Julie Anderson is the senior manager of the Healthy Living Lifestyle coaching program and one of the wellness coaches. She oversees 24 coaches on staff, providing lifestyle coaching within seven different areas of focus. She has worked in various roles within Stanford since 1991. Julie enjoys supporting people in making a behavior change that’s sustainable by providing space for participants to think more deeply about their wellness vision and their values. She believes that people often know what to do and just need support figuring out strategies for getting on track. She has developed deeper compassion for others because of her own life experiences. 

Julie grew up in Chicago and earned her bachelor’s degree (health fitness) from Springfield College in Massachusetts and her master’s in public health from San Jose State. In 2017, she became a Certified Wellcoach® and was in the first cohort to become a national board-certified health and wellness coach. She earned a lifestyle medicine coach certificate in 2019 through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Julie married and had her daughter later in life so as a mom in her 50’s, she knows what it’s like to juggle work, marriage and raising a preteen. She enjoys attending musical theatre, playing volleyball and ping pong, running and hiking, reading a good book and watching a good movie.

Rosalyne Tu is the manager of BeWell’s screening and advising program, and a nutrition instructor and coach. Her approach to nutrition prioritizes enjoyment, structure, and tuning into what our bodies, while also incorporating basic principles around optimal nutrition. Rosalyne has completed intensive trainings in Ellyn Satter’s  Division of Responsibility and How to Eat methods which has allowed her to expand her skills to support those who want to work towards an intuitive approach to eating – both for themselves and for their children.

As an undergrad at UC Berkeley, Rosalyne fell in love with nutrition and discovered one of her life’s purposes – to help people maintain their foundation of health through food. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nutritional science, completed a dietetic internship at Penn State, then earned a master’s degree  in nutrition and applied physiology from Columbia University. Before coming to Stanford in 2011, Rosalyne worked as a clinical dietitian in hospitals such as NYU Langone and O’Connor Hospital, and for Public Health Departments in New York City and Santa Clara County.

Although a busy working parent of two young kids, when able, Rosalyne enjoys gardening, experimenting in the kitchen, and getting “me time” through any kind of physical movement.

Laura Becker-Lewke, lawyer and not-for-profit leader, is dedicated to a culture of comprehensive wellness. A graduate of Stanford’s first Health4America Fellows program in 2014, she’s passionate about serving the underserved and taking a holistic approach to wellness. She is a part-time BeWell Coach and full-time executive director for Hope Unlimited for Children.

Laura received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, LLB from McGill University, and master’s in business administration from New York University. She was counsel for an international shipping company, Navios, for 13 years. She then retired to raise a family of four children and care for her elderly mother post-stroke for 21 years. At 59, Laura returned to the workforce.

On the sports side, Laura loves hiking, spinning and swimming. She cares deeply about improving the lives of orphans and at-risk youth and is active in her college alumni association and church.

Laurie spent an enriching and gratifying 23 years at Stanford and retired in 2019. She worked for many years as research coordinator on a variety of studies with leading investigators in disease prevention at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. For the last 10 years, Laurie managed Healthy Living health education programs. As a tried-and-true hanger-on, Laurie is thrilled for the opportunity to continue with the team as a BeWell Coach.

Laurie and her husband recently moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she enjoys hiking the high desert terrain, studying poetry and playing with her granddaughters.

Debbie Balfanz has been with Stanford since 2002. She is a health educator, behavior change coach, and manager of the BeWell Champions program. Drawing on personal and professional experiences, as well as the knowledge she’s gained from working with hundreds of Stanford employees, she helps others identify their priorities, understand their motivations, set realistic goals, and overcome barriers to achieving a healthy lifestyle. She helps busy people understand that by making realistic changes to their lifestyle, they can greatly improve their health and the health of those around them. In her work, Debbie emphasizes the importance of self-compassion and a sense of humor. Her focus areas include establishing healthy routines and weight management.

