Yoga Alliance Foundation
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Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Historically marginalized communities bear a disproportionate burden of stress, trauma, and physical and mental health challenges due to systemic discrimination and underinvestment. These difficulties may be compounded by limited economic opportunity, insufficient health care access, weak transportation and technological infrastructure, and under-resourced educational institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic showcased and aggravated these inequities. Yoga is an accessible, low-cost, proven tool for reducing stress, managing trauma, and improving physical and mental health. In communities with inadequate health and social services, yoga can fill a critical gap: it increases individuals’ capacity to manage stress, regulate their emotions, and reduce negative health impacts. It also presents economic opportunity for prospective teachers, especially as the practice grows in popularity and increasing numbers of institutions seek to integrate yoga into their services.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Yoga for Community Care
Financial and professional support and community connections for yoga teachers in historically marginalized communities.
Yoga for Youth
Cross-sector collaborations that offer yoga to youth for physical and emotional well-being
Yoga for Resiliency
Strategic partnerships that expand access to yoga for those who have experienced traumatic crises
Amplifying the Power of Yoga
Innovative, science-based tools to demonstrate yoga’s impact on whole-person health
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of health outcomes improved
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Refugees and displaced people, Economically disadvantaged people, People with disabilities, LGBTQ people, Indigenous peoples
Related Program
Amplifying the Power of Yoga
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Statistically significant improvements in: perceived stress; overall mental health; overall physical health; sleep & energy levels; anxiety; emotional problems; social activities & relationships.
Number of youth receiving services (e.g., groups, skills and job training, etc.) with youths living in their community
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Indigenous peoples, People of African descent, People of Latin American descent, People of Asian descent
Related Program
Yoga for Community Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2021 we contributed to Breathe for Justice, a yoga & mindfulness teacher training program for BIPOC youth. Based on our contribution relative to program cost, we supported ~10 participants.
Total number of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Yoga for Community Care
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of members from priority population attending training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, People of African descent, Indigenous peoples, People of Latin American descent, People of Asian descent
Related Program
Yoga for Community Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2021 Yoga Alliance Foundation contributed to Awakening Yoga Spaces, a scholarship program for BIPOC yoga teacher trainees.
Number of free registrants to classes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Yoga for Community Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Yoga for Community Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Notes: 1. 2022 shows total number of participants over 3 programs, but some participants engaged in multiple programs. 2. Due to strategic changes we may stop tracking this metric in the future.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Through collaboration, investment, and advocacy, Yoga Alliance Foundation helps bring yoga to more spaces and communities—making the practice accessible to everyone, regardless of their resources or life circumstances, for greater collective health and wellbeing.
We leverage yoga for social impact and foster a more expansive, accessible, and equitable yoga community.
We concentrate our efforts and resources on individuals and communities who face barriers to accessing yoga and who have experienced marginalization. We focus on current / prospective yoga teachers and practitioners who face economic, geographic, or cultural barriers to yoga classes or teacher training, and on those who have experienced discrimination and exclusion in yoga settings.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our two approaches are: investment in change-makers who expand access to the practice; and partnership with other sectors and social programs seeking to integrate yoga into their work.
We invest in change-makers by providing funding, community connection, and business-building support to yoga professionals who come from and share the practice with historically marginalized communities.
We use our infrastructure and networks to amplify and scale this work—while maintaining a community-centered approach and long-term visioning.
We provide accessible, science-based tools to measure yoga’s impact on health and wellbeing.
We partner with leaders from other sectors to sustainably integrate yoga into their core services, using impact data to demonstrate yoga’s high return on investment.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We fill a unique role within the landscape of yoga social impact organizations. There are many yoga outreach initiatives led by individuals or small organizations; Yoga Alliance Foundation complements these efforts as a connector and amplifier, simultaneously investing in grassroots-level action, and advocating for systems change. We also reach beyond the yoga community, forging relationships with other institutions. We weave these networks together to drive community-driven change and embed it into policy and systems for long-term impact.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have been using yoga to address systemic health inequities on three levels:
(1) We invest in the yoga professional pipeline by financing scholarships for economically disadvantaged BIPOC teacher trainees. In 2021-2022 we contributed $125,000 to community-based programs supporting 100+ BIPOC trainees.
(2) As part of our pandemic response, we invested to sustain yoga in historically marginalized communities – taught by community members. From 2021-2023 we made small grants totaling $225,000 (plus business support services) to 125 teachers, who shared the practice with ~5,500 people in historically marginalized communities.
(3) We collaborate with other sectors (e.g., education, social services, health care) seeking to deepen their impact with yoga. These partnerships can expand the market for yoga teachers, increasing economic opportunity while improving community health and wellbeing.
Our organization has contributed to greater diversity in yoga, improved physical and mental health among those who have experienced trauma and marginalization, increased economic potential for yoga professionals from historically marginalized communities, and a growing support network of yoga professionals who have experienced exclusion.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Yoga Alliance Foundation
Board of directorsas of 07/06/2023
Jo-Ann Bance
Chandana Achanta
Kristoffer Carter
Lucia Pham-Sinclair
Marion "Mugs" McConnell
Marsha Banks-Harold
Nisha Devi Rodrigo
Sarahjoy Marsh
Saraswathi Vasudevan
Shannon Roche
Siddharth Kulkarni
Swami Asokananda
Terri McDermott
Yoshi Aono
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data