Transforming Adversity into Acts of Service

Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and service? Join us for an empowering session, "Discovering Your Service Path," where we'll delve into the profound impact of service on personal growth and the world around us. Led by Julian Pistone, a seasoned advisor, keynote speaker, Buddhist practitioner, and founder, along with Sabina de Duonni, somatic coach and Mental Health Lead, this participatory event will ignite meaningful discussions about the transformative power of service in your own life. Through guided conversations and breakout groups, you'll identify areas where you can be of service to others or yourself, turning your adversities into a source of strength and impactful action. Unleash your potential, embrace your purpose, and let's take action together for positive change.

Julian Pistone Bio

Julian Pistone is an esteemed advisor, keynote speaker, and Buddhist practitioner with a decade of experience at Google, where he led well-being initiatives across EMEA and LATAM. Passionate about purpose-driven leadership, Julian is also a podcaster, sharing insights on courage and transformation. With a deep-rooted interest in Buddhist philosophy and transpersonal psychology, Julian's mission is to inspire others to live authentically and align with their true purpose.

Sabina de Duonni Bio

Sabina de Duonni is an advocate for well-being and authentic living. Her journey of self-discovery began with profound reflection after experiencing life's challenges. Drawing upon her academic background in Psychology and Neuroscience, Sabina immersed herself in the film, business, and technology industries. Through personal transformation, she uncovered the power of listening to her emotions, connecting strengths, passions, and skills, and living with purpose. Now, as a well-being advocate, Sabina guides others to embrace their unique path and discover their potential for meaningful impact.

About Reimagine and the “Transforming Adversity to Acts of Service” series

Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community of diverse backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths, coming together to heal ourselves and the world. Our transformative event series, "Transforming Adversity into Acts of Service," delves into the profound impact of acts of service on personal growth and community empowerment. Join us in exploring how service can create a ripple effect of healing, connection, and empowerment, and discover the potential of service to transform pain, loss, grief, and adversity into a pathway of living a life of purpose and positive change. Together, let's uncover the transformative power of service and foster a sense of belonging in the face of challenges.

This interactive workshop delves deeper into how service can become a tool for healing and personal growth. Led by renowned yoga and meditation teacher, Peter Walters, we will engage in group exercises and dialogue designed to explore how service can unlock the power of post-traumatic growth. As a Prison Yoga Project yoga teacher, Peter has spent a few years sharing practices of yoga, mindfulness, meditation and embodiment with inmates in San Quentin prison. Through this, he has unveiled unique insights into how we can transform even the hardest things in life into meaning and opportunity.

From finding the courage to share personal experiences to learning how to translate them into acts of service, this workshop will provide a practical toolkit to foster resilience and purpose. Participants will also partake in a guided mindfulness and meditation practice.

Peter Walters Bio

Peter Walters is a San Francisco Bay Area based yoga teacher, practitioner of kindness, and a devoted student of life. He teaches an experiential, music-infused, devotional vinyasa class with a playful, soulful and joyous spirit.

Peter is on a mission to help people become students of their lives-- to soften their edges, to find devotion, to practice unconditional love, to open their hearts and voices so they may truly Begin Again.

When he's not teaching you can find him running (slowly), motorcycling windy roads (quickly), hiking mountains and volunteering with The Prison Yoga Project.

Peter has studied extensively with Rusty Wells, Janet Stone and Jason Crandall. Come ready to sweat, chant and offer everything up to the heart of the Beloved! OM

Follow Peter’s journey on Instagram instagram.com/peterwaltersyoga and check out his upcoming retreats and schedule peteryoga.com

About Prison Yoga Project

Prison Yoga Project is an awesome nonprofit organization that provides trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices to incarcerated people around the world. The effects of this are enormous – rehabilitation, reduction of recidivism, improved public safety, and the mental health of people who may have been locked up for decades! I found this organization in a time when yoga was feeling like an indulgence – a privilege only for people of means. I wanted to share what I love with marginalized populations and people who could help in a different, yet hugely meaningful way. Since I began working with them, I’ve had the honor of sharing the practice with incarcerated men at San Quentin State Prison. It’s amazing to be in that type of ‘hard’ environment and see first hand how much the practice helps. One guy who used to practice with me inside was released during the pandemic and actually came on a local retreat with me and we’re now friends. It’s pretty remarkable.

About Reimagine and the “Transforming Adversity to Acts of Service” series

Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community of diverse backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths, coming together to heal ourselves and the world. Our transformative event series, "Transforming Adversity into Acts of Service," delves into the profound impact of acts of service on personal growth and community empowerment. Join us in exploring how service can create a ripple effect of healing, connection, and empowerment, and discover the potential of service to transform pain, loss, grief, and adversity into a pathway of living a life of purpose and positive change. Together, let's uncover the transformative power of service and foster a sense of belonging in the face of challenges.

Join us for an enlightening discussion as we kick off our transformative three-part series, "Transforming Adversity into Acts of Service." In this event, we will explore the profound impact of acts of service on our personal growth and the communities around us.

