Board of Directors

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Cynthia Osterman
Cynthia Osterman

Founder and Board President

Cynthia brings expertise in business and communications as well as extensive experience serving on nonprofit boards. She has been a mindfulness meditator for more than two decades.

Beth Ross
Beth Ross

Secretary

Beth is a staunch believer in the benefits of mindfulness for all, and is particularly excited to help youth obtain useful tools for coping with the ups and downs inherent in adolescence. Beth is the mother of two, and has worked as a real estate and corporate attorney, manager, freelance writer and non-profit volunteer.

Susan O'Brien
Susan O'Brien

A nurse practitioner specializing in women’s health, Susan manages the School-Based Health Center at Port Townsend High School and is a healthcare provider at Jefferson Public Health.

Rebakah Minarchek
Rebakah Minarchek

Rebakah is an environmental sociologist working on issues of environmental justice, resilience, and community networking and teaches courses on these themes at the post-secondary level. She has additional experience in grant management, grant writing, and nonprofit administration.

Jennifer Mitchell
Jennifer Mitchell

As an involved parent in our community, Jenn relates to the challenges our children face and understands the profound impact outreach and mental health awareness education can have.

Jenn combines a passion for improving community health programs with a focus on fiscal sustainability as Financial Manager at Jefferson County Public Health. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve our local youth as part of The Benji Project team.

Administrative Staff

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Heather McRae-Woolf
Heather McRae-Woolf

Executive Director

A lifelong educator and learner, Heather has taught and learned from students from Kindergarten age through adults. She has designed innovative programming for after-school, in-school, and summer settings. From 2005 to 2010, she served as an administrator in the New York City Department of Education and then worked as a consultant for school districts across the county. Her experience with yoga, meditation, and creative self-expression in a range of modalities led her to The Benji Project in 2017. She was one of the first instructors hired locally to be trained in the Mindful Self-Compassion curriculum. Heather then took on the role of Program Director in 2019 and that of Executive Director in 2023. She holds a BA from Yale, and an MA from The New School, but she feels that much of her most profound learning has occurred in non-traditional settings. She is passionate about creating spaces for deep human connection and growth. She is grateful for the lessons she learns daily from her daughter, stepdaughter, and the many other wise young people she encounters.

Aleah Lawrence-Pine
Aleah Lawrence-Pine

Administration & Operations Manager

Aleah has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz and has worked in grassroots and nonprofit organizations for 20 years. She is a mother of two and PTHS alumni. Most recently she has worked as an owner/operator of a small farming business in Jefferson County. Aleah is eager to apply her passion and experience to help the Benji Project serve youth across Jefferson County to make adolescence a more enjoyable journey.

Loren Alexanian
Loren Alexanian

Development Manager

As an artist, Loren is a lifelong creator. She used art and mindfulness practices to help process and move through the grief of losing her mother. She feels that the more tools we have navigate life’s large emotions, the better we are at serving ourselves and our communities.

Previously, Loren worked building long-term client relationships with local and national nonprofits, helping to introduce them to a mission-based system of fundraising from individual donors. She also brings deep experience in graphic design, marketing, and event management. She excels at solving problems and creating systems for supportive workflow structures.

Instructors

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Steve Baird
Steve Baird

Instructor

Steve is a retired fine arts bronze caster and has been sober and practicing Buddhism for 26 years. He has sponsored men in AA for 20 years, teaching kindness, gentleness, and self love to them. Steve is also a mediation and dharma teacher who has been trained in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, Karuna, and has completed the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Steve leads a weekly mindfulness class for adults where he teaches concepts of wisdom, compassion, and authenticity. He spends at least six weeks each year in meditation retreats.

Stephanie Burns
Stephanie Burns

Instructor

A collaborative problem solver and restorative community leader, Stephanie comes to The Benji Project with more than 25 years experience of educational program design and facilitation. Stephanie's experience with a criminal trial as a survivor of sexual violence led her to criminal justice reform, a Master's in Restorative Justice, and a deep commitment to anti-oppression pedagogy and collective learning and healing. Holding certifications in mindfulness and somatic embodiment, she has designed and delivered meaningful experiential learning programs and trainings in diverse communities in Massachusetts, Florida, California, Hawai'i, and most recently, Washington. Stephanie is inspired by vulnerability and authenticity. She believes that we learn in community and heal in the presence of others. She currently serves as a facilitator with equity and inclusion consulting firm, Usawa Consulting, and as co-director and founder of Healing Courage, a growing coalition of survivors committed to reimagining healing and justice and transforming our cultural responses to harm.

