About Yoga Dana Foundation
Yoga Dana Foundation was formed in 2007 as a not-for-profit charitable organization whose mission is to support yoga teachers who bring yoga to underserved communities. Yoga Dana Foundation is funded by grants from its supporting foundation, the California Yoga Teachers Association. Yoga Dana Foundation is overseen by a five-member board of directors (see bios). It is managed by a part-time Executive Director, Anna Proctor.
Yoga Dana Foundation invests in grantees that have a deep commitment to yoga and the sharing of its benefits.
Board of Directors
John Abbott, YDF Vice-President
- Long-term yoga practitioner
- Former CEO of Yoga Journal
- 20-year career as a senior investment banker at Citicorp Investment Bank
- Served as chief executive officer of Citicorp's Real Estate Investment Banking division in Paris, France, and as the head of Citicorp's banking operations in Uruguay and New Zealand, and held positions in New York, London, and San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Graduate of Columbia University and holds graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University School of Business Administration
Edward Baskauskas, YDF Treasurer
- Freelance Legal Writer
- Yoga Teacher (Yoga Alliance RYT 500)
- Member, State Bar of California
- Adjunct Professor of Law, Golden Gate University, San Francisco
- AB, Harvard University 1972; JD, Golden Gate University 1976
Karie Brown
- Principle, KB Consulting: organizational development consultant for nonprofits and foundations
- BA in Economics, Stanford; MA in Regional Planning, Massachusetts institute of Technology.
- Other board memberships include: Beyond Borders, Marin Country Day School, Hidden Leaf Foundation, Bayview Hunters Point Community Fund
- Yoga practitioner and (recent) teacher.
Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.d., PT, YDF President
- yoga teacher around the world and in almost all 50 states of the US since 1971
- one of the founders of Yoga Journal magazine
- president of the California Yoga Teachers Association
- serves on the advisory boards of Yoga Journal and the Yoga Research and Education Center.
- Holds a doctorate in East-West psychology and is a physical therapist.
- author of six books: A Year of Living Your Yoga, Yoga Abs, Yoga for Pregnancy, 30 Essential Yoga Poses, Living Your Yoga and Relax and Renew
Richard Rosen, YDF Secretary
- Principle: Director, Piedmont Yoga Studio, Oakland, CA, 1987-1995, 2006 to present
- Contributing editor: Yoga Journal magazine
- Board member: California Yoga Teachers Association, 1990 to present
- Author: The Yoga of Breath (Shambhala, 2002), Pranayama: Beyond the Fundamentals (Shambhala, 2006), Yoga for 50+ (Ulysses, 2004)
- Yoga practitioner since 1980