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.