Hi, I’m Nina, a social entrepreneur living in Oakland, California. I've spent the last 20 years helping corporations run better and governments like the UN and the White House tackle big sticky problems. Along the way, I've become a fan of social emotional skill-building and effective communication, especially for families learning to build meaningful lives and vibrant, healthy communities. Now I'm tackling the problem of helping families thrive when their college-bound teens are struggling by building a company focused on teaching skill building and peer mentoring for families and teens. I spent not quite a decade as Oakland City Commissioner making $150m in grants to local community-based youth and family organizations. For fun, I dance, hike and play in nature, volunteer as a Reiki healer for underserved women in Oakland with end-stage cancer, and spend time with friends and family, especially my partner and my daughter.

BRIEF BIO: Nina's the founder and CEO of a company focused on helping parents build happy, loving families and lives of compassion and meaning. Previously, Nina was a publisher for the largest global publishing companies, creating more than 100 successful science textbooks with leading science educators and Nobel Prize-winning authors. Her academic research has garnered more than 1000 peer-reviewed journal citations. Nina's environmental policy work and diplomacy with the United Nations, OECD, ISO, multiple White House administrations, and federal agencies here and abroad saves thousands of lives around the world each year.

Nina is a certified meditation teacher with a twenty-five year practice of meditation and somatic mindfulness, and has spent more than 3 months in silent retreat. Trained in a wide range of trauma-informed somatic healing practices, including somatic experiencing, EMDR, reiki, energy work, guided imagery, yoga, massage therapy, shamanic journeying and conscious dance, Nina is known for her deeply grounded presence and heart-based teaching style. For the last decade she’s led nature-based and ritual-based gatherings, including women’s groups, parent trainings, grief workshops, intentions circles, and solstice and equinox celebrations.