Mindful Educators

Carin Winter – CEO, Founder & President

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.

Sarah Cruse, Mission Be, Teacher of Teachers & Senior Mindful Educator

Sarah Cruse is a Certified Sound, Voice and Music Healer from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has worked as a Behavioral Therapist with the Los Angeles School District and as an Educational Specialist with the Foster Care department of Los Angeles Trade Tech College. She had the fortune of partnering with the Reverence Project in Watts CA, a non-profit organization that was modelled after the Truth and Reconciliation work of South Africa’s Apartheid. There, she served as a Truth and Restorative Justice Advocate, leading workshops and conversations around forgiveness and accessing our inherent gifts. Sarah has worked as a Curriculum Developer and Workshop Facilitator for the Transformational Art Therapy (TAT) Center in Santa Monica CA, and Currently as a Special Curriculum Educator for the Santa Cruz School District.

Sarah has over 10 years of experience as a Singer/Songwriter, Poet, Performing Artist and Public Speaker. She believes in the power of sound, voice and freedom of expression. It is her desire to participate in the discovery, awakening and sharing of the individual and communal gift. She is grateful for the opportunity to be a Mindful Educator for Mission Be as and to be able to share the gifts of Mindful Education.

Jessica Wood, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

Hi there! My name is Jess. I live in NY and recently retired from my career as a Corporate Brand Manager with Ralph Lauren. I have found a lot of success in the Digital Sales space, am a practicing Birth Doula, Professional Model as well as an International Yoga, Meditation & Sound Instructor. I am on the board for a handful of charity & female entrepreneur organizations as well as launched my own guided meditation podcast; The Meditation Collective.

I am super passionate about working with our youth and giving them tools needed to navigate their emotions and all that life has to throw at them as they grow up.

Outside of work, I’m really into traveling and outdoor adventures. This past summer I had the opportunity to visit Yosemite and climb Half Dome and it was a life changing experience. Time in nature is always invaluable and my hope is to instill its value and lessons in learning to pause in others.

Jaclyn Lawrence, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

Jaclyn was born and raised on Long Island before moving upstate NY for college. She graduated from St. Bonaventure University with a B.S. in Childhood and Special Education and an M.S.Ed. in Childhood Literacy. As a college student she volunteered her time to travel with fellow classmates during spring break to help a Mississippi community hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Upon graduating, she worked several years in a school for students with Autism before taking time off to grow her family. Throughout her academic career and presently, she enjoys taking yoga classes and finds the practice incredibly helpful to reflect, destress and focus on being present.

As a mom of two children, she has had the opportunity to volunteer in many of the activities her children are involved in, such as: her local PTA, class parent and the cookie mom for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Her weekends are spent on the sports fields with her husband cheering on their children while they play various sports and at church events within her community. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, crocheting and is very excited to embark on bringing mindfulness to young children.

J.Isaak Johnson, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

J.Isaak Johnson is a 24 year old multi-talented creative influencer. A versatile hip-hop artist, writer, and producer. He was raised in a musical household and showed promise in the arts at an early age, playing the drums in church then later learning the keyboard. His baptist roots influenced his overall sound.

Though J.Isaak’s talent’s are not limited to his musical abilities. J.Isaak has received training as an actor and received tutelage at Juilliard, The American Musical & Dramatic Academy, NYU Tisch Future Theatre Artist Program, The School Of Creative And Performing Arts, and The Affordable Masterclass Program.

His purpose in life is to use his gifts & talents to positively influence his generation. He is more than an “entertainer,” because of his ability to communicate truth through various creative art forms he is a “edutainer.”

Marnie Herlands, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

Received her Master’s degree in Art Therapy/Counseling and her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts/Photography. Marnie continued on to become an ATR-BC and licensed creative arts therapist in New York. She has continued to pursue her passion of aiding individuals in building adaptive coping skills utilizing the art process as a forum for healing and self-expression. Over the past three years, Marnie became drawn to and witnessed the benefits of yoga and a range of expressive modalities, as well as mindfulness meditation. She is inspired by both the practice and teaching yoga and hopes to spread the powerful benefits of mind-body practices to others.

