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.