Our Staff

Katherine Miller

Executive director

Katherine is a passionate advocate for healing, equity, and community connection. Her professional path has spanned refugee education, nonprofit leadership, and global advocacy—but the heart of her work has always been about creating space for people to feel seen, supported, and empowered. After more than a decade leading initiatives in New York City and around the world, Katherine returned to her home state of Maine to build something more grounded and restorative.

She believes that yoga, practiced with care and intention, has the power to transform not just individuals, but communities. As someone who has navigated personal loss and systemic injustice, Katherine brings a trauma-informed lens to everything she does, and a steady commitment to ensuring that people impacted by hardship have access to practices that reconnect them with their breath, body and sense of possibility.

Katherine holds a Master of Social Work and has traveled to over 40 countries, shaped by the people she's met and the resilience she’s witnessed. She believes Sea Change Yoga is not just for those who have been harmed by systems—but for all of us—because healing and dignity belong to the whole of our community.

SHEILA SULLIVAN

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Sheila has had an inspiring career path, which includes work for local non-profits which focus on social justice, environmental education, and experiential education. Her yoga and meditation practice spans over 20 years, and has been a grounding force in navigating the joys and challenges of parenting and being human. In 2019, she completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training through Lila East End Yoga with Genell Huston and former SCY board member, Jen Queally. She believes that yoga and meditation provide us with the time and space to slow down; to listen closely to what our bodies are calling for; to nurture our spirits; to reconnect with our inner wisdom; and to emerge with a more grounded sense of self to bring into the world. Sheila firmly believes in the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and resonates with SCY’s goal to honor each person’s unique strengths and personal story. She is grateful to work for an organization that aims to bring the many benefits of yoga and meditation to underserved communities with disproportionately high rates of trauma.

LORA GIRATA

Programs & DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

Lora Girata comes to SCY via a circuitous route. She’s from rural Tennessee, studied for a master’s in public health in New York City, and coordinated clinical research at academic institutions in the Midwest and New England. While she’s moved around a bit, a consistent passion in her life is yoga. Lora believes yoga offers a therapeutic pathway for navigating the pain and uncertainty of life’s difficulties and promotes feelings of connection and ease. Wanting to share this transformative practice with others, she became a certified yoga teacher and studied with The Center for Trauma and Embodiment. Lora has facilitated trauma-informed yoga with juvenile-involved youth, at risk teenagers, and women seeking trauma care. She is honored and grateful to be a part of bringing trauma-informed yoga to our neighbors and communities in Maine who would not have access without SCY support.

Anne Esguerra

Anne (she / siya / niya) is the founder and owner of Integrative Life Therapy. She is a IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist, Group Facilitator, Life Mentor, and Consultant based out of Portland, Maine. Anne has been present throughout the evolution of Sea Change Yoga which began as part of the 2015 Yoga Behind Bars training where our co-founders and founding teachers met and began to dream about what would eventually become Sea Change Yoga. She was already mentoring and teaching yoga as a volunteer at Long Creek Youth Development Center (LCYDC) brought in by SCY’s former Board Vice President, Nicole Chaison which transitioned into building a collaborative relationship between SCY and LCYDC. 

Anne has long served as a member and teacher representative of the Program Committee, contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of our programs and teacher development. In 2020, Anne became the Co-Chair of our new Beliefs and Values Committee, as well as our Lead Consultant on the Here to Be grant focusing on centering racial and social equity at Sea Change. At the heart of this choice in partnership, Anne has ensured that part of her work aims to repair harms that have occurred throughout the evolution of SCY & ensure the continued growth expands to incorporate community values, culture & history. Always moving toward knowing better in order to do better.

In 2021, Anne began to serve as a mentor for our Yoga Teacher Training Scholarship recipients. In this role, she has been a valuable resource for our scholars to integrate what they are learning, process what becomes present for them, and support the navigating of being a Person of Color within a dominant white culture.

We are always learning from Anne as an embodied advocate for the principles of yoga and trauma-informed care, and are deeply grateful for her patience, energy, and teachings along our messy path to our shared vision.