Bridging Hearts and Minds
“We need a culture of tenderness, where we stop forgetting that we belong to each other.”
Meena Srinivasan is a contemplative leader, celebrated speaker, accomplished author and visionary edupreneur. She is an educator-activist at heart, consistently championing the fusion of Mindfulness, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and Belonging. In 2022, she was featured as one of Mindful Magazine's "Ten Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement," while also gaining recognition in Educational Leadership Magazine for her insights into Mindful Leadership and Wellbeing. Her recent TEDx talk, Unlocking the Secret Powers of Tenderness, is one of the most popular TEDx talks of the year, with more than 2 million views already.
As a prominent voice in the field, she is the creative force behind the SEL Every Day online courses, author of Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom, SEL Every Day: Integrating SEL with Instruction in Secondary Classrooms which was chosen as one of 2019’s Favorite Books for Educators by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and Integrating SEL into Every Classroom Quick Reference Guide.
Meena with Selena Gomez
Meena is the Founding Executive Director of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL), a social venture project of the Tides Center. TEL is an immersive yearlong fellowship for educational leaders committed to the power of inner transformation, collective impact, and becoming seeds of radical change in their communities.
TEL is honored to be one of the first mental health grantees of the Rare Impact Fund, founded by philanthropist, actor and singer, Selena Gomez.
Meena is also the CEO of Karuna Consulting, LLC, an organization that takes its name from the Sanskrit word 'Karuna,' signifying compassion. Karuna Consulting is a nationally certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) driven by a profound mission: to foster a more compassionate world through Meena's keynotes, professional learning, coaching, and consulting services.
“What makes Meena stand out? She is the real deal. She walks the walk. What she offers is not just theory, it's rooted in a deep practice that comes from decades of experience. Meena is very different—wise yet humble, powerful yet gentle. She truly knows how to support individuals in navigating the challenges that come when creating new ways of being at the personal, professional and systems level. Both myself and my community have been transformed by her books, talks and meditations. In showing up so embodied, her presence is a catalyst for so many to bring their full selves to all that they do.”
Sarah Sampson, Founder of Art of the Circle
EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
Meena holds a Clear Administrative Services Credential in the state of California, is a National Board Certified Teacher, and an instructor of graduate level SEL courses at UC Berkeley. Prior to co-founding TEL, Meena worked in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) implementing SEL system-wide in the Oakland Unified School District. She has taught and led in a variety of school settings—public, private, urban and international schools. Outside of the education world, she has worked in the fields of journalism and public policy and had a variety of professional experiences at organizations including: ABC Network News, Reuters, Bloomberg, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the International Bureau of Education. A contributor to United Nations publications on inclusive education, Meena earned a Masters Degree in Education from UC Berkeley where she also studied Sanskrit and a Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Amherst College. Her international outlook was enhanced by studying abroad at the London School of Economics and teaching at the Graded American School in Sao Paulo, Brazil after graduating from college.
LINEAGE
With Kaira Jewel
With Shantum Seth
With Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn
With Sr. Chan Khong
A student of the late Ramchandra Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson) and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Thich Nhat Hanh, Meena was a contributor to Thich Nhat Hanh’s bestselling books Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children (Parallax Press, 2011) and Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education (Parallax Press, 2017). Meena also co-authored a chapter in Applied Mindfulness: Approaches in Mental Health for Children and Adolescents (American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2019) on “Mindfulness in School Settings” and trained to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at UMASS Medical School’s Stress Reduction Clinic.
Meena has been practicing Yoga and Meditation for over 25 years. She has been a Registered Yoga Teacher since 2005 in the lineage of Swami Satyananda and has been ordained into the Tiep Hien Lineage (Order of Interbeing) under Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh since 2010, is currently a Dharma Teacher Aspirant, and has been an active member of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism for more than 17 years. She’s also studied extensively with prominent spiritual teachers and lineage holders in other wisdom traditions. After graduate school, she spent five years living in her ancestral homeland of India, studying contemplative practices, while teaching at the American Embassy School and bringing mindfulness to educators and children across the region through Thich Nhat Hanh's India based non-profit Ahimsa Trust.
With His Holiness the 17th Karmapa
CONTEMPLATIVE LEADERSHIP
Meena is a recipient of the Hemera Foundation Contemplative Education Fellowship. She currently serves on the Board of the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation and the State of California’s Transformative SEL Council. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Mindfulness in Education Network (MiEN), was Core Faculty of the Mindful Education Institute, and served on the Advisory Board of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s exhibit, Yoga: The Art of Transformation, the first major exhibition to explore yoga. Through TEL, Meena also organizes the world’s longest running annual Mindfulness in Education Conference in partnership with the Omega Institute.
With Sharon Salzaberg
With Sebene Selassie
With Mirabai Bush
With Ali and Atman Smith
With Linda Lantieri, Resmaa Menakem and Michelle Chatman
With Tricia Hersey
With Satish Kumar
Meena’s family with Thupten Jinpa
FAMILY
Meena lives in Southern California on the traditional territory of the Luiseño/Payómkawichum people with her husband, Emmy nominated filmmaker, Chihiro Wimbush and their young son, Kailash Sora Wimbush. Ten years before her son’s birth Meena made a pilgrimage to Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash, her son’s namesake
At the Emmy Awards with Chihiro
Meena, Chihiro and Kailash
At Lake Manasarovar
At Mount Kailash
Touching the Untouchable
A film by Chihiro Wimbush & Meena Srinivasan
Bringing together their passion for education, media, mindfulness and social justice, Meena and her husband, Chihiro started A Lens Inside, a non-profit organization. A Lens Inside promotes a mindful sense through media and education. You can view their short documentary, Touching the Untouchable, and access the guide for education and engagement to accompany the film. Touching the Untouchable is the story of the empowerment of a Dalit, Untouchable, community in Tamil Nadu, India and their relationship with Venerable Pannavati, an African-American Buddhist Nun.
SPEAKING
Looking for a speaker or facilitator in the fields of Wellness, Mindfulness, or Emotional Intelligence to empower and inspire your team towards transformation?
COURSES
Earn 3-6 Graduate Level Credits while you transform your life and gain practical guidance on implementing Social and Emotional Learning into your school community.
BOOKS
You can take a deep dive into the topics of Social and Emotional Learning or Mindfulness in the Classroom through Meena’s acclaimed books written for educators.
