Staff
Charity Hill
Executive Director Charity@YogaForYouth.org
Charity is an experiential brand-marketing specialist for organizations based in art, entertainment, and leisure. She has over a decade of experience repositioning brands, restructuring marketing departments, developing sales teams, and launching local businesses.
A Bachelor's degree in Business from the University of Southern California along with a background in the arts has afforded Charity an expansive skill-set including public speaking, event producing, media buying, brand marketing, sponsorship coordinating, and celebrity seeding.
Her executive management and non-profit board experience together with her passion for philanthropy and the arts keep her at the forefront of her industry niche. Published as a prominent person in the book Exploring America’s Highways, Charity has made an impact on her community through the arts, best known for her recurring role as Ginger on the television series Sister, Sister; but continues to make an impact with her philanthropic endeavors.
Lisa Wedgeworth
Program Director Lisa@YogaForYouth.org
Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, a native Angeleno, completed a 200 hr Level 1 Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training with Krishna Kaur in 2009. Lisa comes from a family of yoginis.Her mother introduced her to yoga when she was a child, and her grandmother practiced yoga and pilates until the age of 89. Lisa, a visual artist, has been passionate about working with youth since she was a young person herself. She has taught art to children at LACMA and adults at CAAM. She is currently pursuing her M.F.A. in Painting.
Liana Gannan
Development Coordinator Liana@YogaforYouth.org
Liana has a degree from the University of Oregon and is a Level 1 Hatha Yoga Instructor. She has extensive experience in Sports Public Relations, Entertainment Marketing, and Media Sales, her diverse background creates perfect synergy with Y.O.G.A. for Youth.
Keval Kaur Khalsa
Regional Coordinator (North Carolina) Keval@YogaForYouth.org
Keval Kaur Khalsa, North Carolina Regional Coordinator for Y.O.G.A. for Youth, is the Director of the Dance Program at Duke University, a certified Level II Kundalini Yoga instructor, and an Associate in the Aquarian Teacher Academy. Keval Kaur brought the first Y.O.G.A. for Youth Teacher Training course to North Carolina in 2007, and helped implement the first certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training course in North Carolina. She has been teaching Kundalini Yoga & Meditation in the Triangle area of North Carolina for the past 12 years. At Duke University, she developed and currently teaches a course entitled Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma. She has assisted with Kundalini Yoga Level I Teacher Training courses in Detroit, MI and North Carolina, and taught workshops at the international Summer and Winter Solstice Kundalini Yoga gatherings in New Mexico and Florida. A professional dancer and choreographer, Keval Kaur Khalsa has been Co-Artistic Director of 2 Near The Edge Dance Company for 18 years. She is the mother of a 23-year old son and lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Nancy Cole
Regional Coordinator (North Carolina) Nancy.Cole@sas.com
Nancy Cole has explored many styles of yoga and has been practicing kundalini yoga since 2005. She graduated from the first Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training course in North Carolina in 2009. She loves sharing this practice with others and currently teaches classes from her home. She is the assistant regional coordinator for Y.O.G.A. for Youth in North Carolina.
Erica Garcia
Regional Coordinator (New York) Erica@YogaForYouth.org
Erica Garcia was a dancer and gymnast as a child. Yoga was the natural next step for her. She has worked in the Financial industry and practiced Yoga for over 20 years. It has always been her ying-yang. She also has a passion for volunteerism both domestic and abroad. She found Yoga for youth in 2008 where she trained under Krishna Kaur at Kripalu. She has been teaching to adults and youth in the New York City area since 2009. Teaching for Yoga for youth fulfills many of her passions - Yoga practice, meditation, community outreach, and mentoring.
Camille Cuelar
Office Manager Camille@YogaForYouth.org
Camille has been working for Y.O.G.A. for Youth since its inception. She continues to dedicate herself to the Y.O.G.A. for Youth cause by managing human resources, accounting, and general operations.
Don Chao
Technology Manager Don@YogaForYouth.org
Don assists in all aspects of technology related matters, including web/graphic design, social media marketing, and film/video editing. He graudated the University of Maryland with BA in Human Services Psychology, trained under Krishna Kaur to become a Kundalini Yoga Teacher while pursuing a career in the arts.
Amy McGuire
Volunteer - Los Angeles
Amy earned a BA in Anthropology and has completed her 200 hr. yoga teacher training. She teaches yoga, fitness and hooping (hula) at a number of local studios and has worked with non-profit organizations for the past 5 years. Amy donates her time at the Los Angeles headquarters increasing donor support and supporting fund-raising initiatives. She believes that bringing the quiet space and sense of self that yoga affords to disadvantaged youth is a very powerful tool and she is thrilled to be a part of this journey.
Rahiel Alemu
Volunteer - North Carolina
Rahiel Alemu is a Duke University student, who took a theater based service learning class in her freshman year and was placed to volunteer with Y.O.G.A. for Youth North Carolina. She wears many hats including website development and graphic design. She looks forward to continuing her involvement throughout her college years.
Molly McKinley, RYT
Volunteer - North Carolina
Molly was drawn to yoga after her children were born as a way to manage daily stress and to strengthen her body. She found that yoga provided so much more for her life and wants to share her love of the practice and these benefits with others. A student of Dharma Richards, she incorporates a classic Hatha-Raja style of teaching including basic pranayama and guided meditation. Molly also holds a Yoga Alliance Children's Yoga Certification from the NC School of Yoga. A lover of the arts, Molly has developed Art & Yoga Workshops to help students tap into their inner creativity. Through dedicated practice and fine tuning, we can learn to truly love ourselves and see the Divine in all things.
Nina Marie Collins
Volunteer - North Carolina
Nina Marie Collins is an experienced yoga practitioner with a bright future in teaching. She has been a student of yoga since 2001, when she began her practice in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She continued to deepen her practice in Chapel Hill and Asheville, NC, and, in 2009, received a partial scholarship to train as a teacher under Kristine Kaoverii Weber (www.subtleyoga.com).
The Subtle Yoga Teacher Training and Personal Transformation Program is a 10-month, monthly program encompassing the depths of yoga history, philosophy, and epistemology, as well as the art-science of teaching yoga. The Subtle Yoga system is designed to be therapeutic and balancing. It helps to balance physical and mental energy levels while simultaneously providing the benefits of increased energy, flexibility and circulation. Weber often sites Vini Yoga and yoga therapy as inspirations for her Subtle Yoga program.
Since training as a teacher, Nina has taught all over the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, as well as in western North Carolina. She has taught a mixture of volunteer and donation classes, and regular classes at yoga and dance studios. She currently teaches at Balanced Movement Studios in downtown Carrboro, NC. Nina hopes to broaden and deepen her yoga practice, as well as her teaching experience, in 2012. She has extensive experience working with young children, in the capacity of camp and afterschool counselor, as well as nannying and babysitting. This experience, as well as her love of yoga, drew her to Yoga for Youth NC. As an active volunteer for Yoga for Youth NC, Nina hopes to train as an Yoga for Youth instructor to help meet the needs of the population served by Y4Y.
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