MEET THE TEAM

Susan joined HeartWell in March of 2024 after three decades in the non-profit sector where she found her calling, advocating for health equity and social justice. From an early age, Susan felt a deep sense of responsibility to speak up for those she perceived as vulnerable to harm or neglect, a value that has guided her career and personal choices.

Susan is an enthusiastic community connector and communicator, who seeks out opportunities to bridge diverse perspectives, by finding common ground between seemingly disparate viewpoints.

Her approach not only exemplifies her commitment to social advocacy but also underscores her belief in mindfulness as a cornerstone for personal and professional growth.

Susan attributes her journey towards resiliency and hopefulness to her practice of Vipassana meditation, a discipline she has embraced for many years to maintain her well-being.

Susan holds a BS in human service management from Leslie University, Cambridge, MA, and is working towards her master’s in public health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a Bloomberg Fellow with a concentration in addiction and overdose.

Susan views mindfulness as a journey rather than a definitive endpoint, highlighting the importance of embracing imperfection in oneself and others as a pathway to peace.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be liberated.

Originally from Columbia, South America, Zayda completed a BS in psychology at Loyola University in Chicago and a Master's Degree in Political Economy at Oxford University. She is an adjunct faculty, member and mindfulness trainer at Harvard University CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion, UCSD Center for Mindfulness, and Brown University Mindfulness Center. In 2013 she and her husband, co-founded, The HeartWell Institute , an urban, non-profit retreat and community wellness center in Central Massachusetts. Zayda has been practicing meditation, yoga, and mindfulness since 1978, as a way of cultivating her own clarity, equanimity, and self-compassion. Since 2003, she has been teaching mindfulness classes, leading retreats, and mentoring professionals with great joy and passion in an effort to give back in a small way all that she has received. She holds a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Certification from the Kripalu School of Yoga. 

Carolina Bautista-Velez is a Latinx social changer who believes in the power of individual and collective liberation. Through her work as a Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Certified Professional Coach, and Diversity & Trauma-Informed Consultant, Carolina works with individuals, groups, and organizations by co-creating spaces where her clients can focus on learning sustainable tools to navigate stress, societal conditioning, goals, life/work balance, and difficulties. 

Carolina is the founder of CVelez Consulting & Metamorphosis-Coaching. She holds a degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in social psychology and psychoanalysis. Certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher by the University of California San Diego. Certified in the Mindfulness Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP).

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Juan-José Carreón-Granados was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (1965-1969) at the FacultaId de Ingeniería, FI, at National University, UNAM, Mexico; where he was a full-time professor of Intelligent Systems (1999-2019). He has a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies at Political and Social Sciences Faculty, UNAM, where he has been professor of Social History, and he has been Head of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at FI, UNAM.

He has been a shareholder and advisor to numerous companies, and to more than a dozen research and interest groups, on issues related to information and communication technologies, as well as the social impact of technology. He has published more than 2,100 articles, in addition to having participated in hundreds of academic, technological and business events.

Jorge Armesto is a clinical psychologist, yoga therapist, and instructor based in Massachusetts, United States. His work focuses on the intersection of Buddhist psychology, yoga, and self-compassion as resources for healing emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Jorge is the Educational Director of the Self-Compassion and Psychotherapy (SCIP) program at the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion and a professor in the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy program at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP). As a Certified Mindfulness and Self-Compassion (MSC) instructor, Jorge facilitates this 8-week program in various organizations, community and online settings. Jorge practices in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and is a member of the Order of Interbeing. For more information, visit his website: www.goslowly.com.

María Paula Jiménez es terapeuta e instructora Senior y Formadora de instructores en España y en Estados Unidos del programa Compassion Cultivation Training desarrollado en el Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education de la Universidad de Stanford. Maria Paula también es Formadora de instructores e instructora senior del programa Mindfulness Based Emotional Balance desarrollado por Margaret Cullen y Gonzalo Brito. Finalmente, es instructora del programa Mindful Self Compassion desarrollado por Kristen Neff y Christopher Germer. 

Maria Paula actualmente es la Directora de Educación de programas Online del Center for Mindful Self Compassion, organización líder en el campo de educación basada en compasión. También es la Coordinadora de desarrollo del Global Compassion Coalition creado por Rick Hanson. 

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Violeta Hoshi Espinoza is a psychologist, MBA, Neuroscience PhD candidate, MBSR and CCT Certified teacher. Master Coach Certified, with more than 30 years of experience. Offering consulting services, Mindfulness, Compassion and Self-compassion programs, accompanying learning processes of people, teams and organizations for the generation of value, developing socio-emotional skills, leadership skills and teamwork. Teaching for 30 years at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in undergraduate and graduate courses and at the Centrum Business School. In charge of Business Coaching programs, training and certifying professional coaches. Co-founder of Centro Anukampa, opening a Mindful space for practicing, teaching and reflecting about Mindfulness, Compassion and Self Compassion.

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Sandy joined The HeartWell Institute in 2022 as marketing & administration manager. After a brief hiatus, Sandy returned to HeartWell as director of programs & special projects in July of 2024. In this new role, Sandy is creating email marketing and media relations campaigns, collaborating with new partners on improving program structure and building new community relationships.

As a professional in marketing and public relations, Sandy provided caregiver training and client development for Guardian Angel Senior Services; advised CEO and strategic planning communications for Advocates, launched social media presence and crisis communications for Becker College, built the marketing plan for the inaugural Women’s Initiative and Stepping Up for Girls at United Way of Central Massachusetts, and created audience and volunteer communications for WICN Public Radio.

