Board of Directors

William Gutierrez Depusoy, Board Member

Wil Depusoy started teaching 30 years ago and has been at Dunlap Elementary, Seattle, for the last 24 years. He came back to raise his family in the same neighborhood where he spent his younger years, and where his classroom is now. He received a Masters In Teaching and his bachelors at The Evergreen State College, where experiential learning experiences there continue to influence his teaching practice. Born in the Philippines, his family migrated to the U.S. when he was 1, so he often shares common experiences with the students he works with. His other work experiences include selling hotdogs in the Kingdome, and driving tanks as well as Seattle tour vans in the summer. Besides being a news junkie in his off-time, he likes to put on comfortable shoes, step outside and “urban ranger” around South Seattle.

His first foray into mindfulness was practicing Tai Chi (because he couldn’t sit still back then) and is still trying to perfect his Yang long-form. He finally gained the capacity to sit still recently and now has 9,000+ minutes on one meditation app. Thinking it would even be harder to get 4th graders to do the same thing, he was wary about introducing mindfulness into his class until working with Space Between. Now, after building his own capacity to teach it, he now feels that mindfulness can become normalized into another hygiene practice, just like brushing teeth, a much needed one at that in these times!

Sara Kelly, Board Secretary

Sara Kelly credits her yoga and meditation practice as a major element of balance in her life. She wears many hats - educator to her 2 sons, catering server, real estate investor and student of the world. She strongly believes that the work of Space Between with children and educators will make our world a calmer and kinder place, one person at a time.

Maya Nader, Board Member

Finding peace within has been a lifelong passion for Maya after having grown up in Beirut and left at the height of the Lebanese War. Driven by this passion, Maya has looked for tools to find inner peace for herself and others. As a yoga teacher and a certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor by CCARE, Stanford University, Maya teaches compassion cultivation to the adult population. Her goal is helping people cultivate compassion for the self and others, and find more ways to bridge the gap between cultures and perspectives.

She believes these tools are necessary for everyone to help navigate life with grounding, resilience and courage. Space Between brings the tools of mindfulness and compassion to school communities and what better way is there to start building a more equitable and peaceful world?

Alyssa Pizarro, Board Co-Chair

After leaving a 10-year fashion career in New York and moving to Seattle, Alyssa was finally able to pursue her passion for yoga and service in the nonprofit world.

Alyssa is a 200-hr yoga certified instructor from the Nairobi based nonprofit organization, Africa Yoga Project. With yoga still a big part of her life, she is an instructor with the UW Mindfulness Program and at Yoga Tree, in Seattle. Alyssa has served as a volunteer in many spaces, PSKS a youth homeless shelter in Capitol Hill, Full Life Care in Rainier Valley, and the Stability Network in northern Seattle. In her career, Alyssa was formerly part of the Development team for Yoga Behind Bars, and a facilitator with Space Between, and the Strategic Partner and Diversity Officer at Business Impact NW. She currently serves as the Senior Manager of Equity and Inclusion at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). Alyssa has lived in Seattle for 11 years, and calls Ballard home with her partner.

Levina Robin, Board Member

Levina Robin has been in the education space for seven years now in various capacities. From teaching elementary school, earning her Masters of Education from UW, getting yoga certified for students, and facilitating with Space Between, she has fallen in love with this work. Within her first year of teaching second graders, she noticed the impact of social emotional learning and wanted to find more opportunities to create the space for it. She believes in the power of authenticity, presence, and community and feels honored to be a part of a board that reflects those values.

Currently, she pivoted to work as a Sr. Learning Experience Designer at Peloton and her work with students continues outside of the classroom.

Jill Sheldon, Board Treasurer

Mindfulness practices have been a passion for Jill since a semester abroad in Nepal in College. Jill founded Open Road Coaching and Consulting out of a passion for equity and organizational health, and has worked with hundreds of values-driving leaders in the last 20 years. She taught Leadership and Strategy in the University of Washington Nonprofit Certificate program for over 10 years and has a high value around learning and discovery in community.

Jill has a master’s degree from the Leadership Institute of Seattle at Bastyr University and is a graduate of Leadership Tomorrow. She lives in West Seattle with her wife and two wonderful creatures.

Michel Spruance, Co-Founder and Board Co-Chair

As a past classroom-teacher, Michel (MEd, ERYS-500), her passion for seeing students and teachers thrive to the organization. When Michel left teaching in 2007, her dream was to bring the practices of mindfulness and yoga to other educators, as she knew the difference these tools were making in her life and in her own classroom.

As a yoga teacher and the owner of Be Luminous Yoga, Michel has been teaching people to breath and move since 2003. She has also trained yoga teachers since 2011 in a variety of capacities.