Robyn Donaldson, J.D.
Executive Director
Robyn has worked with national organizations and leaders such as Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight Action, Latosha Brown, and Cliff and April Albright’s BlackVoters Matter, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s and President Biden’s senatorial and presidential campaigns; U.S. Institute of Peace, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Prairie Hills School District #144, Local Progress and more.
Robyn has been teaching yoga for nearly 15 years. She’s a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider; and trains beginning to advanced Yoga Teachers. She is also the Co-Founder of Paths to Peace, a team of Trauma Informed Yoga Educators, Healing Artists and Therapists who offer consulting and programming in Mental Health, Trauma Informed Care, Community Building and Restorative Justice.
Robyn has co-created and designed various mental health programs for some of the top organizations in the country. She has over 1,000 hours of expert and specialized training in Trauma Informed Yoga, Restorative Justice Circles, Prison Informed Yoga, Juvenile Justice Meditation, Building Inclusive Communities through Movement, Trauma Informed Yoga for Children and Teens; and Racialized Trauma.
She also has two Yoga Teacher Trainings in Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga. Robyn is 1 out of 5 black teachers in the world who has an Advanced Yoga Teacher Training in Prana Vinyasa. She’s the ONLY Prana Vinyasa and Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher in Illinois AND Georgia.
Robyn has over 3,000 hours of yoga teaching experience across various platforms and communities: yoga studios, gyms, corporate settings, municipalities, junior high schools, senior living communities, conferences and virtually through online classes. She taught yoga for 5 years at the Centers for Disease Control in their Corporate Wellness Centers across 5 CDC campuses in Atlanta, GA.
During that time she Co-Founded, The Yoga House ATL, a private home yoga studio that centered black people, women of color and larger bodied practitioners who were interested in yoga, but did not feel comfortable going to a conventional yoga studio.
She’s a former lawyer who is passionate about politics, who worked on Jon Ossoff’s 2020 Senate Runoff Campaign; for Stacey Abrams’ organizations and Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential campaign. She’s an advocate and activist for social change and eradicating racism.
Robyn is a proud graduate from the University of Illinois-Chicago Law School and Florida A&M University (FAMU). She also studied International Human Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Western Cape in South Africa and University College London in the UK.
Vanessa Valenzuela, Artist
Vanessa, is an artist, yoga teacher; and author. She's studying clinical psychology focused on expressive arts therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She also studied Urban and Regional Planning at Cal Poly Pomona.
Barbara Donaldson
Retired Principal, Counselor & Librarian
Barbara Donaldson is a retired Educator whose career spans over 40 years. After retiring as a Principal of an elementary school in the south suburbs of Chicago, she started Edudon, Inc., an educational consulting company, which focused on student teacher development and employment opportunities for high school students entering the workforce.
Barbara has a variety of experience in education. She was an Assistant Principal, Guidance Counselor, Librarian and classroom teacher.
Her dedication to education led her to obtaining her Master’s of Arts in Human Learning and Development/Urban Education; and she obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education from DePaul University.
Barbara has served on the Girl Scouts of America’s Executive Board; and she has volunteered for various organizations, such as the League of Women Voters and the Boys and Girls Club of America. She’s a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Presently, she is a Board Member of Grande Prairie Library District and serves on the Executive Board of We the Peace, a local not for profit, which offers scholarships and youth mental health programs.
Joe Bertrand
City Council Member
Joe Bertrand has a variety of government experience in cities and local municipalities, as well as community and relations and outreach. His career has included being the Executive Director of the Hazel Crest Park District; City Manager, a Board of Director for The Link and Options Center; and Trustee for the Markham, Illinois Fire Pension Board. Bertrand has served as a Trustee of the Bremen Township; and Liaison to the Mayor of Hazel Crest, IL. Presently, he’s a City Council Member of the Village of Markham.
Dr. Robert B. Donaldson, II
In Memoriam
Robert B. Donaldson, II, Robyn’s late father (and Barbara’s late husband) was the former Mayor of Hazel Crest, IL; and the first African-American on Chicago’s Public Building Commission. Robert retired as a tenured university professor and his legacy lives on through financial scholarships for high school students in Chicago’s south suburbs.
For over 45 years, the Donaldson’s have been connected to the Chicago, IL, south suburbs. They’ve mentored many people throughout the state.
Our
Values
We’re dedicated to providing opportunities and creative experiences for people from marginalized groups to live a healthy and empowered life!
We value somatic and embodied movement in addressing trauma stuck in the body. We appreciate the power of art, community building, sound and literacy as healing modalities to cultivate resilience, confidence and inner peace.
We value Mind/Body/Emotional awareness and connection, as a necessary part of regulating the nervous system; and preventing dis-ease in the body, mind and spirit.