Debbie has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and both her master’s and doctorate degrees in social psychology from Princeton University. 

Debbie is married and has two teenage sons with celiac disease. She enjoys getting in regular workouts (yoga, barre, Peloton, walking, running), reading non-intellectual novels, watching HGTV on repeat, talking with friends about nothing and shopping as a competitive sport.

Soowon Kim, PhD, has been with Stanford since 2005. Her primary role is to evaluate the health promotion efforts of BeWell. In her role as a nutrition coach, Soowon believes in the transformation of her participants and walks alongside them in their wellness journey to their new identity.

Soowon’s professional training focused on the examination of the role of nutrition in health and disease and the development and evaluation of interventions for achieving and maintaining healthy eating patterns. She approaches health and wellness from the multiple pathways through which biological, behavioral and contextual contributors affect individuals and the population. She is also committed to improving the health and well-being of every individual, including those who are underserved. Prior to working at Stanford, Soowon was a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF through the W.K. Kellogg Scholars in Health Disparities Program, where she focused on issues of health disparities and social determinants of health. She was also a visiting scholar at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. Soowon has a doctorate degree in nutrition epidemiology from the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Any aspect of food — growing, cooking, teaching, serving and eating food — brings joy and gratitude for Soowon.

Jerrie Thurman, MA, is a senior wellness program manager with BeWell and holds certifications in wellness coaching and group fitness instruction. She holds degrees in Exercise Physiology and Educational Technology and has over 40 years of experience in the fitness industry. She understands the challenges that busy working adults have when trying to start or continue to be active, especially if their work or home life involves caring for others. She encourages people to come as they are and work with her to create an individualized approach for integrating more activity into their life.  

Jerrie celebrated her 30-year anniversary of working for Stanford in 2019. Her interests include dancing, singing and  spending time with her family.

Jayna Rogers is a national board-certified health and wellness coach. She manages the smoking cessation program and provides wellness coaching on various modifiable behaviors. She is also a wellness manager for the Stanford Health Care employee wellness program, HealthySteps to Wellness. Jayna has been a health educator and researcher at Stanford for over 20 years in the areas of chronic disease self-management, smoking cessation, weight management, women’s health and wellness coaching for long-term behavior change with publications in related areas.

With an undergraduate degree in community health education and a master’s degree in public health, Jayna has gained a wealth of experience from Stanford’s leading researchers in prevention medicine and clinical trials. She has run hundreds of groups and workshops on preventative behavior change. Her national board certification in health and wellness coaching has reinvigorated her career with the true belief that you can flourish in any chapter of your life. She walks “shoulder to shoulder” with her participants towards being their best selves. Jayna advocates for a wide range of employees at Stanford, and the Stanford community is near and dear to her.

As a working mom and daughter of aging parents, Jayna understands how a healthy lifestyle contributes to quality of life. Jayna deeply believes that life can be “messy” and therefore she knows the importance of finding joy and building relationships. Her interests include being in nature, DIY design projects, party/event planning and caring for her dog.

Maia Tamanakis has been with Stanford as a BeWell Coach since 2016. Before joining Stanford she was a wellness coach at Intel in Santa Clara for eight years. Prior to that she worked in the fitness industry and holds certifications in wellness coaching and personal fitness training from the American Council on Exercise and Wellcoaches®. She has worked with a diverse population in all areas of wellness and has a passion for personal transformation that inspires her role as a wellness coach.

Graduating from Boston College with a degree in psychology, philosophy and theatre arts with a pre-med focus, she has always had a fascination with human biology and behavior, neuroscience and the mind-body connection. She wanted to pursue a career that would enable her to support people holistically and preventatively in both physical and mental well-being and found coaching to be a great fit.

When she’s not coaching she can be found enjoying wildlife and nature photography, hiking, writing and chanting at church.

