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Meet Our Team
We are led by passionate individuals who inspire, educate and connect through mindfulness.
Our experience is trusted by a variety of community partners in Lehigh County and Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Learn more about our dedicated staff.
KIM HOPKINS
Executive Director
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Kim has held senior leadership positions in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, specializing in strategic planning, fundraising, partnership development, and marketing. Prior to joining Shanthi Project, Kim served as the Vice President of Strategic Business Development at Sony Music Entertainment and, most recently, as the first ever Executive Director of the Wilson Area Partners in Education Foundation.
In 2010, Kim began an energy work, mindfulness, and yoga practice, which she credits with helping her navigate significant personal adversities. Kim holds a B.A. in both Journalism & the Mass Media and Political Science from Rutgers University and a Usui Reiki Master certification from the Greenshire Institute for Holistic Studies. When not working, Kim enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering in the community. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Easton Area Chamber of Commerce.
SARAH DENNEHY, M.Ed, RYT
Senior Director of Programs
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Sarah is a Licensed Behavior Specialist with a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Lehigh University and a certified mindfulness and yoga teacher for children and adults. Sarah oversees our community programs, including Calm, Kind + Focused Classrooms offered in 230 K-12 public school classrooms, and Trauma-Informed Mindfulness and Yoga taught inside Northampton County Juvenile Justice System. Sarah has nearly 20 years of experience in the autism field, and has been a Behavior Specialist Consultant for the last ten years. She holds certifications from Mindful Schools in Mindfulness Fundamentals and Mindful Educator Essentials, and is certified in Trauma-Informed Mindfulness and Yoga.
MAISON ALLEN
Development Coordinator
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Maison joined Shanthi Project in 2024 to help serve her community while working to complete her Masters of Art Education at Kutztown University. She arrived at Shanthi with years of experience working in the nonprofit and public sectors in the Lehigh Valley, with a focus on development and grant writing. Since graduating with her Bachelor's in 2019, she has fundraised millions of dollars for the community and emphasized the importance of equitable and socially-conscious fundraising.
LAUREN DRABENSTOTT
Marketing Consultant
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Lauren grew up in the Lehigh Valley and began working with Shanthi Project at the start of 2022. Since graduating from New York University in 2020, her roles in communications and marketing have largely centered around agriculture and the environment, but her interest in mindfulness aligns with longtime passions for farming, the outdoors, and intentional living. Lauren works on Shanthi Project’s digital marketing, including social media, email newsletters, and website development. She is currently living in Dublin, Ireland, where has recently finished her master’s in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development.
JOCELYN HONTZ
Mindfulness Instructor and Workplace Trainer
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Jocelyn graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social work from Bloomsburg University. In her 30-year career at the Lehigh County Office of Children and Youth Services, she strived to make an impact in the lives of the children and families she worked with. Jocelyn joined Shanthi Project in 2021. A longtime practitioner of yoga and mindfulness, she wants to share the benefits and delights she experiences with others. Jocelyn is a certified Mindful Schools instructor and is currently taking the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at Lehigh Valley Health Network. She enjoys spending time with her family and exploring nature.
SALLY KRAFT
School-Based Instructor
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Sally joined Shanthi Project in early 2021. She is a certified Mindful Schools’ ‘Mindfulness Foundations’ and ‘Mindfulness in the Classroom’ instructor. She has completed the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction intensive, as well as trainings in trauma-informed approaches and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Prior to working with Shanthi Project, Sally worked as an Elementary School Counselor and a Wraparound Case Manager, creating and leading teams of students, families, and community members to support at-risk students. She received a Masters of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College and shortly afterwards became a Licensed Social Worker and Certified Elementary School Counselor and Home and School Visitor in Pennsylvania.
