Core TEAM

As one of Inner Explorer’s Co-Founders, Laura discovered the benefits of mindful awareness more than 20 years ago when she was trying to manage the stress of travel and long workdays. While working at GE, Laura had the insight to share her mindful awareness practice with hundreds of fellow employees. Upon seeing the many positive results the daily practice had on performance, creativity, and wellbeing, she realized it would be the perfect fit for education. The practices can help children navigate the ups and downs of life with resilience, alleviating stress and anxiety, and can help them focus, allowing them to be ‘ready to learn’. -- all with compassion, openness, and love. She can hardly wait for the first generation of kids going through this program to reach adulthood! Laura received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College and a Doctoral Degree in Psychology from Sofia University. She was trained as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts. When not working, Laura loves to spend time with family and friends, especially with her husband Rick and son Will. She loves being outside, which is much easier now that she moved from Illinois to Florida, going for a bike ride, running with her dogs Scout and Bella, kayaking, or playing tennis.

Janice came to know mindful awareness through her lifelong (since age 6) friend, Laura Bakosh. Having started a mindful practice as an adult, she thought “If I had only had this when I was younger”! With the benefits of her individual practice and her lifelong friend beside her, she began the journey to bring peace to the world, starting with children. Through these practices, she has seen children transform, from anxious to calm, from angry to peaceful, from struggling to aspiring. She knows they are on the right path. Janice has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Northeastern University and has a Master‘s Degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts- Boston. She been trained in MBSR and has been teaching mindful awareness practices to adults and children since 2009. She is a lifelong Bay State resident and likes to travel with her family. She feels that seeking out new places and knowledge goes hand in hand. She is constantly uplifted by her husband John and her son Jake and stepsons Jeremy and Brenden, and there is also Cooper, her crazy little dog. She was once told that she sees life through rose colored glasses….and she thought, isn’t that the best way to see life?

Lisa brings over 30 years of experience in mindfulness practices and as an MBSR instructor has provided Inner Explorer with input and expertise on program development and research since its inception. Lisa served on Inner Explorer’s Board of Directors and continues to assist Inner Explorer in her current capacity as Chief Strategy Officer. Through her private practice, Lisa has been teaching children, adults and corporate clients the value of mindfulness to enrich lives and promote well-being. Lisa maintains her decades long commitment to sharing the well- documented benefits of mindful awareness. She has an undergraduate degree from University of California-Berkeley and has completed Clinical Training in Behavioral Medicine with Dr. Herbert Benson and Harvard Medical School as well as certification in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction from the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts. While Lisa loves to travel, write and photograph, her greatest joy comes from her family. She credits her sons, Travis and Shane, who from birth, were her most authentic teachers of living in the present moment. And Marty, the family’s rescue dog, playfully and lovingly reminds each family member to live mindfully. Lisa understands that when she embodies the practices she teaches, she is a kinder, happier and more peaceful person eager to support Inner Explorer’s vision of changing the world, one student at a time.

Laurie spent 32 years seeking social justice for low-income communities when she wondered if teaching mindfulness to kids would be a good idea. As Community Outreach Coordinator of Park Day School, she could not believe her ears when on the first day of piloting a program to bring mindfulness into public schools, a third grader said, “I think if we do this every day we aren’t going to fight anymore.” At that moment, Laurie knew how she would be spending the rest of her career. Within two months, Laurie and her colleagues, started a new organization called, The Community Partnership for Mindfulness in Education, now called Mindful Schools. Within the first year of the program, thousands of low-income children benefitted from the program. Laurie is delighted and feels fortunate to be working with Inner Explorer because the program teaches mindful awareness to students and teachers simultaneously, in a remarkably effective, sustainable and scalable way. Born in NJ, Laurie now resides in California. The loves of her life are her husband, David, her two kids, Ariel and Perrin, her sisters, family, friends, autumn leaves, whales and, of course, mindful awareness. Laurie’s mom used to call her Lucky Laurie and she is sincerely grateful for her good fortune every day.

