Meet the Yoga Alliance Boards of Directors

Chandana Achanta is a kids yoga teacher and mental health advocate. She holds a deep commitment to expanding the accessibility of yoga, conducting free workshops in the United States and in India for young children, teens, and adults. Her writing is published in the Baltimore Sun and OM Yoga Magazine. She served on Loudoun County Public Schools’ Equity Committee for two years and was a speaker at several mental health conferences. As a civil servant for the U.S. government, Chandana has been solving public policy problems for seventeen years. She holds a Master of Public Policy Analysis from the University of California, Berkeley.

Yoshi is a mindfulness visionary, company builder, musician and humanitarian, whose mission is to bring high-level presence and consciousness into global entrepreneurship and community. Through his passion for music and communal wellness, he has participated in various social impact projects around the world. His humanitarian work has led him to Africa, Haiti, Cambodia, Thailand, Peru, India, Bali and Louisiana. He has coordinated and led tent city aid distribution projects along with leading teams into disaster zones.

Yoshi is the founder of the Hanuman Community (Festival, Academy, and Adventures). Throughout his professional career, Yoshi has served as CEO for various mid-sized companies, with his deep understanding of vision and brand development, strategic road-mapping, and investor acquisitions helping pave his way for impact and success. He is a 43-year student of the guitar and self-motivator. Yoshi joins the Yoga Alliance Board of Directors to help support the organization’s continued growth and yoga community support.

Jo-Ann Bance's yoga journey began with her first yoga class in 1999 during which she felt an instant knowing that there was so much more to learn. In 2013, Jo-Ann completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training program, leaving with an even greater knowing of what was still left to discover. Having graduated from a 300-hour training, she has been teaching ever since, finding opportunities to practice, teach, and grow via a student of yoga.

Jo-Ann has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Human Resource Management. She has worked in various senior management roles for both government and post-secondary institutions. Jo-Ann has over 20 years of experience as an administrator, which is combined with her solid financial and human resources background.

Kristoffer Carter (“KC”) is passionate about applying timeless yogic teachings to the demands of modern leadership. As the CEO and Founder of Epic Leadership, a coaching and training organization for conscious leadership, Kristoffer’s teachings have helped thousands create a daily meditation practice. Kristoffer has coached executive leaders and taught meditation professionally since leaving his career in learning and development in 2015. His first book, Permission to Glow—A Spiritual Guide to Epic Leadership has been featured in Men’s Health, Success Magazine, Good Morning Washington, and on numerous news programs for NBC, ABC, and CBS.

KC has been a disciple of the teachings of Paramhamsa Yogananda through Self-Realization Fellowship and their lineage of masters since first reading Autobiography of a Yogi in 2011. Kristoffer is also a professional songwriter, kirtan artist, TEDx speaker, and international retreat leader. He is currently writing his second book (Permission to Chill, Spring 2024) and preparing to make his teaching debut at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in 2023.

Cat Chang is a finance, strategy and operations executive, and a dedicated yoga practitioner for more than 20 years. She has helped build and scale teams in high-growth environments including as an early team member of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and at Planet Labs, an impact-oriented aerospace startup that operates the world’s largest fleet of Earth imaging satellites. Chang holds a Bachelor of Arts in applied mathematics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and earned a joint Master of Business Administration/Master of Science in sustainable development from Stanford University in Stanford, California. She also currently serves on the board of WBEC-West.

A dedicated yoga teacher, attorney, and operations leader, Desai integrates her background in education, law, and strategic leadership to broaden access to yoga and wellness. Raised in the South Asian community, she is passionate about honoring Yoga’s origins while fostering meaningful connections through practice. Though yoga was present in the background of her upbringing, she began actively practicing in 2017 and soon recognized its deeper influence on her life. What began to manage the demands of a stressful career became a reconnection with her cultural roots, leading her to deepen her studies through extensive training. She holds an E-RYT 200, RYT 500, and YACEP credential with Yoga Alliance, alongside certifications in meditation and advanced yoga studies. Beyond teaching, she trains future instructors in yoga history, philosophy, Sanskrit, and Ayurveda.

Desai earned her bachelor’s in English and master’s in education from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas before studying law at New England Law School in Boston, Massachusetts where she focused on international and immigration law. A former high school teacher and global immigration attorney, she transitioned to leadership in the health sector and now serves as Chief Operating Officer at Mother of Fact, a digital women’s health company that delivers medical nutrition therapy to at-risk pregnant patients.

Since her first classical Hatha Yoga class in 2001, Chantelle Diachina has studied in ashrams with Shri Yogi Hari (United States) and Swami Nityamuktananda (India), both students of the late Swami Vishnu Devananda of the Sivananda lineage. Her commitment to yoga and the betterment of humanity is reflected in all her work. After a decade-long career as an educator, she has evolved into a psychotherapist, yoga teacher, corporate wellness facilitator and consultant, and meditation teacher for the Insight Timer app. In 2021, she appeared as a Wisdom 2.0 community speaker. Her current projects include addressing mental health for the Racial Justice Program at University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law in Victoria, British Columbia and contributing to the latest Changing Work Collective Anthology to be released Summer 2025.

Diachina holds a Bachelor of Science in education from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, a master’s degree in education from University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, a Master of Arts in counseling psychology from Yorkville University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and a post-graduate certificate in corporate communications and public relations from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.