Marnie has worked with many ages ranging from children and adolescents to senior adults and finds that people are all connected in their innate capacity to love and be loved, and in their desire to be seen and heard. Marnie is so excited to join the Mission Be team and to guide individuals in experiencing the benefits of mindfulness. Marnie has also facilitated individual art therapy sessions and groups for over five years. Most recently, she leads virtual community art classes and co-facilitates an art therapy/caregiver support groups for individuals living with memory impairment and their families.

Some of Marnie’s personal interests include photography, reading, yoga, art, traveling, her love for dogs and taking relaxing walks in nature. Marnie is motivated to live more mindfully in all aspects of her life, as she is beginning this new journey as a Mission Be, Mindful Educator.

Karen Tietjen Allen, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

Karen Tietjen Allen has studied mindfulness, meditation, and yoga for over 20 years. Prior to that, she worked as an attorney specializing in immigration law, and continues to volunteer in the field.

She received Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher Certification through the McLean Meditation Institute and Certification as an MMI Mindful Trainer to teach Mindfulness in the Workplace. She has also received Chopra Meditation Teacher Certification. Additionally, she is enrolled in a Master’s degree program in Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine.

For many years, she has dedicated herself to volunteering in the community with an emphasis on helping the homeless, the elderly, and families, including those with children facing critical illnesses. Raised in Chile and Mexico, she has a keen interest in helping Spanish-speaking populations.

Her intention is to offer mindfulness and meditation training so that others may experience the benefits of stress-reduction and increased well-being and live productive, positive, and peaceful lives.

Nayeli Maillefert Rovira, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

Nayeli Maillefert Rovira is a meditation and mindfulness teacher with more than 30 years of experience in these practices and currently lives in Morelia, Michoacán México.

Nayeli teaches mindfulness courses at the Marist University of Morelia, Mindfulness Workshops for companies in collaboration with Atempore, (business coaching company); Introductory workshops to meditation and mindfulness in different institutions and creator/instructor of online courses on the Udemy platform.

She began her studies and practice of meditation in 1989. Since 2002, she has delved deeply into the practice of mindful philosophy, psychology and meditation, attending more than 20 intensive meditation retreats. Throughout these years of practice, she decided to study neuroscience and psychology.

Nayeli has also taken courses at Leiden University, University of Virginia, Princeton University, University of California Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, University of Edinburgh UK, Wesleyan University, Duke University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Vanderbilt University, among others.

Jodi Cameron, Mission Be, Mindful Yoga Teacher

Jodi Cameron has been teaching mindfulness and yoga to children and adults since 2002, and has taken many trainings and workshops with numerous teachers to deepen her understanding over the last 20 years. Jodi has had a daily meditation practice of her own for many years and understands how powerful these tools can be in our daily lives and is passionate about sharing this gift with others, especially children.

Also a devoted mother of two, Jodi has had the opportunity to volunteer in her children’s schools as class mother, which allowed her to work closely with many children and teach yoga during gym to students, which she loved. Jodi has worked with many summer day camps teaching mindfulness and yoga to children and has been the special needs yoga teacher for Islip Septa since 2018.

Jodi’s 20 years of teaching has allowed her to see first hand the power of mindfulness and she is excited to share the practice with students. Jodi is dedicated to supporting children and helping them find their greatest potential through regulating emotions, non judgment and the power of the mind/body/spirit connection. Jodi believes deeply in Mission Be’s goals and is proud to be a member of the team!

Heidi MacAlpine, Mission Be, Mindful Educator

Heidi MacAlpine is a dynamic author, podcaster, and educator with 35 years of transformative experience as a pediatric occupational therapist, Certified Trauma and Yoga Practitioner, Certified Neurographica Coach, and holistic healthcare practitioner. Through her private practice, Align OT, PLLC, and Sensory Alignment Therapy@, she blends creativity and science to guide individuals on a unique journey of healing, self-discovery, and life-enhancing growth on an individual and group basis. Heidi uses sound, movement, and art to support , educate, and provide resources that promote the health and well-being of her clients and participants of all ages. She is the mental health advisor for LI Listen to Lead, part of the Brief Action Planning (BAP) network, and wellness provider for Mondays Cancer Care.

Heidi is proud to be a Mindful Educator at Mission Be and to work with the children and teens on Long Island and beyond.