Carol Hunter is the associate program manager for Healthy Living, where she coordinates classes, webinars and apps that provide health and wellness education to Stanford staff and faculty. She draws on her diverse background in public relations, youth sports, school administration and journalism to juggle the many aspects of her role, including coordinating logistics for almost 40 classes each quarter, wordsmithing class descriptions and hosting webinars. She enjoys the opportunity to work with expert instructors in wellness and create meaningful experiences for participants.

Carol received her bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from UC Berkeley where she marched for four years with the Cal Band. She returned to Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism a few years later for her master’s in journalism. Although she still roots for the Bears on the football field, she has grown more comfortable wearing Stanford red and is extremely proud to be a part of the University’s program to promote a culture of wellness where all are valued, supported and empowered to thrive.

In her spare time, Carol loves dancing, cooking, playing games and spending time in nature with friends and family. She lives in beautiful Half Moon Bay with her husband, two teenagers and a bearded dragon.

Elizabeth is a national board-certified health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC) and a certified professional co-active life coach (CPCC). She advises with the BeWell Program and Healthy Living Multi-session Coaching for Coaching for Health Care Clinicians program, wellness and stress reduction.

Elizabeth specializes in utilizing the neuroscience of behavior change to help individuals make lasting changes in stress reduction, work-life balance, sustainable eating, mindfulness, sleep, cholesterol management, diabetes prevention and leadership development.

Elizabeth joins BeWell from the corporate world where she spent many years working in organizational development helping leaders and managers create cultures of trust, engagement and innovation. 

Elizabeth received her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She currently resides in Santa Cruz, where she is a dedicated yoga practitioner and enjoys taking walks and being with family.

Elizabeth will meet you where you are with compassion, non-judgement and insight.

Claire has been a BeWell Coach at Stanford since 2017. She also helps to manage and coach for the Coaching for Health Care Clinicians program, which focuses on reducing burnout since its launch in 2017. 

Claire attended the University of California at Santa Cruz and graduated with a degree in psychology and anthropology. She also has a Master’s degree in Public Health specializing in Community Health and Health Promotion. Along the professional path that led her to health coaching, Claire worked in a wide array of social service facilities. She worked as a mental health counselor for at-risk youth, providing special education services to children with various mental health needs and as a stabilization counselor at psychiatric health facilities in the Bay Area. This work led to her increased awareness and interest in a holistic approach to health and wellness and was the catalyst for her learning various modalities to treat both physical and mental health concerns. Claire earned her certification as an integrative health coach from Duke University in 2012 and worked at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. Claire has completed training in mindfulness stress reduction and has a personal interest in reducing one’s stress and improving overall mental and physical health with proper nutrition, physical activity and various body/mind techniques. 

Claire grew up in a small town in the foothills of California. Living in such a rural area and growing up on a ranch, she adopted a very active outdoor lifestyle — camping, hiking, playing sports and gardening, which she continues to sustain today.

Karen was raised in the Bay Area and was part of an active family that enjoyed spending time outdoors. Even at an early age, she could be found designing healthy meal options and customized fitness routines for her friends, family, and neighbors.

Karen earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Jose State and went on to a successful career in human resources, working in banking and high tech in a variety of roles. After caring for her three children, she returned to school, pursuing her Masters in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University. She is grateful for her time at Santa Clara, where she had the honor of studying with Dr. Dale Larson and Dr. Shauna Shapiro, studying the mind-body connection, positive psychology, and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Karen is concurrently serving her practicum at a local community agency providing counseling and mental health support for individuals, couples and families.

Karen’s life has been greatly influenced by the health challenges of family and close friends. She understands that each individual has unique physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs. Karen is excited to work with individuals to create an integrative and holistic approach to diet, stress reduction, and a lifetime of healthy habits.

Kirsten Olshan is a BeWell Coach and Multi-session Coach for physical activity. Kirsten’s focus is on the psychology of human performance, in particular, professions that demand excellence. She is passionate about integrating the health and wellness industry with healthcare. Kirsten believes strongly in an integrative approach to health, providing care solutions to improve access to care, patient outcomes and quality of life. 

