leadership Team

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Alex aryaan

Founder / Executive Director

Mindful Founders Inc. was born from a pattern I've watched repeat for years - in my clients, in my entrepreneurial family, and in myself. Entrepreneurs struggle, then quietly blame themselves for struggling, and then often push to work even harder.

I started this nonprofit organization to break that cycle.

As Executive Director, I bring 10+ years across strategy, research, administration, and nonprofit work - including helping small nonprofits secure millions in funding, entrepreneurship training from Harvard Business School Online, and a Master's in Urban Planning & Policy with a concentration in Economic Development.

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kate leisses

Kate Leisses is a business strategist who helps organizations define, refine, and deliver practical improvements by treating people, process, and technology as one connected system - solutions that make smart use of technology without being dependent on it.

Across a 50-year career, she has led multi-million-dollar transformation programs and stood up Program Management Offices for Fortune 1000 firms spanning healthcare, manufacturing, retail, financial services, and hospitality. Recently, she led CIO advisory and technology consulting at EPAM Systems and specialized in manufacturing operations management for global firms.

As a member of the Mindful Founders Inc. board, Kate brings that pragmatic, results-focused lens to the mission - helping entrepreneurs build businesses that are not just sustainable, but well-run, efficient, and resilient.

Board Member
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david armstrong

David Armstrong, Esq., is a healthcare attorney and compliance executive with more than thirty years of experience spanning providers, payors, law firms, and government programs. A trusted advisor on healthcare transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and value-based care, he has served as General Counsel for three healthcare startups - taking one to an exit, another to a public offering, and currently building his third. A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, David has repeatedly built legal and compliance functions from the ground up, including as a company's first legal hire scaling operations into a nationwide platform generating over $500 million in annual revenue.

As a member of the Mindful Founders Inc. board, David brings deep startup and growth experience to the mission - helping entrepreneurs navigate the legal, operational, and ethical sides of building a business that lasts.

Board Member
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Keith Hawkins

Keith Hawkins is an internationally recognized leadership speaker, educator, and entrepreneur. For more than 20 years, he has inspired students, educators, business leaders, and organizations through leadership development, culture-building, and inclusion-focused programs, reaching over 400,000+ people annually.

He has spoken at the United Nations Global Summit on behalf of America’s youth and is passionate about helping individuals and organizations unlock their potential and create positive change. Keith also serves as a Board Member of Mindful Founders Inc., supporting its mission to advance the financial and emotional well-being of entrepreneurs.

Board Member
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Suhana challa

Suhana Challa is an emerging leader studying Management Information Systems at UT Austin's McCombs School of Business. She brings hands-on experience across the startup and funding ecosystem - scouting deals for a $100M+ angel network, driving growth at a Y Combinator-backed startup, and supporting funding and strategy work for nonprofit consulting clients - alongside internships at PwC, Expedia, and the U.S. Department of State. She pairs an entrepreneur's instincts with a strong grounding in project management, funding, and impact.

On the Mindful Founders Inc. board, Suhana brings a fresh, founder-focused perspective and direct ties to the early-stage community the organization serves - helping ensure its programs meet entrepreneurs where they actually are.

Board Member
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Nehal Aryaan serves as Quality Lead at Anduril Industries - one of aerospace and defense's most entrepreneurial ventures - where he drives zero-defect engineering for mission-critical systems. His entrepreneurial roots trace back to his undergraduate years in India as an active member of a student entrepreneurship group, and his career since has spanned innovative names like Blue Origin, where he designed Lunar Lander tooling, and Xometry, where he scaled global quality standards.

He holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Nehal brings to the Mindful Founders Inc. board a rare mix of entrepreneurial energy, systems-level rigor, and leadership.

Board Member

Nehal Aryaan

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Ana Ávila Morelos

Ana Ávila Morelos is a bilingual educator and community program specialist with experience spanning classrooms, bilingual summer learning programs, and HR and office administration at Aurora Community Connection.

She holds a Bachelor's in Pedagogy from the Universidad del Valle de México, CDA credential, and an HRCI Human Resource Associate certification.

A native Spanish speaker, Ana brings to Mindful Founders Inc. a family-centered, bilingual perspective and a practical understanding of what keeps small mission-driven organizations running.

Board Member
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Brian Long is the Founder and CEO of Summit Cognitive, a Colorado company that builds tamper-evident records of automated decisions - proof of what an AI system decided, on what basis, and under whose authority, that an auditor, a regulator or a court can still verify long after the fact.

His startup instincts go back more than 2 decades. He ran Topicality, his own media production business, for 22 years and co-founded the DC Independent Media Center, a grassroots journalism collective. His career since has spanned strategy and product leadership at theGrio, Charter Communications, The Weather Company (an IBM business), and The Teaching Company, where he repeatedly built the digital strategy that let creative teams scale.

He holds an Executive MBA from The George Washington University School of Business and a BA in History and Political Science from Emory University. Brian brings to the Mindful Founders Inc. board a rare combination of long-haul small business ownership, strategic range across telecom, media, and cybersecurity, and the storyteller's instinct for what actually connects with people.

Board Member

BRIAN LONG

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mark eagle

Mark is a technology executive, entrepreneur, and nonprofit leader with a passion for helping people and companies grow. He currently advises startups, helps people advance their careers, and recently fulfilled a state grant to build pipelines from education to business for job creation.

Mark served as CTO for Helping Habit, providing nonprofits with a free platform for donations and volunteerism. A certified pickleball coach and lifelong learner, he brings energy, candor, and a results-driven mindset to advancing Mindful Founder’s mission.

Advisory Board / Coach
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Robelle salvador

Advisory Board & Meditation Facilitator

Robelle Salvador is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse with 14 years of experience in mental health, including emergency psychiatric care, where she worked with people in acute crisis. She serves as a Nurse Clinician at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, supporting young people and their families through their mental health needs. 

Alongside her clinical work, Robelle is the founder of Sacred Sunflower, a practice devoted to healing and the care of the whole person. She knows firsthand what it asks of someone to build something while caring for others. 

On the Mindful Founders advisory board, Robelle brings a clinician’s understanding of mental health together with a founder’s lived experience - helping ensure that the support offered to entrepreneurs meets them as whole people, not only as businesses.