Agni Zotis

MAY Kids Transform Board Member / Founder

Artist and Trauma-Informed Practitioner

Agni Zotis is a multidisciplinary artist, trauma-informed practitioner, and lifelong educator whose work bridges ancient wisdom with modern science. With more than 36 years of disciplined meditation, yoga, and creative practice, Agni has dedicated her life to empowering youth, educators, and communities with accessible, non-doctrinal wellness tools she calls Creative Mindfulness.

Agni holds certifications in,  Yoga, Breathwork and Meditation (2001) Functional Nutritionist (2020), Health & Wellness Coach (2022), and is a Trauma-Informed Practitioner certified by the Trauma Research Foundation, grounding her work in a deep understanding of the nervous system, trauma healing, and resilience-building.

She is the host of “The Educators Edition” podcast, where she amplifies the voices of teachers and thought leaders shaping the future of holistic education.

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Educated at Hunter College in Fine Arts and Psychology, Agni’s path began in New York City, where she trained in yoga as a teen. At 25, her first journey to India 30 years ago, marked a profound shift, immersing her in meditation and setting the foundation for a life of global exploration and study in ancient traditions, Vedic and Hellenic philosophy, world cultures, and integrative wellness. She became a certified Yoga & Breathwork instructor in 2001 and a Meditation Teacher in 2006. Her teachings weave together ancient wisdom, trauma science, neuroscience, epigenetics, and functional nutrition, with a focus on care, compassion, and human interconnectedness.

Inspired by her son Francis and the stark decline of arts education in schools, Agni began bringing art and mindful creativity to youth in 2001. She established a ceramics studio at the Co-op Nursery School YMCA on the Upper West Side and, as director of AGNI Gallery (2004–2009) in the East Village, she became a central figure in New York’s avant-garde art scene and included ongoing painting workshops for young people. It was through these experiences that Agni witnessed the urgent need for mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and creativity to be integrated into education—especially to support mental and emotional health.

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In 2012, she founded MAY Kids Transform, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to cultivating well-being for youth and educators to address the mental health crisis. With Francis and continuous feedback from teenagers, educators, and clinicians, Agni developed the MAY Kids Transform curriculum, first implemented at NYC LAB High School for Collaborative Studies. Designed as a semester-long elective and after-school program, the curriculum offered Gen-Z students real tools for navigating stress, self-harm tendencies, anxiety, and academic pressure. Through breathwork, emotional regulation, mindful reflection, and creative expression in a safe and inclusive space, students experienced reduced stress, greater stability, increased emotional awareness, and deepened connection to themselves, their peers, and their communities.

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Today, Agni continues to write and refine wellness and mindfulness curriculums for diverse populations—youth, educators, veterans, and corporate teams—always with the intention of alleviating suffering and awakening human potential. The MAY Foundation now partners with educators and institutions across the globe and has positively impacted over 100,000 students and hundreds of educators.

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Agni’s life purpose is rooted in care an to help humans remember their inherent worth, remind them of their choices in life as they can cultivate a future where compassion, creativity, and conscious education uplift us all.

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Francis Serrano

MAY Kids Transform Board Member / CoFounder

At age 14, compelled by the voices and needs of his peers, Francis collaborated with Agni, as an advisor to design the MAY Kids Transform curriculum. Born and raised in New York City, Francis empathizes with the many pressures and stresses that come with childhood and city life. 

Francis is an entrepreneur and biologist with multi-faceted experience. He has been involved in multiple companies, producing creative content (including photography, videos, interviews, drone shoots, visual editing, original music, design, curation, etc.), assisting with social media management, and providing personalized customer service. Companies / organizations include: MAY Kids Transform, Find Your Farmer, The Explorers Club, Agnosian Gallery, Governor’s Ball Music Festival, Botticelli, and many other private clients. 

 

Francis has an extensive scientific and art education background. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biology (2020) with an Environmental Biology focus from Washington University in St. Louis, and his masters from the University of Miami in Fisheries Management and Conservation (2022). In 2016, he fostered the start of a multimedia art collective at Wash U called Open Crown Collective. Through practice of mindfulness techniques and engagement with art, the members of OCC developed valuable stress management skills, created collaborative works of art, and hosted inclusive events. OCC members and friends agreed the MAY curriculum is rewarding as it helps with focus, studying, and facilitates positive social spaces.

 

Francis currently works full time at the NOAA Atlantic Oceanic and Meteorological Laboratory on Virginia Key, conducting research as lab tech in the ‘Omics Lab and assisting with field operations on various projects. His main skills in this position include DNA sampling, extractions, PCR, library prep for sequencing, R studio for analysis and figures, robot assembly / setup, troubleshooting, programming, and leadership. 

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Alexandra Arneri

MAY Kids Transform Board Member

Alexandra practices entertainment, IP and corporate law and has a dedicated pro bono practice for asylum, trafficking and war crimes matters at Cittone Demers & Arneri LLP. Alexandra co-founded Apocryphal Pictures, produces and presents Gravity FM, a podcast on human rights and planetary health, writes on political and cultural issues and is the Board Chair of the Global Witness Foundation, the US arm of Global Witness. Alexandra has a BA/LLB from Sydney University, an LL.M focused on international law from NYU and is currently undertaking an MPA at Harvard.

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Francisco Cavia

MAY Kids Transform Board Member

Francisco is an attorney for 10 years with a PhD in Law. He has a practice for over a decade in yoga & meditation. He is passionate about the vision and the work MAY is providing to the community and beyond. He helps spread awareness of MAY's mission. 

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Lucy Taylor

MAY Kids Transform Intern 

Lucy is the ​host, executive producer, and editor of the six part podcast series, SNAPPED. She graduated from the University of Maryland where she majored in theatre and minored in rhetoric. Lucy is passionate about self-expression and spreading awareness about institutions which perpetuate harm to unprotected communities. As a New York City native, Lucy has seen first hand how the public school system deserves more support when it comes to students' emotional wellbeing. Lucy is deeply inspired by Agni’s work and is helping spread awareness of MAY’s mission as she herself was a student of Agni's when in LAB HS.

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Anxhela Kanani

MAY Kids Transform Intern

Anxhela Kanani is a graduate from Queens College with a focus in psychology and urban studies. She is working on her PhD in clinical psychology at Adelphi University. Anxhela strives to attain a deep holistic understanding of mind and body. She aims to help eliminate the stigma around mental health and improve the lives of those struggling with minimal support. As a student of MAY in her teens in LABHS, she learned tools to be more mindful, present, control her emotions and connect to the world. She wants to raise awareness of MAY for others. 

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Sarah Templeton

Supporter

Sarah Templeton is a youth counsellor focusing in high risk youth and a supporter of MAY Kids Transform. She believes in social change through empowerment. She is committed to teaching youth to cultivate their highest self and tap into their own power in order to impact and inspire the world. She currently lives and works in Jamaica and incorporates MAY Kids teachings. 

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Carolina De Luca

MAY Kids Transform Past Board Member 

Carolina is a professor of Literature, English Composition, Italian Language and Public Speaking. She taught for 23 years in various universities in New York City, such as Hunter College, Queens College and New York University. She now lives in Rome with her daughter and teaches at John Cabot University and incorporates MAY's principles in her classes.

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Lori Mason

May Kids Transform Past Board Member 

Lori is a practicing entertainment attorney and a passionate yogi and mom.  She is a strong believer in MAY Kids' mission. She now lives in Colorado.