Dr. Ilana Nankin

Ilana is the Founder & CEO of Breathe For Change, a movement on a mission to enhance the health and well-being of educators, students, and entire communities. Ilana is an award-winning entrepreneur, teacher educator, and former Pre-k teacher committed to using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change. She earned degrees in both psychology and education at UC Berkeley, and received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at University of Wisconsin. Her dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student learning, and the positive impact that wellness and social-emotional learning can have on teachers and students’ lives. Inspired by her research, Ilana founded Breathe For Change, which offers the world's only 200-hour Wellness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training specifically for educators, and provides wellness and SEL professional development for schools, districts, and organizations. Since 2015, Breathe For Change has certified 5,000+ educators through their 200-hour training, who are now positively impacting the lives and well-being of over 1 million students around the country. Ilana lives in San Francisco with her amazing husband, Danh Trang, and their precious baby girl, Aliya.