News and Updates at MBA 9 March 2007
Greetings MBA Friends and Supporters,
Thank you for your continued interest in the Mind Body Awareness Project. We are pleased to announce the addition of a steller new board member to the MBA family. Kim Watts, who joined the board officially on January 25th, 2007, is the Director of Finance for Catholic Charities CYO, where she manages an organizational budget in excess of $40 million. Kim will be lending her invaluable expertise to our Financial Oversight Committee. We would also like to welcome a new teacher, Minette Mangahas, to our teaching staff. Minette is a very accomplished meditator, has a strong background in movement, and is involved in a number of social justice initiatives in addition to being a remarkable artist. We are delighted to have her on our team.
In fundraising news, MBA has recently received foundation support from the Kalliopeia Foundation, as well as the Walter S. Johnson Foundation. We are delighted to be partnering with such excellent and well respected foundations to continue expanding our services to Bay Area youth.
In case you are not fully aware The Mind Body Awareness Project teaches essential life skills to at-risk youth through the practices of meditation and yoga. In juvenile halls, high schools, and group homes, we meet teenagers whose habitual behaviors are leading them down a road of substance abuse, crime and violence. Unfortunately, they are not being given any tools they can use to stop this momentum. The MBA project was founded with the mission to arm these youth with a skill they area not learning anywhere else. We are currently teaching over 44 classes per month in the juvenile justice system and we hope to double in the next 2 years. We see the impact we make on the lives of the most fragile and at risk youth in our society.
Thank you for your interest,
Gabriel Kram
Executive Director, The MBA Project
