About Our Team
Lisa Bennett Silverman Founder
Lisa has been teaching a therapeutic approach to yoga and meditation for over 30 years. She became a yoga teacher through private training with ISHTA Master Yogiraj Alan Finger, and is known by many through her appearance on the Yoga Zone TV shows and their line of videos. Rated as the "best high energy in the country" by Allure Magazine, Lisa’s classes and teachings transmit her experience of yoga as a path to self-acceptance and spiritual development.
As the previous co-director of the Mind-Body Therapy Department at Health, Lisa co-developed a 1000-hour therapeutic yoga teacher training certification program. Following an extensive career of writing, developing, producing, and starring in over 23 retail videos, Lisa has now fully committed herself to the spiritual and physical embodiment of healing for recovering addicts, and the preservation of indigenous wisdom through Shea Tree Center.
Meet the Team
Stacey Soloviev
Co-Founder
Stacey's mission is to heal on the level of the subtle and energetic body. As a Karuna Reiki Master, ordained minister, bio-field healing practitioner, and visual artist, Stacey weaves her creativity and gift of healing into alignment with a deep honoring of the natural world.
She works with various charities such as The Challenged Athletes Foundation, and Kids of NYU Foundation which helps support children's services at NYU Langone Medical Center. Her passion is to help people reach their full potential, fulfill their dreams, and provide them with tools for active recovery.
Donna Hawk
Instructor
After graduating West Virginia University, Donna has been working primarily on furniture and art, whilst owning and managing her own business, Wood Innovations Studio. After completing the Prakriti’s Way Teacher Training under Lisa Silverman, Donna has since become a valued teacher at Shea Tree Center, and considers it an honor to be part of this incredible, unique and spiritual community.
Donna also volunteers and is on the Board of Directors for Strengthen Our Sisters, a non-profit organization that houses Battered or homeless women and children. She feels blessed to be dedicated to the mission of physical embodiment of recovery and deepening her spiritual practice through gratitude, art, love, and the appreciation of the oneness of all things.
Raven Pelan
Instructor
Raven Pelan is a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor with thirty-five years of experience. She has a strong foundation in Exercise Physiology and Nutritional Science from Stanford, along with certification in Functional Medicine Coaching. She has also studied organic farming and raw food preparation at the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico.
In the jungles of Thailand, she immersed herself in the ancient wisdom of medicinal plants and witnessed the profound healing effects of meditation among Buddhist monks. Her two decades of study with Sri Siddhi Ma, a distinguished spiritual teacher from the Himalayas, have profoundly enriched her understanding of mindfulness in nutrition and physical movement. When she is not instructing her “Empower Me Resistance Training” class for STC, she is running her own business, working with a variety of clients, helping them achieve stronger and healthier bodies. 🔗
Mary Perfetti
Instructor
After completing a 500 hr Yoga Therapy Teacher Training at Health with Lisa Silverman, back in 2001, Mary has since completed the Pakriti’s Way 200 hr Teacher Training. Mary has taken part in many of Shea Tree’s online workshops such as Dream Tracking, Lessons from the Spring Phase, and Archetypical Circle.
Mary’s dedication to healing started with a degree in Radiology, that she put to use at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC. Since then, Mary has been deepening her spiritual practice and her energetical devotion to the healing benefits of Yoga, tailoring to the active embodiment of recovery for addicts.
Jennifer McClung
Operations & Finance
After 25 years in what Jennifer describes as “corporate America”, Jennifer hung up her corporate hat and refocused her time and energy towards helping women owned businesses. She enjoys applying her expertise in operations, finance and technology to assist these businesses in their missions to help improve the world.
Jennifer has a deep passion for recovery and knows that sustained recovery comes from daily commitment and practice. She received her undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University and her master’s degree from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Tati Matkin
Executive Administrator
Growing up in the woods of upstate New York, Tati spent nine years training in horsemanship under Leona Dushin, founder of a therapeutic riding organization for children and adults with emotional and physical disabilities, an experience that shaped his early understanding of healing and care.
After graduating high school in 2020, Tati modeled internationally for three years before shifting his focus toward his long-held goal of supporting individuals facing mental health challenges and addiction. Raised by two yoga teachers, he initially resisted yoga and meditation but later came to value their transformative benefits.
