Our People

Our small but mighty Mindful Littles family includes passionate staff, dedicated board members, and long-standing advisors. With leaders from education, nonprofit, and technology sectors, our team brings deep expertise to amplify our mission, guide strategic growth, and champion our vision.

Tanuka Gordon
Founder & CEO

Tanuka is the Founder & CEO of Mindful Littles, where she brings a fervent passion for youth education and mission-driven leadership, combined with more than 15 years of experience in technology product management at companies including Ancestry, Travelocity, and Andersen Consulting.

Tanuka’s expertise in building innovative, high-impact digital experiences drives Mindful Littles’ vision: to integrate service learning, social-emotional education, and technology in ways that empower youth and school communities through a scalable and sustainable strategy.

Recognized as a rising leader in education, Tanuka has spoken at national education conferences and is a Jefferson Award recipient for public service. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from UCLA and an MBA/Master’s in Information Management from the University of Michigan, where she focused on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). She is also a certified yoga and mindfulness instructor.

Read more about our Founding Story

Tanuka Gordon

Founder & CEO, Board Member

Sadhana Cardozo is the Community Engagement Coordinator at Mindful Littles, where she amplifies the organization’s mission by supporting digital marketing, communications, and community events. A passionate advocate for food justice, public health, and sustainability, Sadhana brings a rich background in education, communications, and research to her role.

Before joining Mindful Littles, Sadhana served as an AmeriCorps member with FoodCorps, teaching nutrition, environmental science, and mindfulness to elementary students, leading family engagement events, and supporting district-wide wellness initiatives. She has also contributed to research and strategic communications for food-focused education programs, combining media and outreach experience to drive engagement and impact.

Sadhana holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Minor in Global Studies from UCLA.

Sadhana Cardozo

Community Engagement Coordinator

Eliza Becker

Board Member, Education Leader

Eliza Becker is a seasoned elementary school educator with more than 10 years of classroom teaching experience and a long-time board member of the national education nonprofit CoachArt. She brings to Mindful Littles a deep understanding of how educational programs can cultivate positive behavior change in youth.

After experiencing the impact of Mindful Littles firsthand as a parent participant in 2017, Eliza became a passionate ambassador of the organization’s mission. She has played a crucial role in expanding the organization’s reach with schools and community partners, helping strengthen its impact across communities.

Eliza Becker

Board Member, Education Leader

Marcela Robledo

Board Member, Content Licensing Strategy

Marcela  is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb’s Bay Area office, where she focuses on intellectual property, data, and technology matters, including licensing, collaborations, and joint ventures. She brings this deep legal and strategic expertise to Mindful Littles, providing invaluable guidance as the organization expands its digital programs and curriculum.

A parent participant of Mindful Littles and passionate ambassador, Marcela has been instrumental in driving corporate giving, volunteer engagement initiatives, and creative community fundraising events. She also loves planning parties and helping build fun, engaging experiences that support Mindful Littles’ mission and connect with the community.

Marcela Robledo

Board Member, Content Licensing & Strategy

Blake Hedlund
Advisor, Digital Content & Technology

Blake brings a wealth of experience in video production and learning technology, combining creativity and technical expertise to support Mindful Littles' digital strategy.

For Mindful Littles, Blake provides video production support and technical guidance for learning management systems, helping the organization scale programs that connect children, content, and community.

His work supports Mindful Littles’ mission to make service learning and social-emotional programs accessible through technology platforms.

Blake Hedlund

Advisor, Digital Content & Technology

Dr. Stephanie Machado, DrPH, MPH
Advisor, Program Evaluation & Public Health Research

Dr. Stephanie Machado is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health and Health Services Administration at California State University, Chico. With a background in public health nutrition and implementation science, her work centers on school and community-based interventions that support the health and well-being of low-income youth and families.

At Mindful Littles, Stephanie provides program evaluation and public health research guidance to help the organization measure impact, strengthen programs, and inform long-term strategy. She received her Doctorate of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, her MPH from the University of Arizona, and her BA from Middlebury College.

