Sunny co-created Mindfulness First after experiencing a stress-related breakdown and illnesses from which she used mindfulness to recover and completely transform her life. Sunny has a Bachelors of Science (Honors) in Communications and Media Studies, 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, AZ ACE’s Consortium Training, and Mindful Schools Fundamentals/Curriculum Training, with a prior career in PR and marketing. She is passionate about nurturing critical thinking in others and creating equitable and collaborative work environments; all by-products of mindful living. Sunny is married with 2 teenage children.

Kimberly co-founded Mindfulness First and has helped manage the organization since its inception. Kimberly attended the CA College of Arts and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at ASU. Kimberly is trained by the AZ ACEs Consortium in ACEs education.

Kimberly is experienced and adept at organization and management and supports all of the departments at Mindfulness First. She lives in Cave Creek, AZ with her family.

Zenia came to know Mindfulness First through the volunteer Ambassador Program. After coming to terms her own mental health challenges in her early adult life, Zenia discovered mindfulness which helped teach her how to better manage her mind and emotions. In thinking about how life changing it would have been to learn these skills at an early age, she realized this work was her calling.

With 10+ years of marketing & advertising account management experience, Zenia has a natural ability to efficiently and effectively manage several projects at once. She enjoys creating systems and processes to help organizations operate smoothly and easily so they can focus on doing what they do best.

As a first-generation South Indian American, Zenia has developed a great appreciation for travel and experiencing other cultures - especially through food! While living in New York City for seven years, she kept a food diary map of every place she tried (the list topped out at 986 if you’re wondering)! Zenia currently lives in San Diego, CA with her husband who she met while on a college study abroad program in Rome, Italy.

Cayla works to integrate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into our Mindfulness Based Social and Emotional Learning approach. Cayla has written, taught, and created recorded both DEI curriculum and MBSEL.

A graduate of Northwest Missouri State University (NWMSU), she holds a BA in Human Services and a minor in Psychology. After battling with her own mental health struggles, she founded a mental health awareness organization at NWMSU in 2019, and led as their president helping advocate for increased mental health resources throughout the campus and community. Cayla further amplified student voices for institutional changes in support of NWMSU's minority populations, while working closely with the Diversity and Inclusion office at NWMSU as the Multicultural Representative.

Cayla believes that building communities where mindfulness is a daily practice will have a direct impact on our ability to foster more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments. Since being introduced to the concept of mindfulness, she has seen how it has grown her own empathy and understanding of herself and others. She hopes to continue helping more people recognize the importance of mindfulness in connection with DEI to help improve their own lives and communities too.

Patti has worked in the nonprofit sector for nearly three decades with a focus on philanthropy for the last 20 years. As a philanthropy professional, she most recently served at Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona and has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii, Assets School, Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network, Shriner’s Hospital – Honolulu, and Easterseals Hawaii. Her role at Mindfulness First allows her to blend her expertise in fundraising and community engagement with her passion for personal development. As a certified life coach/wellness counselor and a holistic energy healer for over two decades, Patti strongly believes that a mindfulness practice is one of the greatest gifts and most empowering tools we could share with our youth, as it will serve them well for entire lifetime.

Madicyn was born and raised in Arizona and graduated from Nothern Arizona University in 2016 with a bachelor’s in elementary education. She went on to teach third and fourth grade general education for several years. Madicyn developed a consistent mindfulness practice in 2020 after constantly finding herself overwhelmed with stress. This is where she found her passion for sharing mindfulness with students and teachers. Most recently, she spent some time in education administration for an EdTech company where she worked to coordinate tier 3 interventions and helped to create and streamlined Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) process for students.

Vee is a multi-passionate mama and wife raised in Los Angeles, CA, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in human and child development at Cal State Long Beach. She then became an elementary teacher, where she witnessed many students experience struggles as well as experiencing personal burnout from stress. Ultimately, Vee decided to leave teaching to help find a solution better to serve the overall needs of students and educators. She discovered mindfulness after years of struggling with anxiety, depression, and a battle with cancer. She came across Mindfulness First shortly after starting her mindfulness coaching business and knew it was exactly what she had been looking for. It brings Vee so much joy to be part of our community.

Andrea is a certified mindfulness teacher, having completed a two-year, intensive training program in partnership with the MMTCP and The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. With 25 years of experience as an educator, she has taught a wide range of subjects to elementary, middle, and high school students. Her passion for emotional intelligence led her to serve as the Dean of Social-Emotional Learning and the DEIB Coordinator at an elementary school that supported students and families from kindergarten through 8th grade.

Additionally, Andrea designed photography workshops for high school students, where they learned the craft of photography while exploring the diverse cultural landscape of Los Angeles in a non-traditional classroom setting.

Andra’s passion for teaching can be seen across the span of her career. As a K-8 classroom educator for over 16 years, she loves connecting with kids and helping bring out the best in them. What she enjoys the most about teaching mindfulness, is helping others navigate through life with more resiliency by learning self-awareness of how their minds work and self-regulation of their emotions.

With a Masters in Education, she continues to deepen her education by pursuing a certificate in Social Emotional Learning and Character Development at Rutgers University.

As part of her ongoing efforts to support wellbeing, Andra has also worked throughout communities as a certified yoga instructor, including teaching yoga to children in after school clubs.

If she could describe her job in three words it would be critical, amazing, and rewarding. She enjoys going to shows, concerts, anything live and artsy, hiking, yoga, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

I was born and raised in Columbus, Ga and I enlisted in the unites States Air-Force where I served four years on active duty at Luke-AFB, AZ. After my service I became a certified trauma informed yoga instructor at SWIHA in Tempe, AZ. Since then I have taught over 10,000 hours of yoga at free and donation based community events as well as private events. I am currently a Psychology and Anthropology student at Paradise Valley Community College, and an inbound ASU West student. My greatest joy is being a mother to my son Jrue, who is the light of my life.