Siddharth Kulkarni is an economist and researcher with more than a decade of experience in the economic development and technology sectors. Yoga has been a presence in his life from a young age through instruction and guidance from his mother, a dedicated yoga practitioner and teacher. Her influence started Siddharth on his own journey to explore the physical and spiritual traditions of yoga, which he has rediscovered as an adult and continues today.

In addition to yoga, Siddharth is also a passionate student of martial arts, training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Siddharth completed his undergraduate studies in Economics and Politics at UC San Diego and holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Siddharth lives in San Diego, California with two of his favorite yoga partners, his wife Avani and his dog Twix.

Britt Lake is a nonprofit executive and yoga practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in the social impact sector. Lake began her yoga journey to complement marathon and triathlon training. She soon saw how yoga not only helped prevent injury but provided balance to her life off the mat. When she's not practicing or teaching yoga, she leads Feedback Labs, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting high-quality feedback and listening to communities in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Lake holds a Bachelor of Arts in international studies from the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar, a master’s in international relations from the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa, and a master’s in public affairs from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs in Princeton, New Jersey.

Kathryn Luna is an experienced community and relationship builder with more than a decade of experience in professional sports, corporate philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector. She is currently the Director of Community Investment for Sacramento Republic Football Club. She believes in the power of healing through mindfulness and movement and has taught yoga since 2020. Her journey towards lifelong contentment and fulfillment includes a continued passion for building community, being an advocate for historically marginalized communities, and a proponent of holistic health and well-being. Luna completed her undergraduate studies in sociology at Santa Clara University in Santa, Clara, California and holds a master's degree in nonprofit administration from the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, California. She also holds an RYT 200 credential with Yoga Alliance.

As the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute New York, Radha Metro-Midkiff brings a lifetime of experience in yoga and business to the organization. She was born and raised in Yoga. She grew up at Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia, under the direct tutelage of Sri Swami Satchidananda and met Sri Gurudev at the age of one. Her parents, Integral Yoga Ministers Bhagavan and Bhavani Metro, moved to Virginia so she and her five siblings could attend the Integral Yoga School/Yogaville Vidyalayam. As the only student to attend the school from first through 12th grade, she was certified as both a Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga instructor at the age of 18. Additionally, she had the fortune of being one of only four individuals to receive the direct blessing of Dharma confirmation from Swami Satchidananda.

Prior to joining Yoga Alliance and the Yoga Alliance Foundation, President & CEO Shannon Roche’s career has centered around driving social impact by bringing mainstream institutions’ strengths to bear in support of initiatives that bring communities and coalitions together for the greater good. She led stakeholder engagement for the U.S. Commerce Secretary to forward the Obama Administration’s top economic policy priorities and also served on the founding leadership teams of three innovative non-profits, including the Democracy Alliance. Shannon has Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Sociology and Women’s Studies from Duke University and a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and her most enlightening and humbling teachers of all, their two children.

Nisha Devi is an Eastern Medicine practitioner dedicated to remedying the deepest of human conditions by enhancing chi flow through movement modalities, including yoga. Raised in Sri Lanka and the USA, Nisha Devi’s understanding of eastern and western medicine permeates true health into all facets of one’s life. Grounded in 20+ years of apprenticeships, her study includes time in Shaolin Temple and on Wudan Mountain. The pioneer of Medicinal Movement™, her methodology is rooted in this ancient lineage of medicinal masters. In 2012, she founded KALA Wellness. Four years later, she was inducted into the Asian Martial Arts Hall of Fame for promoting healing arts globally. Currently, she works with the CA State Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Jordan and conducts lectures world-wide on internal alchemy fueled through Medicinal Movement™. In 2022, Governor Newsom appointed her to the CA Advisory Council on Physical Fitness & Mental Well-Being.

Glenna Tinney is a retired United States Navy Captain social worker and holds an RYT 500 credential with Yoga Alliance. Her work has focused on advocacy, activism, social justice, and eliminating violence against women, children, animals, and the environment. Her goal is to help people add yoga as a tool to aid in their healing and recovery from trauma. Tinney believes that yoga is a powerful tool for bringing physical, mental, and emotional healing that can make a difference in people’s lives on and off the mat. She helps individuals be their best selves and do less harm to themselves, others, animals, and the planet so they are better equipped to make a positive difference in the world. She is a published author and was recognized by the White House in 2013 as a Woman Veteran Champion of Change. Tinney lives in Northern Virginia with her husband where she enjoys long walks around the local lake and eating out at favorite vegan restaurants.

Ben Varadi is a law professor teaching nonprofit and business law, professional ethics, and agricultural law and policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School in South Royalton, Vermont. His scholarship explores relationships between business regulation and social responsibility. Prior to academia, he built a nationally recognized law practice focusing on expanding opportunity for members of historically marginalized communities and directed a free legal clinic assisting people impacted by natural disasters. He holds a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a sports law certificate.

Ben's 30-year personal journey in mind-body practices began with early exposure to yoga and breathwork, expanding through extensive formal and autodidactic study in various spiritual, contemplative, movement, and martial arts disciplines. The transformative impact of his regular yoga practice kindled a desire to deepen his understanding and more actively engage with the global practitioner community, leading to a RYT 200 credential with Yoga Alliance. Ben lives in Vermont with his spouse and two dogs, who all often join in asana practice.