Dr. Stephanie Machado

Advisor, Program Evaluation & Public Health Research

Lauren Vertrees Wilson
Advisor, Curriculum & Student Success

Lauren Wilson is an education leader with deep experience in school systems, curriculum development, and mindfulness education. She began her career teaching diverse student populations in Denver, Colorado, where she witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of mindfulness in her classroom — an experience that helped her immediately connect to Mindful Littles’ mission in 2019. She has been a passionate supporter ever since.

Lauren also has worked in education policy at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and at XQ Institute, focusing on reimagining school systems to better support students. At Mindful Littles, she brings this expertise to curriculum development and student success strategies. Lauren holds a Master’s in Elementary Education from USC and a B.A. in Managerial Economics from UC Davis. She is also a certified yoga and mindfulness instructor.

Lauren Vertrees Wilson

Advisor, Curriculum & Student Success

Robyn Hoover
Advisor, Education & Intellectual Property Strategy

Robyn Hoover is an education and intellectual property leader with over 20 years of experience in mission-driven organizations. As Director of Intellectual Property Acquisition, Creation & Compliance at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), she builds partnerships that honor creators, communities, and learners while ensuring ethical use of content.

A passionate mental health advocate, Robyn co-led HMH’s Mental Health Matters ERG and is a certified Mental Health First Aider, designing inclusive programs that normalize mental health conversations, strengthen belonging, and support educator well-being.

Deeply aligned with Mindful Littles’ compassion-plus-service approach, Robyn brings experience mobilizing volunteers and community partners — including hospice nonprofit work — to help equip teachers and children with practical mindfulness tools that foster resilience and joy.

Robyn Hoover

Advisor, Education & Intellectual Property

Michelle Chang
Advisor, School Administration & District Partnerships

Michelle Chang first experienced Mindful Littles in early 2019 as a parent participant and immediately wanted to bring the program to her school, where she was serving as principal. Since then, she has remained a steadfast supporter of the Mindful Littles mission, providing guidance on the organization’s school expansion strategy.

Michelle is a district administrator in the San Francisco Unified School District, where she supports school leaders in professional development, building support structures, troubleshooting, and communications across 21 school sites. She also serves as an advisor to the district’s Pacific Islander Coordinator.

With a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership, a B.A. in Biology, a Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential, and a supplemental credential in science, Michelle brings deep experience in school administration and district-level operations.

Michelle Chang

Advisor, School District Administrator

Cuong Nguyen
Advisor, Education & People Operations

Cuong Nguyen is an experienced people operations leader who currently works at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and previously served as Head of People Operations for the national education nonprofit Playworks, where he gained expertise in scaling HR systems for growing organizations.

A longtime advisor to Mindful Littles since 2019, Cuong has been instrumental in applying his experience to support Mindful Littles’ people operations, drawing on his work with other education organizations to help ensure the team is structured and supported to scale programs and advance its mission effectively.

Cuong Nguyen

Advisor, Education & People Operations

Desirée Aquino
Advisor, Social Impact & Corporate Engagement

Desirée Aquino has been part of the Mindful Littles community since 2019, first as a parent participant, then as a donor and board member, and now as an advisor. She has been instrumental in shaping the organization’s corporate giving and volunteer programs, helping expand Mindful Littles’ footprint and impact.

Desirée brings extensive experience in social impact and nonprofit communications, having managed partnerships and sponsorships for organizations such as Simpson Strong-Tie, Save The Bay, and the former Cancer Prevention Institute of California.

Today, she provides social impact, fundraising, and corporate engagement support to Mindful Littles, ensuring the organization’s mission reaches more schools, children, and communities. Desirée holds a Life Coach certification and a B.A. in English with a specialization in Asian American Studies from UCLA.

Desiree Aquino

Advisor, Social Impact & Corporate Engagement

Adina Macinca
Advisor, Data & Analytics

Adina Macinca is passionate about using data to tell meaningful stories that drive compassion and connection. In her role as Director of Data and Analytics at Stanford Health Care, she helps teams turn complex information into clear insights that improve health outcomes and strengthen collaboration across the organization.

As an advisor to Mindful Littles, Adina brings her experience in data strategy and impact measurement to help the organization capture and share the powerful ways it touches children, families, and communities. She is deeply inspired by Mindful Littles’ mission to nurture kindness and empathy—and believes that combining heart and data can create lasting change.

