Sharing A Love of Health, Healing, and Well-being Through the Peace & Power of Yoga

Sharing A Love of Health, Healing, and Well-being Through the Peace & Power of Yoga

BYTA s Vision The Black Yoga Teachers Alliance, Inc. (BYTA) a new non-profit organization is in the process of creating a collective of black yoga teachers who share with themselves and their communities a love of health, healing, and well-being; and, are building an organization to be an institutionalized voice in the broader yoga community due to the elevated presence of black yoga teachers and practitioners in the yoga world.

BYTA s Programs/Services (Lines of Business) BYTA will create this collective and build this organization by providing high-quality programs and services to support the educational and professional development of black yoga teachers; by establishing its standards of excellence for teaching and practicing yoga; by providing business and social networks for black yoga teachers throughout the U.S. and the world; by serving as a catalyst to connect black yoga teachers with opportunities to train, teach and travel; and by reaching out to communities and sharing with them the peace and power of yoga.

BYTA s Desired Outcomes One of BYTA s major desired outcomes is to help close the diversity gap in yoga. As it matures, BYTA will assemble a critical mass of black yoga teachers who will support one another; help to increase the number of black yoga teachers serving as role models for all groups; help to raise the awareness of the value added of a yoga practice in black communities; and will interject the voice and perspective of the black yoga teacher and practitioner in the yoga community.

BYTA s Organizational History The Black Yoga Teachers Alliance was founded in 2009 and was designated a 501(c3) taxexempt non-profit in 2016. BYTA is presently developing its governance structure, strengthening its membership base, enhancing its financial capacity, establishing its administrative and organizational capacity, and advancing its professional development and outreach capacity as a start-up non-profit. These activities are part of the business plan BYTA is creating. BYTA has established a vibrant social media presence with its website, social media and networking platforms. While the organization is developing its capacity to handle membership services, membership is currently on an approval basis, and there are 225 members. BYTA s Facebook group has over 2,000 members and trends upward weekly; our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram followers have far outreach to thousands more.

BYTA s Accomplishments BYTA launched its inaugural conference in 2016 at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. The second conference in 2017 was also held at Kripalu. BYTA will hold conferences bi-annually with the third conference scheduled in summer 2019. BYTA launched its first national initiative Yoga As A Peace Practice (YPP) in 2017. YPP trains certified yoga teachers, professionals in health care, education, community engagement; social workers, civil servants and lay persons in the facilitation of contemplative approaches to yoga. YPP s unique curriculum has been designed to teach contemplative yoga practices and philosophical perspectives as a self-help intervention to address the impact of violence on individuals and communities where there is trauma, dysfunction, chaos and violence.

BYTA s Accomplishments (continued) The YPP pilot launch was May 2017 in Oakland, CA. BYTA introduced the training curriculum to yoga teachers and myriad professionals. The second YPP training was with yoga teachers in July 2017 at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Our third YPP training will be offered in August 2018 at Yogaville Satchidananda Ashram. We anticipate strong and diverse attendance by yoga teachers and others from the northeast corridor and the mid-atlantic regions.

BYTA s Purpose BYTA is an organization whose time has come. BYTA is fulfilling an unmet need that exists among black yoga teachers and in the yoga world; is creating new ways to meet existing needs; is helping the yoga community in the U.S. to increase the diversity of those who teach and practice; and is increasing the accessibility of yoga in communities that have traditionally had limited or no access to the practice.

BYTA s Keys to Success The keys to BYTA s success are a committed and supportive membership; an organization that offers quality programs and activities to support the black yoga teacher and their communities of practice; and a broader community committed to supporting BYTA financially through grants, contracts, and sponsorships.

BYTA s Fundraising Goals BYTA recognizes the critical role of fund raising to develop the organization. Our primary financial support comes from our members and those who share a commitment and alignment with our values and mission. Additionally, BYTA launched an online fundraising effort in 2016 which is ongoing. The money raised online was used to provide financial assistance for yoga teachers in need of support to attend BYTA conferences, programs and events. BYTA has distributed more than $10,000 in scholarships in 2016 and 2017. We also received financial support from the Urban Family Foundation, a California-based non-profit that offset the cost of the pilot launch of Yoga As a Peace Practice, in Oakland and the yoga teacher training at Kripalu in 2017. Our goal is to raise a minimum $50,000 annually to enable BYTA to develop the appropriate organizational structure, support our programs, events, and the educational training and professional development of black yoga teachers.

Black Yoga Teacher s Alliance: Disseminating the Power & Peace of Yoga Inputs Processes Services: Quality Programs & Activities* Outputs Outcomes How we will invest How we will execute What we will deliver What results we will see Committed & supportive membership Presence Enhancement BYTA Members Perspectives of black yoga teachers & practitioners honored by broader yoga community Broader community support Educational & Professional Development Black yoga teacher collective Black communities increased appreciation of the value of yoga Funding Standards of Excellence BYTA social media followers Diversity Gap in Western Yoga eliminated or closed Business & Social Networking BYTA social media presence Power & Peace of Yoga disseminated BYTA s Desired Outcomes One of BYTA s major desired outcomes is to help close the diversity gap in yoga. As it matures, BYTA will assemble a critical mass of black yoga teachers who will support one another; help to increase the number of black yoga teachers serving as role models for all groups; help to raise the awareness of the value added of a yoga practice in black communities; and will interject the voice and perspective of the black yoga teacher and practitioner in the yoga community. Effective Organizational Structure Created Presence enhancement Educational & professional development Standards of Excellence Business & Social Networking Yoga Sharing Yoga Sharing Black yoga teachers participating in BYTA programs Black yoga teachers as role models Events, influences, or sponsorships in black communities Partnerships, perspectives & views for the broader yoga community Community, Support, & Excellence Generated *Services: Quality Programs & Activities* (Business Processes) Perceptions Shifted & Behaviors Changed Elevating the presence of the black yoga teacher & practitioner in the yoga world. Offering programs and educational opportunities for black yoga teachers to enhance their skills, knowledge & understanding (inclusive voice in the narrative that defines yoga practice) Creating guidelines for what constitutes an effective and ethical practice (inclusive voice in the narrative that defines yoga practice) Creating opportunities for community building & resources sharing Disseminating the practice of yoga in all communities Implementing initiatives for individual and community healing, renewal and wellbeing

In Spirit We Are One In summary, BYTA is comprised of individuals who live on different continents, speak different languages, and share different cultural, socio-economic and political views. BYTA welcomes a wide range of yoga lineages, styles, perspectives, approaches and paths, and embodies different sizes, shapes, and colors. Our over-arching goal is to disseminate widely the power of yoga and the peace it brings to individuals and communities. Our guiding principle is In Spirit We Are One.