Paul is the chief architect of Inner Explorer’s technology platform and has 20+ years of experience in leveraging technology to drive business transformation. Paul is an entrepreneur, and an executive coach to several Fortune 500 organizations. He is passionate about system design thinking & working at the cross-section of business operations and emerging technologies. He met Laura & Janice at WISDOM 2.0 in 2014, and was instantly inspired by Inner Explorer's mission, and now as part of the core team, his role spans across digital strategy, technology architecture, and designing amazing customer journeys. He is dedicated to bringing mindful practice tools to every classroom in the world, and recently has started his own journey of mindful practice. Paul & his lovely wife Deepa along with their twins; Hannah & Ethan are residents of beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Victoria González has a broad background of not-for-profit and general business, where she has specialized in marketing, leader development, strategic planning, professional development, events, product placement, chamber/ civic public/ private alliances and worked significantly with donors and government officials on a global level. She has been involved in social and emotional learning and mindfulness in education for nearly a decade, most recently serving as the Executive Director of The Hawn Foundation. Growing up as a military child and having two educators as parents, Victoria dreams of the day when all children and teachers feel excited and inspired about going to school, without any added stressors. She is a believer that mindfulness is the recipe for that. Victoria is fully bilingual and bicultural. A well-traveled professional, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Florida International University and resides in Miami, Florida with her French bulldog, Claymore.

Tabitha provides strong skills across many different areas of business operations, including finance, accounting, technology, project management and customer service. Tabitha is the proud mother of two small children entering the public school system. She has years of personal experience with a daily mindful practice, and has noticed how much her children enjoy the time to experience what’s happening on the inside. As with her own kids, she knows that encouraging children to focus on inner peace allows them to develop empathy and compassion for themselves and those around them. She has faith that as children learn these skills and aptitudes, they will be happier, healthier and have more success in school. Tabitha has spent her life in beautiful New England and loves taking long hikes, watching a breathtaking sunset, and goofing around with her kids!

Iris provides Inner Explorer with a variety of skills and capabilities in donor development, database improvement and administrative support. A Colby College graduate with a Bachelor's in History her extensive background in development includes directing and managing programs at Harvard University's Associates Giving Program, Concord Academy's Alumnae/i Affairs and Development Office and Yale University's Development Office. A Franklin Massachusetts resident Iris was introduced to mindfulness and Inner Explorer by her friend and co-founder Janice Houlihan. She balances her time between mothering three kids (and a Maine Coon cat), volunteering for a variety of Boy Scout, school and church programs and is a long time member of the Daughters of the Revolution. Iris loves to bike and has ridden across both Maine and the Florida Keys and hopes to take more trans-state rides with her husband HoJin in the future.

From an advertising and sales background, Mary joins Inner Explorer as a Program Support Manager. Mary was introduced to mindfulness by co-founder Laura Bakosh when her daughter was young and suffering from anxiety. This drug free method of treatment was very beneficial to both Mary and her daughter. Her practice was inconsistent -until recently- when she re-connected with Laura and is thrilled to be part of Inner Explorer's present and future. She is convinced this growing non-profit will change the lives of children and communities, and therefore the world, in her lifetime. Mary's responsibilities will include customer service, writing and administration. She shares her life with two semi-adult children, her husband Padraig, a pony, a dog and one chicken. She loves working on her little, 3 acre farm and volunteering at both a service dog training organization and local community center. Email Mary at mredington@innerexplorer.org

Pooja is currently managing the compass platform where she takes care of the daily operations, platform reliability and development of new modules and capabilities to enhance the user experience. Using data driven approach and her computer science background, she has been working on increasing the engagement of our user base by introducing next generation capabilities within the platform and collaborating with the partner modules. She has found her passion in exploring and enhancing digital platforms and is using the same expertise for inner explorer. In her free time, she loves to read, work with NGOs to help underprivileged kids and organize personality development and self-defence sessions to promote women empowerment.