She has been teaching a variety of Stanford fitness classes and has been a part of the Stanford community since 2014. She is a personal trainer and a health and wellness educator throughout the U.S. and internationally with GETSMARTER and EXOS at Google. Kirsten has her own company Called ALC Active Lifestyle Coaching which is based out of Silicon Valley. She loves to help those in the community thrive and build radical self-care and healthy habits that stick to stay physically active. Kirsten loves to surf and mountain bike and is an outdoor enthusiast.

She has a bachelor’s degree in theater and dance from George Mason University and a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion with a focus in sports psychology and nutrition from California University of Pennsylvania. She is a certified yoga teacher (RYT), Pilates teacher and educator for over 25 years. 

Daryl is a BeWell Coach and Healthy Living Multi-session Coach for wellness and Coaching for Health Care Clinicians.

Daryl has made the transition from a successful career in the corporate world to doing what he is passionate about: coaching and health and wellness. As a national board-certified health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC), life coach, health educator and certified personal trainer, Daryl understands the challenges of balancing career, family, friends and community engagement while maintaining a commitment to a healthy lifestyle. 

Facing life-long challenges with weight, Daryl has been able to “walk the talk” and maintain a 50-pound weight loss with healthy eating, daily meditation, support and consistent movement over the past 15 years. 

Daryl lives in San Francisco and enjoys sports (SF Giants, Warriors, and 49ers), volunteer work, world travel and is happiest when serving others.

Neelam is a BeWell Coach. She is an advocate for health promotion and disease prevention. She enjoys working with individuals to explore innovative ways to incorporate healthy behaviors into daily life for optimal health. As a yoga and meditation teacher and practitioner, she believes in an integrative approach to overall well-being. She believes that when we are able to care for ourselves, we can be fully present for others in our fast-paced culture. 

Neelam has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, master’s degree in education and her coaching certificates through the Integrative Nurse Coach Association and Wellcoaches.

Cecille is the associate wellness program manager and a physical activity coach for BeWell. Cecille has over 25 years of experience in operations management, leadership and kinesiology. She coaches participants with a focus on preventive health and well-being.

Cecille received her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at San Jose State University and her master’s in health science with an emphasis in public health at Touro University. Cecille holds a corrective exercise specialist certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is a Board Certified Coach through NBHWC.

Cecille is a student of hula and Hawaiian culture. She has a soft spot in her heart for pitbulls and has the TV show “Friends” on at all times. She loves to spend time with her husband, daughter, and son—preferably in Hawai’i.

Christi is the administrative associate for both BeWell and Healthy Living programs. As the primary point of customer service for all inquiries, she embraces the team’s mission to create a culture of wellness where all are valued, supported and inspired to thrive. She enjoys personally answering each and every question that comes through the BeWell office and makes it her mission to provide the best customer experience possible to our Stanford community. She manages the Healthy Living and BeWell databases, working closely with the IT team to continually improve systems.

After working at IBM for 15 years, she took advantage of an opportunity to return to school and pursue a new career path. She received her degree as a physical therapy assistant in 2002 and worked in a physical therapy office for eight years. She became a comprehensive certified Pilates instructor through Power Pilates and a Level II TRX instructor. It was her TRX training that initially brought her to Stanford in 2013, teaching fitness classes to staff and faculty. Ever on the lookout for new opportunities and ways to promote health, Christi began working full time for BeWell in 2018 when an open position became available.

Christi believes that “movement is life,” and thus enjoys exercising, hanging out with her dog, running, hiking and frequent visits to Henry Coe State Park, where she can immerse herself in nature.

