CASEY MARTIN, Executive Director, Non-Voting Board Member; Owner, Assistart LLC; RYT200; RCYT
Casey is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher certified from Gathering Tree Yoga, with a focus in accessibility and inclusivity in yoga, and Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher with an emphasis on teaching from a trauma-informed perspective. Casey has been a student of yoga since the mid-‘90s, always seeking authenticity in teachers, and healing in the practice. 

Casey’s goal in founding Seed Yoga is to ensure that this positive mind, mood, and life altering practice is brought to everyone that needs it – especially the youth, caregivers in families, and those that have much healing to do but don’t have yoga resources available or accessible to them. 

Casey’s prior professional background includes non-profit arts administration, corporate administrative duties, and senior paralegal duties and training at an intellectual property law firm.  She has also managed event planning for various non-profit organizations, and planned local fundraisers in her community of Bay Village. Most importantly, she is a parent to two teens, and strives to better the world by helping others find peace, one little bit at a time.

LISA ELLIS, Board President; School Counselor, Cleveland Public Schools, MC2 STEM High School
Lisa, a Cleveland native, is the proud parent of two unique children and a high school counselor with twelve years of dedication to and passion for serving students in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area. Lisa has spent her career building relationships and securing partnerships within the community to connect her students with the resources and opportunities that will help them discover and use their voice, their talents, and lay the foundation for a successful future. 

Some of Lisa’s central areas of focus in her current role as school counselor at MC2 STEM High School are on anti-racist teaching pedagogy, educational equity, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and other issues of inclusion and social justice. Lisa has been trained in Restorative Practices, which helps to reduce instances of violence and bullying in schools and improve interpersonal relationships. She is currently the advisor for: N.O.W. (Not on Our Watch, a CMSD anti-bullying initiative), W.A.V.E. (Winning Against Violent Environments, CMSD peer mediation), MC2 STEM Page Turners Book Club, MC2 STEM Rhythm Project, which teaches drumming as a form of creative and emotional expression, Yoga & Meditation Clubs, and the MC2 STEM Gender-Sexuality Alliance. 

Lisa is active in her Alma Mater’s professional community, serving on the School Counselor Advisory Board at Cleveland State University since 2014 and regularly supervises graduate students from Cleveland State’s school counselor masters program during their practicum and internship experiences. Lisa was previously on both the Education and Membership Committees for the City Club of Cleveland and was a 2016 recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Urban Education Award.

Lisa is also active in her own community of Lakewood, Ohio, where she volunteers for the local school district and has been a troop leader for Lakewood Girl Scout Troop 70188 since 2015. In her free time Lisa loves to cook, travel, play and see live music, and spend time with her family and dog. 

JENNIFER M. ATZBERGER, Board Vice President; Senior Immigration Attorney, Catholic Charities of Cleveland
Jennifer M. Atzberger is an attorney who has worked in the non-profit and government sectors defending clients in criminal and juvenile proceedings for the Cuyahoga County Public Defender Office, advocating for families in special education and civil rights complaints at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, and implementing legal strategy for the ACLU of Ohio. She also developed and taught a course in Juvenile Justice for Baldwin Wallace University.

She currently works as a senior immigration attorney for Catholic Charities of Cleveland. She is also a certified yoga instructor through Yoga Alliance and completed training with the “Street Yoga” program for homeless and incarcerated individuals that originated in Portland, Oregon. Jennifer previously ran a non-profit program providing free yoga classes to youth in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Justice Center and at local community events and schools in Cleveland.

BRETT MANGON, Board Treasurer, CPA, JD, MT, Owner of NEO Accounting & Tax Services LLC. Brett Mangon, CPA, JD, MT has 28 years of experience in public accounting and holds degrees from Miami University (Bachelors in Accounting) and The University of Akron (Juris Doctor and Masters of Taxation).  He has served on other nonprofit organization boards in the past, most recently The Good Samaritan Hunger Center of Summit County, Ohio.

KIM CORRIGAN, Board Secretary; Community Volunteer 
Kim Corrigan was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She and her husband, Dr. Andrey Stojic, have three children.

