Dr. Jordan AshleY | Founding Executive Director

Drawing on her experience as a journalist covering NGOs in Southeast Asia, where she observed a gap between well-intentioned efforts and community-led impact, Dr. Jordan Ashley built a career rooted in service and cultural sensitivity.

While later embracing New York City's fast-paced yoga culture, she recognized a need for a more service-based practice. In 2016, she founded Souljourn Yoga Foundation, a nonprofit that offers transformational yoga retreats and teacher training programs to raise awareness and funds for young women's education worldwide. Guided by the principle that yoga should fit the person, not the other way around, Souljourn Yoga integrates yoga, mindfulness, and the arts to help young women build confidence, find their voice, and engage in their communities — redefining the traditional donor-recipient relationship through meaningful exchange rather than one-way charity.

She holds a PhD in Sociology and an MA in Human Rights from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research examines embodied and somatic methodologies in feminist and decolonial contexts. She has conducted longitudinal ethnographic fieldwork with adolescent Amazigh girls in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains, where she developed participatory yoga teacher training as a feminist, somatic research method.

An activist, writer, TEDx speaker, and yoga educator with over 15 years of teaching experience, Dr. Ashley has been featured in Forbes, Marie Claire UK, Yoga Journal, and more.

TeAM & Advisory Board members

  • Finding balance in all aspects of life is something Mikel believes in whole-heartedly. Her full-time profession is in the world of Analytics, where she uses data to drive decision-making and strategy for businesses. With such a demanding career, maintaining mental, emotional and spiritual balance is key. This mindset is what drew her to the beautiful practice of yoga. In 2015, Mikel completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training. Throughout that time, her passion for yoga grew as she studied yogic principles that teach you how to achieve harmony between the mind, body and spirit. The more she practiced yoga, the more she saw these aspects of her life improve.

  • Born in Johannesburg and having lived in Israel & North America during various stages of his life - and now London - and having worked in more than 25 countries globally - provided him a deep appreciation of different culture norms & values, openness and adaptability to new experiences with an expansive and enviable global portfolio which spans across a diverse range of sectors including some of the world’s leading luxury hotel, spa & wellness brands and destinations. For more than two decades Motti has been promoting the narrative – which today is becoming a global realization - that one of the most powerful (and preferred by the local communities) ways of creating positive change, eliminating poverty and creating self-empowerment and enhanced wellbeing – especially for/amongst women in emerging and developing economies – is via creating economic and educational opportunities and not via charity and handouts.

  • Christine Moghadam, Founder of Corc Yoga also known as The Traveling Mom, built and manages a community of mindful travelers, wellness, and sustainability devotees responsible for the creation of the world’s most sustainable yoga mat, benefiting the people and the planet. As a global travel consultant and wellness enthusiast, she sponsors and leads global retreats in Spain, Portugal, the UK, and Greece, hosting 40+ powerful hospitality executives, CEOs, and spa managers at each event. Raised by entrepreneurs, she understands that building strong partnerships with communities and giving back is just part of smart business.

  • Rahul Sharma has ~20 years of experience as a private equity and venture capital investor, specializing in healthcare services and technology. He manages all investments for a $500M private sponsor through comprehensive financial analysis and market research. He has also led successful sales of several startups from inception to strategic exits (+$30M). He currently serve as Senior Vice President, Investments at Post Acute Partners, a healthcare services investment company. Previously, he was on the investment team at Howard Milstein’s private equity firm, Emigrant Capital. At Emigrant, he served as Chief Financial Officer for one of its portfolio companies, GroundLink, a competitor to Uber. He was integral in the successful sale of the company in 2010. Rahul started his career in leveraged finance at Credit Suisse and consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was on the Leadership Team of the Young Professionals Chapter at American India Foundation. AIF is a nonprofit founded under the aegis of President Bill Clinton. At AIF, Rahul raised $400,000 to sponsor education and healthcare programs in India. Rahul has a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from NYU's Stern School of Business and is a CFA charterholder.

  • Since childhood, Carly Quellman has utilized movement as an emotional regulation tool and outlet for creative expression. As a multimedia writer and director who's also a Trauma-Informed 200-RYT, Mental Health Coordinator, and Intimacy + Somatic Educator, Carly understands that our stories contain layered external and internal perspectives. In her experience, the most substantial change has come from leading with curiosity and learning through experience — all at the same time.

  • Award-winning auteur with 25+ years in creative, brand expert, mentor, and leader, Andrea is the Founder and Executive Creative Director at AQAD Blind Villains. He digs deep through creative strategy, archetypal processes, mythological references, and design thinking. He believes the foundation for any great brand is its culture and collaborates with his clients to produce work that resonates with core audiences, while also inspiring organizations and teams to lean-in and invest their best selves.

  • Sensitive to artists, space and context, she have developed, from London to Hong Kong, innovative projects and connections between artists, institutions, curators, critics and collectors. With care, curiosity and a passion for solution-finding, she has founded several initiatives including Young Collectors Collective, Art Bites, AORA and her creative agency, Apsara Studio.

  • Megan is a NYC-based dedicated health professional with a passion for improving global public health through education. Currently serving as a Senior Learning Strategist at FCB Health, Megan combines her expertise in behavioral science with her role in developing innovative health education programs and strategies.

    She is also pursuing her Doctorate in Community Health Education from Columbia University, furthering her commitment to advancing public health initiatives. Her research focuses on identifying effective methods for promoting health behavior change within communities, with a particular emphasis on underserved populations.

    Megan holds a Master of Science in Health & Behavior Studies, also from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Science in Health Science and Gerontology from Salisbury University. In her spare time, you can find Megan on her yoga mat, exploring new wellness practices, traveling the world, or volunteering her time to support initiatives that promote women's education and empowerment globally. With her diverse interests and unwavering dedication to making a positive impact, Megan is a true champion for health, education, and social change.

  • Kerrie is an NYC-based freelance writer and brand consultant who has primarily produced work for the tech, fashion, and wellness industries. Though she has worked in a myriad of industries, she strives to collaborate on projects that serve to benefit the global community. Kerrie began her yoga practice in 2014–a practice that has given her a better perspective on finding balance both within and without–and became a 200-RYT in 2017.