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.

Born & raised in Chicago, IL, Jessica moved to Arizona to study Elementary Education at ASU. After teaching 1st & 5th grade, she decided to stay home with her young children. She later earned her Yoga Teacher Credentials and co-created Rooted Community Yoga Project, to provide affordable access to yoga and give back to local nonprofits. 

Mindfulness has helped Jessica navigate through many difficult times in her personal life. Combining all of her training to serve as a mindfulness instructor, she is deeply passionate about our mission.

She loves to be outdoors in nature with her husband and four kids, to travel, to learn, to read, and to thrift store/garage sale shop!xt goes here

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.

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. 

Stephanie is an experienced educator with a master’s degree in education and 13 years of classroom experience teaching middle school. As a certified yoga teacher and leader of after school and summer yoga programs in local public schools, she has seen first-hand how the practice of mindfulness is beneficial to students of all ages. She loves supporting and encouraging students to discover their passions and become their best selves. Stephanie currently works for Arizona State University and holds a mindfulness leadership certificate from the ASU Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience. Stephanie has been eager to work for Mindfulness First since she first heard about it back in 2013.

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.

Ulises was bgrn in Mexlicali, Baja California, Mexico and grew up at the border of the Yuma County (San Luis, Arizona/San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico). After high school, he decided to move to the Phoenix area in order to study Art Education. He became an Art Teacher and taught Art for 3 years. In 2022, he obtained a Certificate of Excellence from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (Tempe, Arizona) as a Health & Wellness Coach.

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. 

Before becoming a Mindfulness instructor, Jen spent nine years as an elementary teacher. During this time, she found herself experiencing anxiety and stress and soon found that other teachers and students were experiencing the same. After falling into a yoga class that changed her way of being, she was led to create after-school yoga programs. She discovered her heart’s work after becoming a yoga teacher and spending hours volunteering. In 2018, she founded Moonstone Yoga and has had the opportunity to implement the RISE and Shine Yoga curriculum across schools in the valley. Jen was led to Mindfulness First after reading that the founder had a similar intention for the community, to help create the missing piece in a school setting. 

Bio coming soon

Julian is a 30 year retired Combat Navy Veteran. His highest award achieved on active duty was the Bronze Star for Heroism. He is the Director of the Prison Yoga Project Phoenix and works with Ignite Yoga Studios in developing Kids Yoga Teacher Training. Julian is a Registered Yoga Teacher (eRYT-200, RYT-500) and has completed the 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. He is the author of Freedom from Within: A Prison Karma Yoga Experience: Teaching Yoga to Incarcerated Veterans and Juveniles in Phoenix, Arizona.

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.

Victoria is a Talent Advisor and Executive Search Professional. Victoria enjoys volunteering and fundraising and has a personal passion for mental health wellbeing. Victoria completed her bachelor’s and master’s program in sociology while working her way up in retail management. After starting a family, she transitioned into Technical Staffing, gaining invaluable experience at some well-established firms, and then taking a leap of faith into the world of startups. Victoria is proud to have been able to help build a business from the ground up, that was recently named an Inc 500 fastest growing company before transitioning to Executive Recruiting and Startup Advisory.

After completing her BA in Psychology, Stephanie began working at a treatment center for eating disorders. There she held many different roles varying between clinical, administrative and leadership. She received training in Motivational Interviewing, Embodied Recovery, and Antiracism and became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS). Now she works for a startup non-profit organization specializing in mental health and DEI-JB education and training. She is currently still teaching yoga part time and is pursuing her MA in Educational Psychology, and is a Case Manager, supporting patients with mental illness.

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.