Kyle Golphenee
Kyle Golphenee

Instructor

Kyle has been a middle school and high school instructor for more than two decades, primarily teaching in community-based programs in Portland, Oregon. He first earned his Language Arts teaching license at the University of Montana, then added a Special Education endorsement at Portland State University. Working in the alternative school system, Kyle taught classes in most content areas and gradually developed a strengths-based instructional approach that strives to meet each student at their current level of academic and emotional need. Kyle has been an active user of mindfulness and stress reduction activities in the classroom and is a huge fan of poetry, art, and music in both his personal and professional life.

Nancy Israel
Nancy Israel

Senior Instructor

Nancy is a Maritime Educator and Program Manager at the Northwest Maritime Center. She has extensive experience in experiential and outdoor education with youth as well as background with mindfulness and non-violent communication practices.

Nico Kladis
Nico Kladis

Instructor

Nico has a background in wilderness therapy and youth rites of passage. He has experience in a variety of educational settings and has worn many different hats with the diverse groups which he has served. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Counseling.

Rose Martin
Rose Martin

Instructor

Rose has spent the last 25 years teaching and mentoring young people of all ages in unconventional settings in pursuit of her life’s work to be an important role model and advocate for children and families. She holds a BA in Child Development and Developmental Education from Pacific Oaks College in California. Rose is passionate about social justice and peace education, and believes that one of the greatest gifts any adult can offer to a young person, is to model a life of authenticity and integrity. She believes that young people can change their world and the lives of those around them when given the right tools, encouragement, and a foundation of positive social and emotional development.

Teresa Shiraishi, MSW
Teresa Shiraishi, MSW

Senior Instructor

Teresa Shiraishi is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker providing counseling for teens and adults through her private practice in Sequim, WA. She specializes in trauma-focused therapy techniques and is committed to creating a welcoming environment for people with marginalized identities. Teresa also owns and operates Tampopo Farm, a two acre farm growing vegetables and flowers using organic practices, with her husband Matt.

She has facilitated Mindful Self-Compassion groups for teens with the Benji Project since 2018. In her facilitation her goal is to offer compassion, a listening ear, and to invest in each participant’s wellness.

Sam Smith
Sam Smith

Instructor

Sam grew up in Jefferson County, and after earning a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Science from Oregon State University, has returned home to be a part of providing positive youth development programs in our rural and underserved community. Sam is passionate about finding ways to adapt traditional mindfulness programs to work for neurodivergent youth.Her goal is to use her knowledge base to support and sustain healthy and safe communities through youth outreach and advocacy. In her free time she can be found reading, baking, working with 4-H programs, or playing tabletop games, most often Dungeons & Dragons.

Eden Trenor
Eden Trenor

Instructor

Born and raised by the blackberries, cedars, and salmon of the Pacific Northwest, Eden is a lifelong activist, poet and educator with two decades of experience teaching in diverse settings–including prison, gender-specific and nature-based youth programs–who has had the privilege to travel, work and study in over a dozen countries. She co-managed the City of Seattle's Neighborhood Matching Fund and holds Teen Talking Circles, Permaculture Design, Mediation, and Financial Social Work certifications. Eden directed the California Global Youth Peace Summit, served on the board of CommonSpace Community Land Trust and was the Transformational Education Director for a longstanding women-centered social change organization in California. A Leadership California and Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities Fellow, Eden is also a practicing herbalist, craftswoman, photographer, flower essence practitioner, and movement artist who recently completed her first half-marathon.

Community Resource Instructors & Advisors

Featured
Beau Ohlgren
Beau Ohlgren

Beau Ohlgren is an educator, facilitator, and community organizer in Port Townsend. He is the Director of Family Ministry at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, holds an MSc in International Relations with a focus on gender in cross-cultural contexts from University of Edinburgh, and has been running the Jefferson County Transgender Support Group since its inception seven years ago. He is passionate about compassion, loves working with young people, and is proud to be working with The Benji Project.

Dana Weir
Dana Weir

Dana is an artist, art educator, and student of mindfulness. She is the Art Specialist at Swan School, in Port Townsend, and also offers workshops through the Northwind Art program. Dana is passionate about supporting her students as they explore creativity, art history, and self-expression. She is committed to teaching and studying art from a social justice perspective, keeping diversity, equity and inclusion at the center of her practice. When Dana is not teaching or creating art, she loves to explore the Pacific Northwest, in both urban and wild environments.