Kim has worked in the veterinary field, having managed a veterinary group practice. For the past 14 years, Kim has been a stay at home mother and actively involved in her community.  She has served on the local PTA and most recently been appointed as the Health and Wellness Committee Co-Chair for the Bay Village PTA council.  Kim served as a Girl Scout leader for 7 years and coached youth soccer. She has served as a trustee for the Bay Village Education Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Bay Village School District through grants to fund projects for students, as well as educator projects to innovate within the classrooms and college scholarships.   Kim has also played an active role in social justice as a member of the Bay Village Anti-Racism Network.

In her personal life, Kim is an avid lover of dogs, a “Hockey/Sports” mom and interested and active in local politics and community service.  She believes in the importance of child development that not only focuses on academic performance but also wellness, including physical activity, good nutrition, and mindfulness.

JAMES LEVIN, Board Member; Attorney, Founder and Executive Director of LegalWorks; Founder of Firefish Festival, Ingenuity Festival, and Cleveland Public Theatre 
Mr. Levin has vast experience in the legal and non–profit fields.  Mr. Levin studied Law at Case Western University.  He continues to practice law in Ohio, having started his non-profit, LegalWorks, which seeks to remove legal obstructions and impediments that can disrupt people’s pursuits towards employment and community engagement.  Additionally, James founded the Cleveland Public Theatre in 1981, bringing innovative off-off-Broadway-style theatre to Cleveland. He served as the founding executive and artistic director for CPT for more than 20 years. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Ohio Arts Council “Governor’s Award” for community impact and, in 2012, he was awarded the Robert Bergen Prize by the Cleveland Arts Prize organization.

Mr. Levin has always embraced novel paths for economic development in Northeast Ohio, and he continues that vision in current work. He was the founding director of the Gordon Square Cultural Arts District, the former executive and artistic director of Cleveland’s acclaimed Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology, the Cleveland World Festival, and now presides over FireFish Festival, seeking to transform downtown Lorain, Ohio into a thriving arts district. He is director of the Gordon Square Cultural Arts District, the former executive and artistic director of Cleveland’s acclaimed Ingenuity Festival, and the executive producer for Detroit Avenue Arts. He has also served as a professor and the Director of the college of Wooster’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

DENA FISHER, Board Member, Owner of Dena’s Table

Dena Fisher is the owner of Dena’s Table at a North Ridge Farm in Vermilion, OH. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and Women’s Studies from Kent State University and studied a Master’s of Public Health at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). 

She spent many years in the executive committee of the Avon Lake PTA as well as Fundraising Coordinator and Chairperson for special events for  Piper’s Legacy, affiliate of the One Million for Anna Foundation. As a Research Associate at CWRU, Dena spent her time addressing population health and patient/provider experience in Family Medicine. 

She left the academic sector when her children were young to focus on her family and to build her own business. 

Dena is a dedicated partner to her community and seeks opportunities to encourage the health, growth and success of its members through volunteer opportunities and connecting people to one another. 

Along with her husband and children, she now manages their home and family farm of chickens, kittens, honey bees, flower and vegetable gardens.  Dena hopes to provide a peaceful space for Seed Yoga to cultivate relationships at North Ridge Farm. 

When she began taking yoga classes in 2009, she never imagined it would transform her life in the way that it did. As a mom and stepmom to three teenage children, she sees the need for adolescents and their caregivers to benefit from all that yoga has to offer. 

MELISSA GRIMES, MS, BCBA, Board Member; School Psychologist, Bay Village School District;  Registered 500 Hour Yoga Teacher

MICHELE ESPER, Board Member; Global Mobility Lead, Goodyear Tire and Rubber; Community Volunteer and Activist 

SARAH KELLY, Board Member; Teacher, Parma City School District; Registered Yoga Teacher

KELLY KOCON, Board Member; Independent Artist; Community Volunteer

ALONSO SOUTHARD, Board Member; Wellness Director, Clearview Local Schools

MURRAY WOODS, Board Member; Retired Certified Nurse Practitioner; Registered Yoga Teacher