Trustees & Board of Directors Breathworks Foundations Board of Trustees The Breathworks Foundation has a Board of Trustees who share a love of mindfulness and a deep appreciation of its positive effects. They meet quarterly to guide the work of The Foundation and the team, as well as approve fund allocations. Prasadu, Chair of the Board is Director of Psychology & Honorary Buddhist Chaplain with Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. He has held various posts as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS during his extensive career and currently runs a chronic pain management programme within his role. His past includes a period as Technician Engineer in the Royal Air Force 1967-1977. He then went on to explore psychology, gaining a BSc (Psychology) from Hull University 1980 and MSc (Clinical Psychology) Manchester University 1982. Prof. Dominic Houlder is one of Europe’s leading experts on strategy execution in B2B and professional services firms. He helps the leaders of major firms to connect with their clients, their colleagues and themselves in different and compelling ways. Dominic brings a unique mix of theory, practical experience, and spiritual insight to his work. He is Adjunct Professor in Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management at London Business School where he has been based since 1994. Previously, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group and held senior leadership positions in the corporate world. His clients have ranged from Deutsche Bank and Saatchi & Saatchi to British Airways and the UK Ministry of Defence. A committed Buddhist practitioner for more than 30 years and back in 2001 he co-authored ‘Mindfulness and Money, the Buddhist Heart of Abundance’ just as mindfulness was being spoken about. In 2019 he authored 'What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader'. Dominic also serves as a Trustee of the Clore Social Leadership Foundation, a Governor and Council Member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and as a Trustee of the Karuna Trust as well as being a crofter on the Isle of Skye. Dr. Gill Parry has worked as a Pediatrician for over 30 years. Currently, she is working with children in foster care or placed for adoption. She is also a Designated Doctor for safeguarding in Kirklees, Yorkshire and is the safeguarding trustee lead for Breathworks. Gill has suffered from depression herself and sees many children who have suffered significant neglect and emotional abuse. She is particularly interested in mental well-being and wants to support Breathworks to grow its impact and reach. Robert Jones Robert brings extensive experience of scaling organisations, having been Managing Director of Windhorse Trading for 23 years. At its peak Windhorse Trading was turning over £12 million per annum and was listed as one of the Independent's UK top 100 fastest growing companies several years running. Robert also has extensive experience of managing a charitable enterprise with a trading company, which is a similar structure to the Breathworks Group, therefore offering invaluable advice as we grow the impact of Breathworks. Ruth Cheesley Ruth has a background in web and digital technologies, having created and grown a full-service digital agency over seven years. She also has a long history of building and growing communities within the voluntary and corporate sectors and brings these skills to help Breathworks continue to grow and deliver on its mission. Ruth lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which results in hypermobility, fatigue and pain. She has found the techniques that Breathworks teaches to be transformative in allowing her to live her life to the full and manage her health in a positive way. Having largely recovered from a health crash, she is now exploring sport and fitness, is a keen runner, and as ambassador for This Girl Can, encouraging girls and women to lead more active, healthier lives. Sally Jones Sally has operated at board level in a range of senior executive positions and has a diverse background across complex organisations. In her previous roles as Chief Operating Officer Sally has developed a strong interest in authentic, mindful leadership and working collaboratively to co-create solutions that enhance individual and operational capability. Attending the Breathworks Mindfulness for Stress course was a pivotal experience in Sally’s life, and she shares our core values and vision of developing the reach of mindfulness in supporting people to live more fulfilling lives at home and at work. Sally has significant experience in strategic planning, business transformation, organisational design and change and believes that creating an inclusive, compassionate and connected culture is central to building happiness, resilience and reducing stress. Breathworks CIC Board of Directors Vidyamala Burch, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board Vidyamala co-founded Breathworks CIC in 2004 and is now recognised as an international leader in Mindfulness-based Pain Management. She has written three books including the best-selling ‘Mindfulness for Health’ (co-authored with Danny Penman). This was awarded First Prize in Popular Medicine in the British Medical Association Books Awards. In 2018 Vidyamala was awarded an honorary membership to the British Pain Association. This was for her extraordinary contribution to the field of pain management with the development of Mindfulness-based Pain Management (MBPM). Visit Vidyamala's Website Sona Fricker, Co-Founder and Executive Director Sona has practised and taught mindfulness, meditation and related disciplines around the world for over forty years. He was involved in the establishment and running of several meditation centres, including founding a public centre in Stockholm, Sweden, and working as Director of a retreat centre in the UK, where he spent much of his time leading and attending intensive retreats. He has led retreats and Buddhist training programmes in the UK, Germany, Holland, Sweden, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Olly Church, Non-Executive Director Olly spent nine years as an officer in the British Army, followed by three years as an intelligence officer. After moving on from the public sector following a period of poor mental health, Olly then spent a number of years as an Operations Director and Programme Manager in the private sector before co-founding The Eleos Partnership in 2019. Over the last twenty years, Olly has used his experiences of leadership in challenging situations to understand and nurture resilience in himself and his colleagues. Naturally accident-prone, a career as a missionary, soldier, intelligence officer and coach have offered plenty of opportunities to test the concept to the full, resulting in a deep appreciation of the benefits of mental fitness. His biggest challenge to date has been a self-determined recovery from physical and psychological injuries sustained whilst fighting in Afghanistan. Seeking to understand and enhance his recovery, Olly has qualified as an emotional coach, Mental Health First Aid instructor and mental resilience training instructor in a bid to share the insights learned during difficult times. Olly is driven to help individuals and organisations to achieve their potential by contributing to inspirational, purpose-driven leadership and organisational cultures rejuvenated by embracing the opportunities offered by cultivating mental fitness. Gillian Roche-Saunders, Non-Executive Director Gillian brings her extensive business experience to the board as we focus on the strategy and growth of our workplace meditation programme. Through her work supporting businesses and her own entrepreneurial journey, Gillian developed a keen interest in the factors that help people be at their best in the workplace in a sustainable way. She shares our vision that meditation brings huge benefits to team members, leaders and employers in terms of resilience, stress management and mental fitness. Gillian founded and grew an award-winning regulatory consultancy at city law firm Bates Wells, and in 2019 spun the business into Adempi Associates. Adempi provides financial services firms with direct access to senior compliance expertise. Gillian is a director of the EIS Association, a mentor to entrepreneurs for the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and supports a number of incubators focused on financial services and social enterprise.