well-Being course at the graduate level and independently participating in Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, Julia sought out incorporating mindfulness techniques into her life and sharing these tools with others. She is inspired to be a part of MissionBe’s team and is humbled to share the art and science of living in the moment with others!
Adam Factor
Adam Factor is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, College Park pursuing his PhD in Social/Organizational Psychology. He received his undergraduate degree in sociology and psychology from UC Berkeley and went on to research healthcare management with the Department of Veterans Affairs. At Maryland, Adam is pursuing research questions related to the psychology of motivation, radicalization, and extremism, having previously examined burnout and emotion management in the field of healthcare. Outside of the lab and classroom, he connects with the message of emotional wellbeing at Mission Be and puts his research skills to use strengthening its data-driven capacity to improve lives.
After taking a Mindfulness Optimal & Well-Being course at the graduate level and independently participating in Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, Julia sought out incorporating mindfulness techniques into her life and sharing these tools with others. She is inspired to be a part of MissionBe’s team and is humbled to share the art and science of living in the moment with others!
Elias Wygodny
Elias is on a mission to cultivate a sustainable world through compassionate living. Growing up in Chicagoland, Illinois, Elias began expressing through music, and sculpture. Elias is the Co-Founder of The Field Consulting & The Heartstrings Project. The organizations that Elias has co-founded and others that he gratefully supports are focused on providing the space and guidance to experience Transformational Techniques & Sustainable Well-Being; as well as raise awareness on mental health solutions within this overstimulated global society. A graduate of the University of Michigan: BFA in Musical Theatre.
He views his study of Musical Theatre as the study of Human Expression in ALL of it’s idiosyncrasies. Now, he is fascinated with unlocking human potential through science, creativity, play and compassion. Elias is grateful to be a part of the Mission Be community. It is an honor to experience how receptive children and teachers are to Mission Be’s beautiful and practical lessons. May many more children and teachers be exposed to these lessons.
Sabrina Scelza
Sabrina holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in I/O Psychology. After school she began working at a boutique learning and development firm, co-producing an online program in communication for business executives. Sabrina has worked closely with business executives in assisting them communicating emotional expression.
For the past two years, Sabrina has been doing outreach for Mission Be on Long Island, while training to become a mindfulness educator. She is excited to fulfill her passion in helping the youth of today be the best that they can be! She also continues to work in the holistic medicine field at a health and wellness center where she helps patients to bring awareness to the mind-body connection.