2016 Teaching for Diversity Grant Recipients

Rebecca Alexander
Syracuse, New York
Rebecca will deliver 12 yoga classes for children and special-needs adolescents through the Children’s After-School Mentoring Program (CHAMP) at Southwest Community Center, serving economically disadvantaged families in Syracuse, New York.

Ony Antonucci
Hadley, New York
Ony will deliver 32 yoga classes for students with learning and developmental disabilities at Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts and Transitions in Gloversville, New York. These students, ages 17 to 27, are offered art and wellness activities as tools to cope with anxiety and social challenges.

Maddy Bottari Eaton
Newmarket, New Hampshire
Maddy will deliver 12 yoga classes at Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Newmarket, New Hampshire. This peer-led community resource provides healing and growth opportunities for a diverse population struggling with drug and alcohol addictions.

Susan Cronin
Westfield, Massachusetts
Susan will deliver 24 yoga classes through National Federation of the Blind in Springfield, Massachusetts. Susan’s intention is to make yoga accessible to blind and partially sighted individuals who have faced challenges with traditional yoga instruction.

Michelle Davis
Jaffrey, New Hampshire
Michelle will deliver 24 yoga classes to seventh, eighth, and ninth graders at Green Mountain High School in rural Chester, Vermont.

Colleen Dolce
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Colleen will deliver 20 yoga classes at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This First Nation school serves indigenous youth, many who have experienced abuse and racial discrimination. Colleen’s intention is to introduce yoga as a tool to deal with anxiety, stress, trauma and poor self-esteem.

Sarah Dwyer
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Sarah will deliver 14 classes to at-risk girls, ages 10 to14, through the YWCA Girls Exclusive summer and after-school program in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Ninety-eight percent of participants come from low-income families, and many have been referred by Child and Family services.

Jesse Everett
Mission, South Dakota
Jesse will deliver 40 yoga classes at the Rosebud Boys and Girls Club on the Rosebud Reservation in Mission, South Dakota. The population of elementary and middle school students almost exclusively identifies as Lakota and has experienced or witnessed incidences of poverty, homelessness, addiction and suicide.

Tracy Foster
West Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Tracy will deliver 24 yoga classes to students at Williamstown Elementary School in Williamstown, Massachusetts, as well as Nessacus Regional Middle School, a Title I school in Dalton, Massachusetts.

Cynthia Gamarra
Derwood, Maryland
Cynthia will deliver 16 yoga classes to Latino youth at Identity, Inc., a community-based not-for-profit organization that offers services to Latino youth and their families in Montgomery County, Maryland. Many of the participants are immigrants who have experienced trauma through violence and gang activity in their home countries.

Kathaleen Giurtino
Chester, Vermont
Kathaleen will deliver 30 yoga classes at the Senior Citizens Center in Springfield, Vermont. As a senior who has experienced the benefits of yoga, Kathaleen is committed to making yoga accessible to other seniors, regardless of financial or physical challenges.

Joan Hawley McClain
Guerneville, California
Joan will deliver 10 yoga classes to residents of Fife Creek Commons, a subsidized housing complex in Guerneville, California. Sixty percent of residents earn below 50 percent of the median average income, and many individuals have special needs related to mental illness, homelessness, and HIV.

Susan Hildebrand
Chicago, Illinois
Susan will deliver 40 yoga classes to LGBTQ seniors at Center on Halstead in Chicago, Illinois. This population is more likely to face economic insecurity due to employment discrimination, and experience depression and other physical and mental health issues.

Beth Jones
Hallowell, ME
Beth will deliver 10 yoga classes to female veterans/participants at the Veterans Administration in Hallowell, Maine. The students participate in the Military Sexual Assault Program and are currently receiving mental-health treatment for issues related to sexual assault during active duty service.

Lucie Kasova
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lucie will deliver 20 yoga classes to parents and caregivers of children with special needs through the Federation for Children with Special Needs in Boston, Massachusetts. Most participants are economically disadvantaged and will benefit from the program by learning self-care techniques to support themselves and those they work with.

Susan Landry
New Orleans, Lousiana
Susan will deliver 32 yoga classes to the New Orleans community through the Recirculating Farms Coalition at the Growing NOLA Community Garden. This neighborhood is 72 percent African American and 20 percent have less than a high school degree, with many living below the poverty line.

Michael Pulitzer
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Michael will deliver 20 yoga classes at Phoenix House Community Corrections Program in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The students are in the criminal justice system, on probation or parole, and receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

Roshni Rama
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Roshni will deliver 120 yoga classes to approximately 200 Pre-K through fourth-grade students at Muddy Brook Elementary School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Daria Ricchi
New Haven, Connecticut
Daria will deliver 40 classes to teenage girls through New Haven Free Public Libraries in New Haven, Connecticut. The program will benefit at-risk youth in a diverse and economically disadvantaged community.

Lucia Russett
New York, New York
Lucia will deliver 21 yoga classes to at-risk Latina girls and their parents at LSA Family Health Service in East Harlem, New York. The program will be offered as part of LSA’s mentoring program and will provide tools for managing the stress that participants experience as members of low-income immigrant families.

Briana Schiavoni
Gainesville, Florida
Briana’s grant helped her buy props for the yoga classes she teaches to parents and caregivers of children with learning disabilities and mental-health conditions, offered through Mindcrafters, LLC, a scholastic mentorship program in Gainesville, Florida. The program will benefit individuals who have limited access to yoga due to time and financial constraints.

Monique Schubert
Brooklyn, New York
Monique will deliver 30 classes to teenage girls at Gotham Professional Arts Academy in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The program will be offered as part of the social work department’s “Girls Group,” which offers opportunities for young girls, many who are experiencing stress, to engage in positive dialogue and learn self-care techniques and life skills.

DD Swan
Portland, Maine
DD will deliver 28 yoga classes to female refugees at through Maine Access Immigration Network in Portland, Maine, serving a socially and economically disadvantaged population. DD’s class serves as a space for the women to learn together as a community and develop skills for managing stress through deep relaxation.

Lorraine Tinger
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Lorraine will deliver 20 yoga classes at Phoenix House Community Corrections Program in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The students are in the criminal justice system, on probation or parole, and receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

Connie Wilson
Monterey, Massachusetts   
Connie will deliver 10 yoga classes at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, serving low-income community members who come to the center for free lunch and legal assistance.