Adina Macinca

Advisor, Data & Analytics

Maggie Roach Black
Advisor, Education & Executive Leadership

Maggie Roach Black is the Co-Founder of Bloom Leadership, where she coaches, trains, and consults with the goal of making workplaces more effective and supportive. She previously served as Vice President of Programs for Galileo Learning (Camp Galileo), bringing extensive experience in executive leadership within national education organizations.

A longtime advisor to Mindful Littles, Maggie provides executive leadership guidance and strategic support, helping the organization strengthen its programs, scale its impact, and advance its mission.

Maggie holds a B.A. in Psychology & Political Science and an M.A. in Education, both from Stanford University.

Maggie Roach Black

Advisor, Education & Executive Leadership

Gaynor Brown
Advisor, Education Innovation

Gaynor Brown played a critical role in establishing The Teacher’s Guild, an organization incubated at IDEO, a global innovation and design consultancy, that activates teachers’ creativity to solve major challenges. She has also served as a long-time advisor to IDEO, bringing expertise in design thinking and educational innovation.

Since 2020, Gaynor has been an advisor to Mindful Littles, helping to strengthen the organization’s culture of design thinking and innovation and supporting its mission to connect children, families, and communities through compassion.

Gaynor Brown

Advisor, Education Innovation

Christine Tringale
Advisor, Corporate Engagement & Social Impact

Christine Tringale is the Vice President of Data & Strategy Initiatives at Deed, a corporate giving platform, and brings extensive experience leveraging data and strategy to amplify social impact across sectors. She previously served as Director of Data & Analytics at VIVA Social Impact Partners and has held strategy roles with Participant Media, Disney, LEK Consulting, and Deloitte Consulting.

Christine has been an advisor to Mindful Littles since 2019, inspired by the organization’s cross-sector impact connecting youth education and corporate engagement. She has been instrumental in supporting corporate engagement and expansion, helping to amplify Mindful Littles’ corporate footprint.

Christine earned her MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a B.S. in Business from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Christine Tringale

Advisor, Social Impact & Corporate Engagement

John McCormick
Advisor, Technology & Community Engagement

John McCormick brings a unique blend of technology expertise, civic leadership, and community engagement to his advisory role with Mindful Littles. A seasoned technologist with more than 30 years in the industry, John is also a dedicated community leader, currently serving on the Lafayette City Council and the boards of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, The Park Theater Trust, and The Napa County Historical Society.

John holds an engineering degree from UC Berkeley—where he was a proud Cal Band member—and a master’s in history from Harvard University. Along with his wife, Colleen, he owns Lamorinda Music, a beloved local hub for arts and connection. At Mindful Littles, John supports technology strategy and helps strengthen community partnerships to advance the organization’s mission.

John McCormick

Advisor, Technology & Community Engagement

Molly Bellero Fischer
Advisor, Corporate & Community Engagement

Molly is a seasoned technology executive and sales leader, having held leadership roles at companies including Salesforce and Twilio, where she gained extensive experience in scalability and high-growth initiatives. She brings this lens to her advisory role, providing guidance to support Mindful Littles’ strategic growth objectives.

Molly first connected with Mindful Littles through local teen leadership programs in her community. She has served as a board member and is now an advisor, helping to amplify the organization’s fundraising efforts. She also volunteers with Lion’s Heart, running a service volunteer group for teen girls.

Molly Bellero Fischer

Advisor, Strategic Growth 

"Wow, on behalf of our Girl Scouts troop, a heart-felt Thank You for the thoughtful and enlightening workshop! We are so excited about the breathing and movement skills you shared, linking the concepts of feeling good and doing good, and reminding us these calming tools are useful everyday! This was an invaluable workshop, really well done, and we so appreciate what you all do!”
— Bay Area parent and Girl Scout Troop leader
"I would 100% recommend this program to any school or district as a way to help students learn and utilize social/emotional life long skills and strategies to become more engaged and better learners."
— Michelle John, Superintendent, Paradise Unified
"I learned that in life you have ups and you have downs. I learned something...that is not easy to learn. I learned how much one person can change a whole community."
— 5th grade participant, Mindful Service Learning