Cheryl Mejia is the wellness program specialist for Healthy Living. With a heartfelt passion for helping others, Cheryl is committed to guiding Stanford’s staff and faculty toward the myriad of offerings, classes, and vital information available through Healthy Living, ensuring they receive quality customer service and experience the full benefits of these programs. Along with responding to customer needs, Cheryl also manages the Healthy Living database and contributes to the set-up and moderation of Healthy Living classes.

A true local, Cheryl was born at Stanford Hospital and grew up in the neighboring area, deeply ingrained in the community she now serves. She pursued her BA in Psychology, a field that has significantly shaped her career and her approach to wellness and community building. Cheryl’s professional journey is marked by meaningful roles in program support for various non-profit organizations across the Peninsula and academic advising in higher education, where she honed her skills in guiding and supporting diverse groups. Her work at the Peninsula Community Center in Redwood City was a pivotal era where she fostered her love for fitness, healthy living, and community engagement through coordinating, developing, and marketing fitness programs and camps. She loves to combine her background in higher education and fitness to support the BeWell Program with its educational component.

Cheryl strives to maintain her own healthy living by finding any reason to be outside and in activities that keep her moving and connected to nature. Whether it’s playing tennis, biking through scenic roads, exploring natural beauty on family trips, or enjoying local walks with friends, Cheryl loves how outdoor time brings her much joy and rejuvenation.

Dominique Del Chiaro is the director of the Stanford Healthy Living programs. Dominique oversees the ongoing operations of the wellness curriculum, and she is devoted to offering quality health education classes grounded in current research. Her vision is to create a culture of well-being at Stanford where participants feel empowered, supported and inspired to thrive. Dominique is a seasoned instructor and trainer and has facilitated wellness courses for more than 25 years. In addition to managing the health education programs for Healthy Living, Dominique teaches health enrichment, contemplative, stress and resiliency classes throughout the Stanford enterprise.

Dominique has a bachelor’s degree in human development from University of California Davis, a master’s degree in education from the University of Hawaii and she is currently a doctoral candidate in integral and transpersonal psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is also a certified transformational life coach.

Dominique enjoys dancing hula, teaching yoga, hiking in the backcountry, snow skiing, creative crafting and traveling the world. She feels most at home immersed in nature, basking in the beauty of creation.

Charelle joined Stanford in 2016 as the director of HealthySteps to Wellness, the hospital employee wellness program for Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children’s Health. In 2021, Charelle became the senior director of wellness across Stanford’s enterprise for the university, hospitals and clinics employee wellness programs. She has over 25 years of experience in the health, fitness and wellness industry and a passion for enhancing the lives of others through creating an environment of health, wellness and care. Before joining the wellness team, Charelle was a district manager for Optum/Plus One. She provided executive oversight of wellness centers focusing on employee engagement, operational excellence, quality service and integrated wellness programs for several Fortune 500 companies in the Bay Area.

Charelle served as Cisco’s wellness center manager showcasing cutting-edge facility design, technology solutions and the latest trends in programming. Before relocating to California, Charelle worked for the private club leader, ClubCorp in New Orleans, LA. Charelle received a master’s  and a bachelor’s degree in health and human sciences from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Charelle enjoys long walks with her rescue dogs, journaling, and spending time with her daughter. 

AdiShakti Khalsa is a Coach with BeWell and Healthy Living stress reduction coaching. AdiShakti has been a coach for over 10 years and delights in supporting individuals on their health and wellness journeys, both at Stanford and in her private coaching practice. 

AdiShakti brings her early background of 25 years practicing and teaching yoga, meditation and stress management to her coaching. She also understands how hard behavior change can be based on her own struggles with weight and eating and is dedicated to genuine kindness, acceptance, and respect to those she coaches.

AdiShakti received her bachelor’s degree in psychology (summa cum laude) at Georgia State University and her master’s degree in counseling (with honors) at San Francisco State University. She has been nationally board-certified in counseling (NBCC) for over 20 years. AdiShakti is both a Mayo Clinic certified health and wellness coach and a national board-certified health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC).

