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Our Team

We aim to embody the benefits of a well-balanced mind and are dedicated to helping individuals and organizations sustain peak professional performance with ease, kindness and compassion. Our teachers have rich and diverse backgrounds that include coaching senior executives at Fortune 100 companies, working in the world’s top neuroscience labs and holding prominent executive positions in leading companies.

Our staff, board and teachers all share a personal commitment to practice what we teach.

Board of Directors
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Carolina Lasso

Carolina Lasso is the author of the Amazon #1 bestseller, The Path to Flourishing: Seven Principles for a Joyful, Fulfilling, and Purposeful Life, and the founder of the personal development platform, Plenari. Passionate about creating practical tools to help people flourish, Carolina combines her business background with her dedication to personal development as a teacher, marketer, coach, and consultant. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Maryland and an MBA from New York University. She has worked as a marketing leader at SIY Global, the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, Google, American Express, and Telemundo/ZGS. Carolina is a certified emotional intelligence, mindfulness facilitator, and Life Purpose Coach. 
Caro Hart

Caro Hart

Chair of the Board
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Chelsa Bocci

As a certified Transformational Practitioner who is deeply passionate about being in service to others, Chelsa leverages a unique combination of transformative principles, practices and powerful coaching to support people through career and life transitions. Currently serving as a Personal Development Coach with both 1-1 and group offerings, she draws on a variety of tools and methodologies tailored to a clients’ specific needs, utilizing her experience in human design, mindset and somatic work, nervous system regulation, emotional healing, subconscious reprogramming and behavior change. 


Prior to Coaching, Chelsa co-founded the international non-profit, Kiva.org, in 2005. In her time with the organization, she developed Kiva's Global Microfinance Partnerships program, focused primarily on overseeing operations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She then oversaw the development of Inventory Management (content management by 500+ volunteers), Kiva's expansive Fellows Program (think mini-Peace Corps in 50+ countries), and Kiva's Marketing and Community teams. Developing strategy for brand management and online marketing, she led the organization through a full site redesign and rebrand, including introducing a new mission, vision and core values. Chelsa also served as Head of People with a focus on Talent Programs and Employee Engagement, where she built culture internally, across Kiva's expansive global ecosystem of staff, interns, fellows and volunteers. Prior to Kiva, Chelsa was a Corporate Recruiter and Immigration Specialist with Barclays Global Investors. 
Ellie-Tumbuan

Ellie Tumbuan

Officer, Organizational Strategy
An organizational strategy and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) specialist with a 20-year career in management consulting, leadership and program development, communications, and open data and civic technology.
Lindsey Kugel

Lindsey Kugel

Executive Director, SIYLI
​Lindsey has held founding roles in several mission-driven startups and nonprofits.
Michelle Maldonado

Michelle Maldonado

Former tech attorney, leadership development consultant/coach/trainer, mindfulness teacher and practitioner with more than 40 years of personal contemplative practice. State legislator and social change activist.
Advisory Board
Tim Ream

Tim Ream

Environmental Activist and Mindfulness Champion
Tim Ream is a long-time Earth activist and Zen practitioner and teacher.
Jenée Johnson

Jenée Johnson

Mindfulness, Public Health and Racial Healing Innovator.
Science Advisory Board
We are delighted to announce that we are working with a science advisory board in order to maintain rigorous scientific integrity in SIYLI programming. We are grateful to our partners, including the Jha Lab at University of Miami, for their input and expertise.
Dr. Ekaterina Denkova

Dr. Ekaterina Denkova

Dr. Ekaterina Denkova
Dr. Denkova serves as the Assistant Director of the Neuroimaging Facility and Assistant Director of Research for the UMindfulness Initiative.
Amishi Jha

Amishi Jha

Professor of Psychology

We are proud to showcase a team of talented individuals who have completed our yearlong teacher training program and are certified to teach the SIY program.

Find an SIY Certified Teacher near you
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Lindsey Kugel

Lindsey Kugel

Executive Director
​Lindsey has held founding roles in several mission-driven startups and nonprofits.
Auri Whitaker

Auri Whitaker

Manager of Marketing, Voice & Culture
Auri has worked in the public sector and non-profit world for 11 years.
Cherry Mangat

Cherry Mangat

Senior Program Manager
Cherry has depth of experience in both private and mission-driven B2B and B2C organizations.
Chade-Meng Tan

Chade-Meng Tan

Bestselling author and philanthropist.
Marc Lesser

Marc Lesser

Author, speaker, facilitator, executive coach and Zen teacher
Philippe Goldin

Philippe Goldin

Professor of Neuroscience, researcher in cognitive-affective and contemplative neuroscience, health psychology and behavioral science.