Tati is currently studying psychology at Borough of Manhattan Community College and plans to pursue a Master of Social Work. After interning at SHEA Tree Center for one year, he transitioned into a permanent staff role.
My goal is to teach people how to heal themselves
- Lisa Bennett Silverman
Shea Tree Center
Board of Directors
Kasia Bilinska
Deborah Reed
Susan Graham
Lisa Silverman
Sarah Krause
Stacey Soloviev
George D. Patterson
Rachel Stackhouse
More About Our Board
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Kasia is a proud yoga student and teacher. Her yoga journey began with an intimidating, yet remarkably wonderful class led by Lisa Silverman, many years ago. Kasia is a scientist who spent most of her life understanding and diagnosing human cell pathology. She also has a history of working in hospital, as well as the private sector. Kasia has skills in not only mapping operational strategies, but sales business development, accreditation and effective leadership.
Now, semiretired from laboratory science, Kasia has been transitioning into mentorship. She
combines diverse expertise from years of experience in science, business, nonprofit education
projects and yoga training by advising entrepreneurs, educators, and leaders on how to
build practice, new habits, and increase joy and freedom. Kasia couldn’t be happier to be part of this wonderful, spiritual community.
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Susan is an Executive in Corporate Strategy and Marketing in the Food and Wellness Space. She has worked at Tier One companies, such as Kraft Foods and Danone Group, as well as Joint Venture funded start-ups in Organic Food and Beverages. She contributed to the development and adoption of the Certified Organic Food Standards and has helped take Organic Brands mainstream. Susan is committed to a healthy lifestyle, supporting local food supply and volunteering in community roles that build a healthy mind and body for children and families.
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Sallie has served as Chair/Vice Chair and many other positions of responsibility of many bar associations including the Brooklyn Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyers Assistance Committee and ABA’s Judicial Assistance Initiative (JAI) and as an Outreach Coordinator for the New York State Bar Association Lawyer Assistance Program. During her tenure as chair of the JAI, the JAI published an ABA resource guide entitled “Judges Helping Judges; Resource and Education” in order to assist judges in finding help for themselves for mental health and addiction issues which might hinder successful careers.
Sallie has presented education on the issues of impairments in the legal profession and in the judiciary and on the issues of wellness, stress and vicarious trauma for many bar associations and judges’ groups in New York as well as 10 other states, and in 2017 addressed students at a University in New Delhi, India on these topics. In 2017 and 2019, Judge Krauss presented to the National Association of Women Judges of New York on the topic of Judicial Wellness and substance abuse challenges in the Judiciary.
Sallie was elected to the New York City Civil Court in 1994 and again in 2004, served in the Brooklyn Civil and Criminal Courts from 1995 to 2004 and served as an Acting Supreme Court Justice in both the Supreme Court and the Family Court in Brooklyn, New York, from 2005 until her retirement in 2012.
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George is an accomplished Grants and Program Manager who has worked with multiple well known non profits over the past decades. He holds a BA degree from Columbia University and an MS degree from Pratt Institute. Prior to joining the Greentree Foundation, he was a Project Specialist at the Ford Foundation and Program Officer at Local Initiatives Support Corporation in New York. He has worked for the Whitney family and Greentree Foundation for more than 30 years.
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Debra Reed has a Bachelor's Degree in High School English Education and a Master's Degree in Secondary School Guidance and Counseling. She worked for 37 years in Chicago Public Schools as a High School English Teacher and High School Counselor. Her personal recovery from multiple addictions and family dysfunction combined with her clinical work deeply affected and helped teens, teen addicts, and children of addicts affected by the Family Diseases of Alcoholism and Addiction that she worked with at CPS. Her passion and commitment to "keep coming back" in the face of multiple obstacles that would have deterred someone of lesser character, demonstrated to her students that she not only "talked the talk but walked the walk"!
After completing a Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse internship at Lutheran Social Services, she passed the CADC exam in 2014. Currently she is completing the required hours as an Addictions Counselor at the Bobby Buonauro Clinic in Evanston, Illinois. Her growth and transformation have shown up in her personal and professional life. Debra's dedication, commitment to service, spirituality, and education have motivated her to come out of retirement as an educator to work in the area of Addictions Counseling and serve on the board for this Illinois Sober High School - Serenity Academy of Chicago.
