Board of Directors

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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

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

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.

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.

Janine Boire

Janine has been an active supporter of The Benji Project (TBP) since its inception. She has witnessed first hand the power of TBP’s mindful self compassion approach and is honored to be on the board. Professionally she’s served for forty plus years in nonprofits around the country, most of that service as an executive director. She is an executive coach, strategic planning consultant and currently is Treasurer of the Nonprofit Association of Washington.

Have you considered joining our Board of Directors? This is a meaningful way to be a part of the governance of the organization, and to help ensure we fulfill our mission, vision, and values. Becoming a board member requires attending seven board meetings per year, bi-annual board retreats, serving on at least one committee, and volunteering at public events and/or fundraisers. Fill out our Board Application here.

Staff

Featured

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.

Eden Trenor

Community Outreach Coordinator & 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.

Nancy Israel

Program Coordinator & 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.

Instructors

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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.

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.

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.

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.

Community Resource Instructors & Advisors

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Loren Alexanian

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. Loren served as The Benji Project’s Development Manager and was one of the creative minds behind the Festival of Hearts event. She works as a part of the Marketing Team at the Port Townsend Food Co-op and is often an instructor at Pride Camp.

Meg Kaczyk

Meg Kaczyk’s paintings are fed by the natural world, poetry, meditation and life’s transitions. From her own experience, she’s learned that mindful art making fosters resiliency and grace during difficult times; and is inspired by the good work of The Benji Project to bring mindfulness skills to our community’s young people.

Paintings from her graphic memoir, “Notes from Next to the Bed: A caregiving love story in words & pictures”, was exhibited at Jefferson Museum of Art + History. Meg also teaches creative process classes at Northwind Art School in Port Townsend.

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 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.