Sandy has begun teaching mindfulness classes locally and online, developed her own mindfulness brand, Feel Better/Oh YES!, and will complete her Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield in 2025. Since beginning her career in the mindfulness field, Sandy has completed a Mindfulness-Based Stress Relief cohort, Power of Awareness training, and an Awakening Body, Mind, and Heart retreat.

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Give care

Be responsible

Show respect

Indicate a willingness to learn

--All About Love, by bell hooks

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Bob was born in Central Pennsylvania, received his BA from Penn State University in 1972, and later attained a master's degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston College in 1988.  He worked as a therapist and a director in the Employee Assistance Program field for 27 years, where he specialized in workplace addiction intervention and critical incident stress response. He is a U.S. DOT Qualified Substance Abuse Professional and has maintained a part-time private psychotherapy practice in Worcester since 1998. He completed the Practicum for Mindfulness Base Stress Reduction from the UMass Center for Mindfulness in 2005.  

The roots of Bob’s interest in co-founding HeartWell probably began from his introduction to mindfulness through the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh in the mid-1980’s.  His personal practice expanded after attending retreats at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health starting in 1989.  Bob met Zayda there in 2004.  They had both been living in the Worcester area and one their earliest conversations was expressing a mutual wish that Worcester would have an affordable, accessible place dedicated to healthy living and a place that supports people seeking to enrich their own contemplative practices. 

César Alberto Sobrino Chávez has given more than 500 workshops and conferences on topics related to mindfulness and neuroscience applied in the classroom for the creation of a culture of peace, leadership, altruism, and compassion, in Mexico and globally. His workshop topics include "Creative Leadership,” "Be the Leader of your life,” "Chase your dreams," "Open your eyes," and "CREACTIVATE." Cesar has taught as a professor at eight universities and is currently a professor at the Felipe Carrillo Puerto Higher Technological Institute, in Business Management Engineering. Cesar holds a Bachelor's Degree in Tourism Business Administration (1997), a Master's Degree in Business Planning and Regional Development (1999), a Bachelor's Degree in Bureaucratic Law (2013), and a Master's Degree in Education and Neurosciences (2021).

Coqui Negrón is a health educator, mindfulness teacher and changemaker with over three decades of experience in public health. Coqui has received training in different healing modalities such as Reiki, Polarity Therapy, Laughter Yoga and mindfulness and is committed to making those accessible to individuals and communities. Her work is inspired by her belief in the power of people and communities to heal themselves. She is a member of different collectives and community organizations in Worcester, Massachusetts that fight for economic, racial and language justice and brings to them her passion for creating welcoming, accessible, and inclusive environments for people of all ages, genders, and racial backgrounds. Coqui holds a Master of Education, with a concentration in Health, from Worcester State University and completed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher training at Brown University. Coqui is fluent in English and Spanish. 

Nancy’s commitment to human beings’ birthright to innate dignity, education, access to health care, economic freedom, communicative autonomy and holistic wellness, has been the driving force and motivation for her dedication to social and language justice work. Nancy is a public health leader, certified healthcare interpreter, educator, community organizer, and mindfulness teacher who has spent her career working on the front lines of some of our community’s most pressing public health challenges. Her career has been dedicated to serving communities disadvantaged by the system, advocating for equity and social change and combating the root causes of health disparities. Nancy’s work includes educating healthcare and community interpreters, community health workers, and healthcare providers. For over two decades Nancy’s work included providing culturally competent language access services, working to dismantle systemic disparities in access to healthcare. Her work also includes experience in community participatory research working with diverse populations.

Patricio Barriga has more than 30 years of experience in global business development as an entrepreneur, consultant, and coach. He is a certified MBSR teacher receiving his training from the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society; University of Massachusetts Medical School and The Mindfulness Center; and Brown University School of Public Health, Senior Instruct of CARE, Cultivating Awareness and Resilience for Educators. Additional training includes completion of the Center of Mindful Self Compassion curriculum and certification as instructor for Mindfulness without Borders program for youth and educators. 

Patricio serves as an International Relations Coordinator and Senior Instructor with the Institute for Mindful Leadership. He has been developing his Mindful Leadership experience for the last ten years. Patricio has been presenting and teaching workshops, retreats, seminars, and keynotes in schools, universities, congresses, and corporations, in Europe, US, and South America. He is a bilingual native Spanish speaker. He is interested in contributing to further develop Mindfulness programs to the world.​​​​​​​

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JLuz Camilo is a meditator, yoga, and Thai chi practitioner who believes that healing foster transformation, which can be achieved through small and consistent changes in our mental and physical habits.  Since 2014, Luz has been supporting families and individuals on their path to a healthier life through workshops for managing chronic conditions such as Diabetes, blood pressure, and asthma, among others, in the NYC area, and lately  as a behavioral coach statewide,  after getting certified as a community health worker (CHW) from La Guardia Community college. 

Soon in that process, Luz realized that a body without a balanced state of mind could not be sustained, therefore, in 2016 initiated her path to a mindfulness lifestyle when received her first MBSR training and multiple silent retreats since then. In November 2019, she was certified as a Yoga instructor by The Yoga Institute of Mumbai, India. In 2020 she was trained in trauma-informed Yoga from Exhale to Inhale (ETI), an organization that supports women facing domestic violence. After six years of mindfulness practice and challenging life experiences, Luz feels ready to support others and herself because the healing process never ends.