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Lisa has been teaching a therapeutic approach to yoga and meditation for over 30 years. She became a yoga teacher through private training with ISHTA Master Yogiraj Alan Finger, and is known by many through her appearance on the Yoga Zone TV shows and their line of videos. Rated as the "best high energy in the country" by Allure Magazine, Lisa’s classes and teachings transmit her experience of yoga as a path to self-acceptance and spiritual meaning.
As previous co-director of the Mind-Body Therapy Department at Haelth, Lisa co-developed a 1000-hour therapeutic yoga teacher training certification program. Following an extensive career of writing, developing, producing, and starring in over 23 retail videos, Lisa has now fully committed herself to the spiritual and physical embodiment of healing for recovering addicts, and the preservation of indigenous wisdom through Shea Tree Center.
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Stacey's mission is to heal on the level of the subtle and energetic body. As a Karuna Reiki Master, ordained minister, bio-field healing practitioner, and visual artist, Stacey weaves her creativity and gift of healing into alignment with a deep honoring of the natural world.
She works with various charities such as The Challenged Athletes Foundation, and Kids of NYU Foundation which helps support children's services at NYU Langone Medical Center. Her passion is to help people reach their full potential, fulfill their dreams, and provide them with tools for active recovery.
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Following a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, with a focus on art therapy, Rachel has since completed three 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training Certifications under Lisa Silverman. She also has a background of working with children with autism, and emotional trauma. Rachel is now a certified Yoga teacher, dedicated to the continued physical and spiritual healing of recovering addicts, and all who wish to experience the healing benefits of Yoga.
Advisory Board
John Silverman
President
In 2015, John became the Founding Board Chair of Facing Addiction, the leading national non‐profit organization for the recovery advocacy movement. Facing Addiction is dedicated to finding solutions to the addiction crisis by unifying the best resources in the field and the voices of over 45 million people impacted by addiction. Several years later, John took on the role as chairman of the “National Council of Drugs and Alcohol Dependency in America” (NCADD). John also served as the executive producer of Facing Addiction’s co‐founder, Greg Williams’ documentary, The Anonymous People. This movement launched in DC on the National Mall on October 4, 2015 which kicked off the debut of Facing Addiction, in front of tens of thousands of people at a rally and concert featuring Sheryl Crow, Steven Tyler, Joe Walsh, various members of Congress and the US Surgeon General. As a result of this historic event, Facing Addiction was selected as exclusive co‐sponsor of the first ever report on addiction by the Surgeon General: "Facing Addiction in America”.
Through the years John has supported a plethora of organizations and their causes. John believes that work is not work if you love what you do. Anyone who knows him would attest that he truly loves what he does. Blessed with an astute business sense and an engaging personality, he has taken his dreams and made them a reality.
Annie Jubb
Annie is the author of LifeFood Recipe Book: Living on Life Force (2003), and Secrets of an Alkaline Body: The New Science of Colloidal Biology (2004). She is a pioneer in bio-based nutrition and the use of food as natural medicine. Since 1989 she has taught extensively, with her weekly live lecture series running in Manhattan from 1991 to 2000. She is widely recognized as a world authority on detoxifying the body and cell rejuvenation. Her influence has been the catalyst for the living food lifestyle and revolutionary raw diet trend that is sweeping across North America. In 1998 she owned and ran The Raw Experience Restaurant in San Francisco, a raw, organic and vegan full service, and previously money-losing, restaurant. Within 10 months of purchasement, Annie sold it back to the original owner as a successful money making establishment.
In 2001 Annie designed and opened a store in Manhattan, Jubb’s Longevity, Inc. that retails organic LifeFood products, pure body care products, water and air purification units and a full line of original herbal formulations. Annie is also a nationally known corporate retreat trainer and an originator of Whole Brain Functioning, her adventure-based experiential learning program to create deep resource states of consciousness through firewalking, sweatlodge, and high altitude ropes courses. Annie is known to her clients as a teacher, healer, spiritual leader, amazing speaker and expert in the mind-body connection
“What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.”
— Hecato
If you feel called to join us on this journey, we invite you to become part of our community of teachers, recovery warriors, healers and protectors of our world!