AdiShakti loves to swim, sing and hike in the redwoods and by the ocean. Her twin college-aged daughters make her feel like the luckiest mom in the world.

Christine Barbir, M.Ed., MA is a national board-certified health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC) and certified mindfulness practitioner with BeWell. Christine focuses on guiding clients towards transformative health behavior change with mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques. Utilizing these practices, Christine helps individuals bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. As a certified personal trainer, Christine also fosters the mind-body connection within each of us. 

Christine received her master’s degree in biology from San Jose State University and her master’s in education from Chapman University. Trained at Duke Integrative Medicine, Christine earned her professional integrative health coaching certification. She also holds a certification in plant-based nutrition from Cornell University.

Christine loves spending time in nature, endurance trail running, reading and spending quality time with her family at the beach. 

Serena Kang is a Coach for the BeWell Program. Serena is dedicated to supporting others to create more balance in their lives by addressing health on a holistic level (mind, body and spirit). Her goal is to empower individuals to feel confident and at peace with themselves and their way of living. She is fascinated by the connection between nutrition and mental health and loves to learn about how these two factors affect one another. She thoroughly enjoys learning about new cultures (and trying their food!) and had the privilege of assisting doctors and the nutrition department at various hospitals and clinics in Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

Serena received a bachelor’s degree in clinical nutrition at UC Davis and an AFPA health and wellness coach and holistic nutritionist certification.

Serena loves spending time with her loved ones, praying, finding new music, trying new plant-based (vegan) foods and exploring new hiking spots.

Sabrina is a Coach and nutrition counselor. She is passionate about helping you find ways to eat that are in tune with your body’s needs, supports your culture and are sustainable and meaningful.

Sabrina has a bachelor’s degree in clinical nutrition from UC Davis and a master’s degree in nutrition science from CSU Chico. She started her career in dietetics working part-time as a clinical dietitian at Enloe Medical Center. Meanwhile, she developed a love for feeding families with young children in her role as a public health nutritionist with Butte County.

She further honed her preventative care skills by working in the private sector with Cisco’s wellness center where she worked as an interdisciplinary team to improve individual’s health, work-life balance and athletic performance. She is an ACE certified health coach and weight management specialist.

Sabrina loves hiking, biking and creative cooking. She is a novice tennis player and gardener.

Jamie began working at Stanford in 2015 as an administrative associate for BeWell, and currently serves as the senior manager of events and outreach. She is passionate about supporting program participants and creating impactful wellness events. She is primarily focused on the organization of in-person campus events, such as The Wellness Fair and The Cardinal Walk.

Jamie earned a master’s degree in public health (MPH) at California State University, Northridge in 2022 after earning an associate’s degree in human development in 2016 and a bachelor’s degree in gerontology in 2018. In effort to further her event skills, she became a certified quality event planner in 2020 through the Board of Trustees of the Management and Strategy Institute, an internationally recognized certification.

Linda Lydon is the program specialist for the BeWell outreach team. She coordinates Healthy Living for Teams requests, focusing on the health and wellness of the Stanford community. Linda is able to share her passion for emotional and physical  wellness and mindfulness utilizing her strengths of organization, prioritization, and cross-collaboration. Before joining the BeWell team, Linda had the privilege and opportunity to weave her passion for health and well-being, community service, gratitude and mindfulness into her professional experience at Stanford as a wellness ambassador for Cardinal at Work and BeWell. 

Linda studied industrial psychology at San Jose State. She is a certified corporate wellness specialist, life coach and safe zone advocate. Linda has been with Stanford University since 2001, joining the BeWell team in 2020. She is proud to be part of a team dedicated to supporting a healthy environment that enables faculty and staff to present their best selves at work and home with programs and educational opportunities.

Linda enjoys race walking, biking, working in her garden, home improvement projects and reading. She is a lifelong learner, born and raised in the Bay Area.