Our distinguished speakers, Becca Bernstein, Head of Option B, and Marisa Renee Lee, former staff in the Obama administration and author of "Grief is Love," along with Julian Pistone, co-founder of cor•age, and Shekinah Eliassen, CEO of George Mark Children's House, will share their experiences, insights, and advice on how service can become a powerful tool for navigating adversity, fostering resilience, unity, and purpose.

In this discussion, we aim to inspire and educate on the empowering potential of service, from small acts of kindness to impactful social initiatives. Be prepared for a thought-provoking conversation that sets the stage for our August series, where we'll explore the transformative power of acts of service and their potential to bring about profound growth, unity, and positive change in the world.

Join us as we embark on this journey of discovering the profound impact of acts of service, and uncover the ways we can transform adversity into meaningful action and healing. This event promises to inspire, educate, and empower, setting the tone for a series of engaging discussions and transformative workshops to come.

Becca Bernstein Bio

Becca Bernstein (they/them) has dedicated their career to transforming the ways that we talk about - and heal from - loss and hardship. Becca served for four years as the National Community Director of The Dinner Party, an organization that connects grievers in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s to each other to engage in peer community and support. They are the founder of Collective Care Consulting and Trainings, which strives to teach people the infrastructure for how to more deeply connect with one another in an age of loneliness and isolation. And they are currently the Head of Option B out of the Sheryl Sandberg, Dave Goldberg, and Tom Bernthal Family Foundation, which reached over 18 million people in the last year with education and support for those who are facing loss and hardship themselves and those who are supporting loved ones through life's hardest moments. Becca lives in Chicago, Illinois, with their sweet dog, Pepper, surrounded by a network of chosen and biological family that's been strengthened by the experience of loss.

Marisa Renee Lee Bio

Marisa Renee Lee is a called-upon grief advocate, entrepreneur, and bestselling author of "Grief is Love."

Deemed "the friend we all wish we had in times of need" by Elaine Welteroth, Marisa is able to utilize research-based advice and wisdom to help others navigate the complicated and dark emotions we face when experiencing loss, offering unique insights for women and Black communities.

In addition to her work in the grief space, Lee is a former appointee in the Obama White House and CEO of Beacon Advisors, a mission-driven consulting firm primarily focused on racial equity. She is a rabble-rouser of social healing: former managing director of My Brother's Keeper Alliance; co-founder of the digital platform Supportal; and founder of The Pink Agenda, a national organization dedicated to raising money for breast cancer care, research, and awareness.

Lee also regularly contributes to Glamour, Vogue, the Atlantic, MSNBC, and CNN and serves as an expert for Ritual's well-being app. She is a Harvard graduate and an avid home cook. Marisa lives in upstate New York with her husband, Matt, their son Bennett, and their dog, Sadie.

Julian Pistone Bio

Julian Pistone is a buddhist practitioner with 10 years experience at Google, where he led well-being initiatives across Europe and Latin America. After losing his father to cancer and recovering from a long-term health battle, Julian co-founded 𝐜𝐨𝐫•𝐚𝐠𝐞, a series of death contemplation retreats. His gatherings run alongside pioneering experts in psychedelic therapy and unite global change-makers: impact founders, activists, business leaders, philanthropists, creatives, war zone correspondents, and beyond. The goal: to help participants embrace mortality, and connect with death as the catalyst for greater purpose and societal impact.

Julian has spoken on courage at TEDx and LEAP, the digital Davos. He is currently producing an interview series with Joshua Sage, the award-winning filmmaker and social entrepreneur, to share stories of how adversity and loss can fuel bravery and meaning. He is passionate about transpersonal psychology, off-the-beaten-track traveling and pizza.

Shekinah Eliassen Bio

Shekinah has over 20 years of experience in Business Strategy, Brand Management, and eCommerce. She is passionate about building brands and organizations with purpose. She has lived in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and London, where she developed teams to build brands and digital disruption at Unilever and Clorox.

She increased her involvement in philanthropy and service focused organizations since 2012 when she and her husband, Peter, lost their first son, Lars, at three weeks old to a terminal brain condition. Shekinah and Peter savored the days they had with Lars at the heartwarming George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, CA. Shekinah continued her professional career while always staying connected to GMCH, including joining as a Board Member in August 2020.

In October 2022, Shekinah was named CEO of GMCH, where she’s leading the organization in providing respite and palliative care for children and families in the Bay Area. Shekinah is blessed with an incredible husband, Peter, and two energetic children, Finley (9) and Isak (7).

About George Mark Children’s House

George Mark Children’s House, located in San Leandro, California, focuses on quality of life and continuity of care for children with illnesses that modern healthcare cannot yet cure, or for those who have chronic medical conditions.

About Reimagine and the “Transforming Adversity to Acts of Service” series

Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community of diverse backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths, coming together to heal ourselves and the world. Our transformative event series, "Transforming Adversity into Acts of Service," delves into the profound impact of acts of service on personal growth and community empowerment. Join us in exploring how service can create a ripple effect of healing, connection, and empowerment, and discover the potential of service to transform pain, loss, grief, and adversity into a pathway of living a life of purpose and positive change. Together, let's uncover the transformative power of service and foster a sense of belonging in the face of challenges.