A Chinese-Ashkenazi-American Jew and an educator, designer, speaker, husband, and father, Yoshi (he/him) weaves decades of experience across a wide range of disciplines and practices into contemporary embodiment approaches that allow us to better understand who we are, how we move through the world, and how we can continually move ever closer towards being the people and communities we deeply yearn to be.

Yoshi is a recipient of the 2022 Pomegranate Prize for emerging leaders in Jewish education from The Covenant Foundation, the 2021 S. Lee Kohrman Award in Jewish Experiential Education from the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, and was selected as a 2021 “Grist 50 Fixer” building a more just and equitable future. He also sits on the Board of Directors for Repair the World.

Yoshi earned his Masters in Landscape Architecture at University of Maryland with a thesis exploring Jewish landscape journey and experience; holds certificates in spiritual entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, permaculture design, and environmental education; and can't stay away from a good Jewish fellowship. He holds a 2nd degree blackbelt in Lotus Kajukenbo, is currently learning and practicing Shuai Chiao Kung Fu (green/blue belt) and Ch’ang style Tai Chi, and is an avid aficionado of Chinese Roast Duck. Yoshi lives in the Cleveland area in Shaker Heights, OH on Erie, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee land with his wife and daughter. 

Yael Shy, Esq. is the Founder and CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, LLC, where she supports individuals and collectives uncover their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy.

A meditation practitioner for over 20 years, Yael was trained in the Soto Zen Buddhist and Jewish mindfulness traditions. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017) and an Adjunct Professor at NYU's Wagner School of Public Service.

Yael has served as the Chief Mindfulness Consultant at Procter and Gamble and consults regularly for Columbia Law School and New York University. She has been featured on Good Morning America, CBS News, Fox 5 News, and in the Harvard Business Review and Time Magazine.

Yael is also on faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. She can be found at www.mindfulnessconsulting.net and and on instagram @yaelshy1. 

Shira Kline (she/her) is a ritual and performance artist, recognized as a revolutionary educator and named one of the new re-engineers of Jewish life today. As an artist educator and a proud recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award 2024, Shira weaves liturgy, story and song into immersive sacred theatre.

Known in the sanctuary as a spiritual adventurist and on the kiddie rock stage as ShirLaLa, she practices in the field of sacred play. She tours extensively locally and globally with a vibrant invitation to connect, for a new and realized conscious world. She has been featured on NPR, hosted a queer Jewish podcast, led Shabbat on the Burning Man playa, recorded four award-winning albums, and is a frequent guest faculty of numerous international leadership conferences. Shira is a member of the Mitsui Collective, cultivating pathways towards Jewish embodiment. Expansive and imaginative, Shira is here to nourish and ignite expression of the spirit.

At home in Brooklyn, unceded Lenape lands, she lives to cook, dance, and play with her beloved and their daughter. Co-founder of Lab/Shul in NYC, she serves as Spiritual Leader of this artist-driven, God-optional, experimental community for sacred Jewish gathering.

Rachel is a builder and a creator with 10+ years of nonprofit experience. She enjoys helping manifest great ideas - big and small - and bringing them to life. You can find her on long walks around her Atlanta neighborhood, sometimes with her family, other times with her dogs or a good podcast. Rachel gets energized by heart-opening yoga sessions, being outdoors in the sunshine, reading a really good book and traveling the world with those she loves.

Dr. Julie Hirschfeld is a psychologist in private therapy practice, and CEO of the Jewish Resilience Initiative. She earned her doctorate at New York University, holds degrees from Oxford University and Bryn Mawr, and is certified in Mussar facilitation through The Mussar Institute. 

With advanced training and decades of exposure to many cultures, races, languages and thought patterns, Julie connects with people from many different backgrounds.  In addition, she has specialized experience with developmental and health profiles such as giftedness in adults and children, medical conditions, and sensory integration and adult ADHD. Julie works with people for whom religious observance is core to their identity, and offers sensitive support to those who are seeking greater health, balance, or connection in their spiritual or religious lives.

Julie Emden, E-RYT-500, Halprin Practitioner, is the Founding Director of Embodied Jewish Learning (EJL) and the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, a global collective of leaders and seekers of movement practices infused with Jewish wisdom. A graduate of five fellowship and teaching certification programs related to her work as a Iyengar-based Yoga instructor, dancer, Jewish educator, and movement/expressive artist, Julie has over two decades of experience guiding others in somatic explorations of Jewish wisdom teachings as a resource for living in balance and wholeness. Julie has served on faculty for various organizations and EJL hosts an Advanced Teacher Training; a Global Directory and Class Calendar for leaders of embodiment in the Jewish world; podcasts, classes, workshops, coaching, mentorship and more.

Erica Goldman has been an engineering linguist, a high school English teacher, a nonprofit Chief Program Officer, and alongside it all: an Israeli dance teacher. A two-time Brandeis University graduate, she holds an MBA and a Masters in Jewish Professional Leadership and is a grateful Wexner Fellow. Erica is an Educator for the Cornerstone Fellowship, a program of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, and in May 2015, she launched Ma'agal, an initiative to improve Israeli dance education at schools and camps across the nation. After nearly five years at JPro, the organization supporting all those who work for Jewish organizations in the US and Canada, Erica is now the Deputy CEO of The Bronfman Fellowship, so if you know a high school student who's all-in on long, deep conversations on interesting topics, talk to her immediately. Erica lives in Brooklyn, NY and in 2023, she taught Israeli dancing on her fifth continent (so far!).

Rabbi Dena Shaffer serves as the Director of Learning and Engagement for the Community and Jewish Life department at Jewish Federations of North America. In her role she supports communities seeking to innovate, nurture, sustain and scale new ways to inspire and enrich Jewish connection and sense of belonging for children, teens, and the adults who care about them.  In addition to her academic and professional credentials, Rabbi Dena has been an active practitioner and teacher of the martial arts for over 30 years.  What started as a recommendation from a pediatrician at the age of 3 became a lifelong journey.  Dena has been privileged to study and pursue rank in arts such as Taekwondo, Hapkido, Escrima Kali, Judo, Jodo, Kyudo, and Iaido.