After receiving her bachelor’s in marketing and starting a business career, Jen realized she wanted to make more of an impact. So, she got her master’s in special education and worked in elementary schools. Her priority at that time was being a mother and supporting her children. Eventually, after having her 2nd child, she learned more about mindfulness and yoga and soon realized the benefit of living in the present moment. After ultimately training in yoga and mindfulness, she wanted to continue to help children be more aware of their minds and body, which led her to Mindfulness First. 

Eric has had his own meditation practice for over 15 years. Mindfulness and meditation have transformed his life and he is passionate about bringing this tool to the community. He is excited to work with Mindfulness First because it has given him the opportunity to change a life and to teach life altering skills to his community is a dream come true. Eric heard about Mindfulness first through a friend and now colleague and was led to become an instructor through our own Teaching Mindfulness 1 course.

Debbie had the honor of teaching children from preschool to third grade for 19 years. During that time, she facilitated many staff development sessions on Thinking Maps, Write from the Beginning, Mindful Communication, and more. She also implemented a mindfulness program at their campus that included a mindfulness room for students. Debbie founded Myndfulness Matters, which supports mindfulness coaching for all ages. She hopes that by sharing the practice of mindfulness, she can help people of all ages with the power of loving and honoring themselves so they can indeed be in a space of service for others. 

Jocelyn has worked as a teacher for 15 years (art, special education, and PBIS). She has also been a teaching artist for ArtAbility Arizona (social emotional learning, creative arts therapy and mindfulness) for individuals with and without disabilities. She is a parent of an adult with autism and has worked and I have worked with a lot of individuals with autism and other disabilities. After a year and a half of fully remote school due to COVID-19, she felt really inspired to learn more and delve deeply into teaching mindfulness and social emotional learning.

Claire is first and foremost a mother and wife, but she is also a certified teacher, registered yoga instructor, and mindfulness practitioner.  She earned her Masters degree in Education at Arizona State University with an emphasis on early childhood and taught in the public schools for 15 years before choosing to stay home with her young children. 

As a teacher, not only did she feel constantly stressed and mentally exhausted, she knew her students felt the same way.  Since being at home, Claire has found balance and peace in her life through yoga and meditation. 

She is now ready to take the mindfulness practices she has learned and share them with students and teachers in hopes they gain the tools needed to navigate through their day-to-day challenges. 

Michelle is a first-generation American and Southern California native. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in music education. Having over 20 years of experience as a piano and music teacher as well as spending 10+ years working in the health and wellness space, she has a well-rounded background. Michelle is also an Integrative Nutrition coach, a trained Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness teacher, and a Mindful Schools Educator. She teaches mindfulness in the classroom, facilitates meditation groups and mindfulness classes for local parents and teachers, and collaborates with Dr. Joel Warsh at the Interactive Pediatric Clinic and Medicine in Studio City. Her passion is to help others live healthier lives. 

Beth holds an MBA with 25+ years Account & Project Management, Program Implementation Global Travel Loyalty Programs, IT Industry and Hospitality Business Operations, Sales and Marketing International Background of North American, European & Asian Markets. Beth is a well-rounded account and project management professional with a consistent, proven track record of client satisfaction, developing, planning, and executing profitable multimillion-dollar revenue streams. Solid in relationship building, requirements gathering and team player with excellent organizational effective interpersonal communication skills. Beth is currently Senior Manager, International Partner Relationships at Points International.

Alisa is a Lawyer at Tiffany and Bosco who help families in transition due to death or incapacity. She practices primarily in the area of contested or complicated estate, trust, guardianship and conservatorship matters. She also serves as a mediator, settlement conference judge, neutral, guardian ad litem. Her clients are individuals, small businesses, fiduciaries, large corporations, and governmental entities. She also consults with civil attorneys whose clients die or become incapacitated during their matter, and will serve as an expert witness on certain topics. Alisa is also a yoga teacher and has taught mindfulness education for lawyers.

Tony is an experienced Executive with a demonstrated history of transformation in the financial services industry and has 5+ years of community services experience, wellness ambassador and yoga teacher. Strong professional skilled in Business Planning, IT Strategy, Project Portfolio Management, Payments, and Business Intelligence. For 5-7 years Tony was Board Chair for the Diabetes Association in Phoenix. Tony has recently transitioned from working at General Motors as Chief Data Analyst where he was also a GM Disability Executive Champion, GMAAN Mentor, & Wellness Coach, to Head of Data and Analytics at Amerant Bank. Tony can often be found giving his time not just on the Board but also to serve as a volunteer Instructor at Mindfulness First corporate trainings.

Emily is the Deputy General Council for Arizona Department of Child Safety and has a career dedicated to protecting all vulnerable populations through compassionate advocacy and educational tools. Emily hopes to use her legal knowledge and skills to create a more peaceful and just world for all.

Solutions-minded, curious, and inspired curriculum developer. I'm driven by a genuine interest in people, projects, and progress. I am extremely motivated to learn, improve processes, and plan.

Currently, Madeline design and develop compliance instruction to support mental health professionals in their employment and specific counseling skills. When she's not designing or facilitating trainings, she can be found working behind the scenes to author, edit, and publish essential agency content in our SharePoint site manual.

Formerly, Madeline taught English Language Arts at a high school for five years, including through the pandemic. Her proudest accomplishments while doing so (aside from leading and supporting her community of learners) were re-writing the district curriculum plan for multiple courses and modernizing the assessments and content therein. She loved adapting materials to meet learners' needs, a skill she continues to practice in my role at BJCBH.