DANIEL MASSARO, MPH
Research & Development Coordinator
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Daniel earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and neuroscience at Temple University, where he worked with at-risk youth in Dr. Steinberg’s Juvenile Justice Lab. Since graduating, he has served as the Subcommittee Chair of State Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s Pennsylvania Reentry Council—to advocate for individuals returning to their community after incarceration—and as Safe Harbor Easton’s Program Coordinator. After spending years working on the front lines with many dual-diagnosis substance use disorder and mental health clients, he began to see that underlying untreated trauma was at the root of many people’s suffering. This spurred him to earn his master’s in public health at East Stroudsburg University. During his graduate studies, he conducted an independent research investigation into how Shanthi Project’s trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness programming affected currently incarcerated individuals with PTSD.
JOELLEN MILLSPAUGH, M.Ed
School-Based Instructor
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JoEllen began her mindfulness practice in 2013, when she took ‘Mindful Based Stress Reduction’ through Lehigh Valley Health Network. Since then, she has attended Mindfulness in Education courses in New York and completed her Mindful Schools certification in ‘Mindful Foundations' and ‘Mindfulness in the Classroom’ in 2022, the same year she joined Shanthi Project. JoEllen is a retired public school educator, having taught second, third, and fifth grades in elementary school, as well as sixth grade in middle school, where she spent most of her teaching career. She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and enjoys dancing and practicing karate.
SUSAN MORELOCK
Manager of Community Programs and Engagement
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Susan is an educator, artist, and yogi. She joins Shanthi Project with more than a decade of teaching experience, curriculum planning, and creative leadership in higher education. A practicing artist, she holds an MFA from Columbia University, an MA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology. She also holds certifications from Mindful Schools in Mindfulness Foundations and Mindfulness in the Classroom, and she completed her 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training at the Yoga Loft of Bethlehem in 2022.
KELLY PRENTICE
Mindfulness Instructor & Workplace Trainer
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Kelly Prentice holds a BA in Communications, 300+ hours of yoga teacher training, and a mindfulness teaching certificate from Mindful Schools. She is a mother of two young boys, a writer/content strategist at the Omega Institute, and a yoga and mindfulness instructor. She has a passion for dance, movement, nature, and bringing the tools of mindfulness into workplaces, where she helps employees thrive. Kelly maintains her own daily mindfulness and yoga practice and studies ancient texts. She's part of the inaugural 2021 class of the Inner MBA, a certificate program launched by Sounds True, NYU, LinkedIn, and Wisdom 2.0.
SARA TIMOFEEV
Yoga & Mindfulness Instructor
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Over the past thirteen years working with Shanthi Project, Sara has taught countless mindfulness and yoga sessions at the Northampton County Juvenile Justice Center, Women's Prison, and Boys and Girls Club. She has been a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor since 2010.
ANNIE SERFASS
Mindfulness Instructor & Workplace Trainer
Annie began working with Shanthi Project back in 2012, the same year she began her practice of mediation and mindfulness. In 2021, she stepped into her current role. For 25 years, Annie worked in public schools as a speech/language therapist for grades K-12, including serving students with special needs. She has a thorough knowledge of social-emotional learning. Annie is a certified Mindful Schools’ ‘Mindfulness Foundations’ and ‘Mindfulness in the Classroom’ Instructor. She has completed trainings in Compassion Resilience; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and trauma-informed approaches. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher(RYT)-500 hour and a Registered Children’s Yoga teacher(RCYT)-95 hour, with extensive training in trauma-informed yoga, restorative yoga, and yoga for special needs children.
Not pictured: Dona Jones, Yoga & Mindfulness Instructor
Meet Our Board
Our Board is an important part of our organization, comprised of knowledgeable and compassionate leaders who make valuable contributions of their time and talents to enhance our mission.
Board of Directors:
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Tiffany Noll Yurasits, PHR, SHRM-CP, Executive Relationship Management, UKG - President
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Dave Erickson, Account Executive, BSI Corporate Benefits - Vice President
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Richard Buttillo, Senior Accountant, Buckno Lisicky & Company - Treasurer
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Shonda Moralis, MSW, LCSW, Owner, Mindful Empowerment Coaching and Psychotherapy - Secretary
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Debi Rice, Owner of Fun-Nominal Events & Marketing
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Trish Schafer, IT Consultant
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Victoria Alercia, Licensed Professional Counselor
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Denise Veres, Shanthi Project Founder, Board Member Emerita
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