Anastasia Virginillo
Co-Founder | CEO
Anastasia is a Co-Active Coach and a three time Certified Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher, with a specialty in working with teenage girls.
After experiencing the stress, anxiety, and overwhelm of her teenage years, she made a transformational decision to dedicate her time, energy, and leadership skills towards helping youth overcome their own personal obstacles and find their place in the world. Her passion for empowering others to become more confident, courageous, and resilient in their own lives has become the driving force behind her life’s work.
She is a role model for women who are struggling with mental health issues encouraging them to own their story and grow from their experiences.
When she is not working, you can find her in the forest exploring, riding horses, and reading books on the human psyche.
Michael Eisen
Co-Founder | CFO
Michael Eisen is a passionate, authentic, and inspirational speaker, author and coach. After positively transforming his own life at the age of 19 and overcoming challenges with stress, anxiety, depression, and sickness, he is now driven to share with other young people the principles, strategies, and practices that empowered him to start living a happier and healthier life.
Michael created the Youth Wellness Network at the age of 25, in order to provide more extensive support programs and resources for youth struggling with similar challenges.
Michael provides a fresh and authentic voice to the field of wellness and over ten years of working with youth in the education system he has become a youth wellness expert.
Jill mcpherson
Head Student Facilitator and Outreach Coordinator
Jill has been a teacher in the public school system for over 25 years. Her passion for learning led her to discover practices, traditions, and various schools of thought originating from many parts of the world. While integrating these lessons into her life and her classroom, Jill began to notice the positive impact and began hosting wellness workshops, eventually leading to her own TV show, Awakening Within, which ran for 4 seasons.
Today, Jill continues to take courses that deepen her skills and understanding of ways we can live in a more peaceful way with ourselves and others. In recent years, her course work and training have focused on Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and Convergent Facilitation. She incorporates her NVC training daily into her lessons and is thrilled to witness students improving their self confidence and peer relationships. She also loves how her training has resulted in her deepening her relationships with her husband as well as with her four children, allowing her to thoroughly enjoy her children as teenagers and young adults.
Jill is grateful to be living on a farm with her husband and children. Her daily morning yoga and meditation practice supports her in living all her passions as well as continually learning and growing from daily challenges, both big and small.
Carine Sroujian
All Ages Facilitator + Lead Presenter for Parents
As a certified life coach, a mindfulness and wellness facilitator, and a registered yoga teacher, Carine empowers youth, teachers, and parents to find inner peace, and helps them craft an authentically happy life that energizes them. As an authentic and inspirational speaker, Carine shares her story, practices, and strategies through powerful coaching techniques, self-care, play, meditation, and mindfulness.
After suffering from anxiety, depression, and stress throughout her childhood and well into her early adult years, Carine was motivated to make a change once she became a mother. Today, as a mom of two, she has made it her personal mission to share with youth and parents, the practical and powerful tools that allowed her to conquer her anxiety and find inner joy. She has a deep-rooted desire to support youth facing similar challenges as she did so that they don’t live through the difficulties and struggles she experienced growing up.
Certifications & Training
- Certified Life Coach (ICF Accredited school)
- Registered Yoga Teacher
- Registered Kids’ Yoga Teacher
- Certified Meditation Guide
- Certified ThetaHealer®
- Reiki Level 1
Lina Sloan, Grade 2/3 Teacher
POR West Glen Junior School
This year West Glen JS worked jointly with the Youth Wellness Network to promote wellness throughout the school. School leaders were chosen from grades 4 and 5 and mentored by 2 staff members. Our Students Wellness Leader trainer did a wonderful job both training and connecting to students on a wellness level. The leaders enjoyed her openness, friendly personality, and her ability to support them throughout each initiative.
The grade 4 and 5 students enjoyed their training and were able to practice various techniques that they could use both personally and on a leadership level with other students in various classrooms. They benefited from learning meditation techniques, mindfulness practices to promote self-esteem and self-worth.
The junior students enjoyed learning, planning, and leading mindfulness practices on a school- wide level. Students learned different techniques by participating in various roles throughout each initiative. Our first initiative, the Heart Wall was proudly displayed at the centre of our school. The “I am” statements were an easy and effective way to promote positive self talk in our school community. The students at West Glen enjoyed visiting the wall to read “I am” statements from their peers.
Another initiative we established was our daily positive affirmations. Our affirmations were posted in the school, in the classroom, and read daily on our morning announcements. I know as a classroom teacher, I discussed these daily affirmations and what they meant to us as members of our school community. This was a simple, yet effective method to promote positive self-talk amongst our students.
I feel that the Youth Wellness Network program was beneficial to our school community. It was able to provide us with the opportunity for student leadership and for a school-wide focus on wellness and well-being through our various initiatives.