Agni Zotis

MAY Kids Transform Board Member / Founder

Agni Zotis is an artist, meditation, and yoga educator with a honed discipline of more than 36 years. She is certified as a Functional Nutritionist (2020) and a Health and Wellness Coach (2022). She is passionate about empowering youth and educators with applicable wellness tools, in non doctrine techniques she calls Creative Mindfulness. Agni received her college education from Hunter College NYC in Fine Arts and in Psychology. 

Her yoga practice started as a teen in New York City and at the age of 25 took a deep dive into meditation practice on her first visit to India that changed the course of her life. Throughout her 20's she immersed herself in various religions, cultures and ancient knowledge though global travels. She became a certified Yoga & Breath-work instructor in 2001 and a Meditation teacher in 2006. Her teachings are based in ancient wisdom, influenced by Vedic tradition and Philosophy, and supported by modern science, nutrition, neuroscience and epigenetics. 

Inspired by her son Francis and the lack of art education in schools, Agni began to bring art to the youth in 2001. She created and established a ceramics workshop at the Co-op Nursery School YMCA in the Upper West Side. As the director of AGNI Gallery in the East Village (2004-2009), she hosted the avant-garde art scene in New York City and continually held painting workshops for the youth. Through her involvement with youth, she gained an understanding of the necessity of uniting mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and creativity, and implementing them into a curriculum to equip students and educators with tools that would optimize the overall education experience. 

 

In 2012 she founded MAY Kids Transform, a 501 c3 Foundation. With her son Francis as an advisor, and constant feedback of teenagers and educators with input of their needs,  she developed the MAY Kids Transform curriculum and implemented it at the NYC LAB High School for Collaborative Studies. The curriculum was tailored to serve as part of full semester, after school program, elective class with tremendous success. The curriculum was inspired and created by Gen-Z students and their contemporary needs for wellness to alleviate tendencies of self harm and suicide. Incorporating breath work skills, mindfulness practice in an inclusive safe-space that allows for quality reflection, emotional regulation and creative expression, the curriculum reduced stress and intense emotional and physiological struggles. The intention is to equip students with the ability to improve their focus, stabilize emotions, find the value in education as a whole, and develop lasting connections within the community through compassion, empathy, love and collaboration.

 

Agni continues to develop wellness and mindfulness curriculums for different communities globally, specializing in youth and educators, and including for veterans and corporate professionals. The MAY Foundation partners with educators and institutions globally, and has been involved with over 100K students and hundreds of educators. Agni’s purpose is to alleviate and prevent human suffering for all, promoting positivity and health for a brighter future. 

 

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.