ABOUT
MEET OUR ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
at Mount Madonna, California
Administrative Team
Practicing The Yoga of Action
Mount Madonna’s activities in service of our mission – including engaging with our extended community, programming, day-to-day operations, campus management, and so much more – are carried out by a dedicated team of volunteers and paid staff, governed by the Hanuman Fellowship Board of Directors and Executive Director. Decades of volunteerism have laid the foundations for Mount Madonna’s strength and vitality today, and an embodied practice of karma yoga, or “the yoga of action.” It remains the ethos for all who are engaged in sustaining the organization.
We have to cultivate positive qualities in our day-to-day life. Life is not coming but going. Every single second is flying away from our lives.
If we are not trying to attain peace, then we have lost, are losing and will lose the previous seconds, minutes, hours, days and years of our lives.
BABA HARI DASS
Administrative Leadership
Mount Madonna Center
Executive Director
Prabha grew up at Mount Madonna Center, is an alumna of Mount Madonna School, and completed Mount Madonna’s Yoga Teacher Training 200-hour and 300-hour programs. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Hanuman Fellowship, focusing on finances, operations, staff development and supporting the overarching work of MMI, MMC (including the Temple), MMS, and SRA. Previously, Prabha worked at Starbucks for 26 years in various roles and recently retired to focus full-time on building and sustaining the HFS. She is grateful and passionate about the opportunity to support the Fellowship and its various vital entities in this next stage of growth and development.
Chief Financial Officer
Mohan came to Mount Madonna Center and School in 1987 and was an early participant in Power of Pranayama with Babaji and youth retreats, where he met his future wife, Yogita. Early on, he adopted Babaji’s saying, “Motivation to bring peace to others is the cause of peace within” as his north star. This led him to Stanford University and then UCSD, where he earned an M.I.A. in Nonprofit Management. From 2006 to 2021, Mohan served as CEO of FishWise, an internationally recognized nonprofit focused on sustaining our oceans through an integrated people + planet approach. Mohan brings a heart-centered approach to his work, coupled with deep expertise in strategy, governance, financial management, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Belonging, and alignment building..
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
she/hers
Lara grew up at Mount Madonna, is the first graduate of Mount Madonna School, and is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz. Lara brings many years of experience as educator, development director, and communications and marketing strategist in both nonprofit and private sector environments, including ocean environmental sustainability, the well-being of foster children, and high-tech. Lara also served as Director of Advancement for Mount Madonna School, where she supported her alma mater in building a new gym and achieving historic annual fundraising and student enrollment.
A proud parent to a Mount Madonna School alumna, and now a thrilled grandmother, Lara enjoys standup paddleboarding, yoga, traveling, reading, and spending time with friends and family. An enthusiastic nonprofit and business development professional with a talent for building meaningful relationships, Lara has a passion for lifelong learning and a dedication to making a difference in the lives of others.
Community Well-Being Director
she/hers
Haley received a Masters of Public Health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in 2013 and continued academic training with the Mount Madonna Institute College of Ayurveda and the University of Virginia Contemplative Sciences Center as a Dalai Lama Fellow from 2018-present. She is a board certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor with over 15 years of personal inquiry into the health benefits of yoga and Ayurveda. Prior to Mount Madonna, Haley directed communications for a research leadership program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Minneapolis, MN. Haley’s passion lies in understanding wisdom traditions and blending that wisdom with modern, evidence-based best practices for health and well-being.
Hanuman Temple Director
he/his
Janardan “JD” is a founding member of Mount Madonna Center and serves on the board of Sri Ram Foundation. For many years, he served on the Panchayat (Council of Elders) of Hanuman Fellowship. Janardan teaches the Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Tantra Yoga, and Vedic rituals. He serves as the head pujari (priest) of Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple.
Guest Services Director
she/hers
A corporate project manager turned yogi and environmentalist, Līlā (Leela) is a classical trained yoga instructor, yoga therapist, and author of Walking the Ancient Path of Yoga. Throughout her service-oriented career, she has trained yoga teachers and yoga therapists in the nuances of classical yogic wisdom, owned and operated yoga studios, and founded a 501c3 nonprofit organization that trained deaf people and sign language interpreters on the nuances of Yoga in American Sign Language.
Lila has been featured in leading yoga magazines, and in 2018 addressed the world’s dignitaries at the United Nations’ International Day of Yoga on the topic of Yoga for Peace. Lila dedicates her life to sharing the wisdom she gained from monks, spiritual seekers, gardeners, farmers, and nature lovers. She is committed to living a life that aligns with a collective vision of hope, love, community, reciprocity and healing as we usher in a new paradigm for life on Earth.
Operations Director
he/his
Travis arrived at Mount Madonna Center in 2023 following an 8 year tenure with a prominent naturopathic organization on the East Coast. His professional journey has predominantly been in Operations and Marketing leadership, with earlier experience in finance and working with individuals with special needs. After more than seven years of remote work from his home in San Diego, Travis recognized the absence of community in his life. Practicing non-attachment, he relinquished his possessions and relocated to the Santa Cruz Mountains, where he has been dedicated to cultivating a sense of belonging and empowerment within the community he has grown to cherish.
Operational Systems Director
Stephanie first moved to MMC in 2008, and has been active in a range of areas over the years, including Operations, Personnel, YSC facilitation, and Finance. After spending a year with family on the East Coast, she returned to the Center in April 2022. She currently serves as HFS Board Secretary and as MMC’s Director of Operational Systems. A YTT 300 graduate, she loves leading pranayama, meditation, and asana classes, while also being a lifelong student of the rich lineage of the Center. Her professional and academic background is in grassroots organizing and fundraising, international and community development, nonprofit management, child development counseling, and accounting. She is committed to fostering healthy community and positive human development, and feels honored to serve on the Board and support the HFS mission.
Management Staff
Mount Madonna Center
Lila Ansell
Finance Manager
John Davis
Controller
Dayanand Diffenbaugh
Manager, Land Planning
Soma Goresky
Manager, Land & Stewardship
Morgan Kennedy
Marketing & Communications Manager
Umesh Mallery
Operations Manager, Facilities & Maintenance
Diana Mengesha
Kitchen Manager
Sandra Riina
Human Resources Manager
Ram Sharan
Hanuman Temple Facilities Manager
Our Mission
The Attainment Of Peace
Hanuman Fellowship is organized, as inspired by the example and teachings of master yogi Baba Hari Dass, to promote the principles and practice of Yoga by means of sadhana (spiritual practice), karma yoga (selfless service) and satsang (supportive community), as well as other spiritual disciplines and learning that foster personal and spiritual development and wellness and that create an environment for the attainment of peace.
Mount Madonna Exists
At the intersection of practice and principle
At the intersection of teaching and learning
At the intersection of myth and history
At the intersection of looking back and moving forward
Support our Mission
Holding Space for Personal Transformation
Mount Madonna is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under the auspices of the Hanuman Fellowship and Advaita Society. Your gift will support stewardship of this vibrant learning community, inspirational wisdom tradition, and sacred land.
