Board Members and Staff
Rita Marie Johnson
Founder, Board President, Speaker, and CEO
Educator, author, and award-winning innovator, Rita Marie Johnson has been sharing her wellness skill worldwide for over 20 years. In 2024, she was named 1 of 10 Most Promising Women in Healthcare and Wellness by Global Healthcare Magazine.
She discovered a synergy between empathy and insight that maximizes social-emotional intelligence, eliminates unnecessary suffering and leads to life enriching choices. This epiphany resulted in the Connection Practice, which transforms confusion into clarity and conflict into connection for people of all ages and all walks of life.
Rita Marie’s implementation of the Connection Practice in Costa Rican schools earned her the Ashoka Changemakers Innovation Award: Building a More Ethical Society, chosen from 79 projects in 32 countries. She has certified over 300 Connection Practice Coaches and Trainers, who have taught it to over 100,000 individuals in more than 20 countries. Her book Completely Connected: Uniting Our Empathy and Insight for Extraordinary Results won a Nautilus Award in the Psychology category of Better Books for a Better World and is an Amazon bestseller.
Rita Marie taught the Connection Practice for credit at the United Nations University for Peace, a graduate school for international leaders. In addition, she brought the Connection Practice to professionals at Stanford, Harvard and Minerva Universities.
A seminar leader and keynote speaker, Rita Marie has presented in the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Europe and Central America, Some highlights include:
- Women in Leadership Summit at Stanford
- INCAE Business School (considered the Harvard of Latin America) for the Annual Reunion of Rectors and Deans of Latin America
- Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI), a think tank sponsored by the Aspen Institute
- Global Summits for Ministries and Departments for Peace
- Rotary International “Peace Through Service” Conference
- Peace Alliance Conference in Washington DC.
In 2006, Rita Marie and her nonprofit, Rasur Foundation International, initiated a bill in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly to establish a Ministry for Peace. It passed in 2009. Now this Ministry for Peace serves as a model for other countries to replicate.
Johnson is an Instructor in Executive Education and an Advisory Board Member for the University of California Santa Barbara Extension, Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE), Women in Leadership Certificate Program.
Rasur Foundation International Board Members
Shari Holland
Secretary
Shari Holland is a founding board member and the Parliamentarian and current Secretary of the Board. She has a master’s in Public Administration and lives in Missouri.
William Pitney
Treasurer
Financial Planner
William Pitney is passionate about helping others achieve their financial and life goals. William has been improving the financial lives of women, families and technical professionals since 2003, when he began providing integrated financial planning advice and services. As the founder of FocusYOU, William provides practical financial knowledge, delivers fact-based solutions to support your goals, and facilitates conversations that might not otherwise take place between spouses and family.
Melanie Dean
Board Member
Psychologist, Author
Melanie Dean, PhD, is the author of The Hidden Power of Emotions: How to Activate Your Energy Field and Transform Your Life. She is a psychologist, researcher and educator dedicated to empowering people by teaching them how to notice and shift their emotions – and intentionally direct their energy – to connect with what they most want to receive.
Leigh Files
Board Member
Leigh Files has been a board member since 2014. She has retired as program manager at Texas Instruments Incorporated and is also on the board of directors for the Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. She lives in Texas.
Lynne Dowler
Board Member
Retired Educator
Lynne Dowler has been on the board since 2013. She is a retired educator and serves on the board of Empower American Children. She lives in Texas.
Rachel Kim
Board Member
Rachel Kim is the Associate Dean of Student Success, Engagement and Belonging at Minerva University, also serving as their Global Director of the Coaching & Talent Development team. Rachel closely partners with leaders across (& beyond) Minerva to align on efforts to support students’ integrated and global learning outcomes, while overseeing the team of coaches who support Minerva students and alumni around the world with their personal and professional development goals. Rachel brings over 25 years of program development and partnership experiences in various corporate, nonprofit, public education, and startup settings.
Rasur Foundation International Staff
Ellen Marie Anderson, Ph.D.
Director of Education
Ellen Marie Anderson bridges the worlds of science, education, and practical psychology. She has an undergraduate degree in German and a graduate degree in physical chemistry. Ellen retired from a career as a chemist at the Food and Drug Administration and as Executive Director of The Center for Soulful Living. In addition to her role with the Connection Practice, she is also the Executive Director for The Conscious Soul. Ellen is dedicated to inclusive leadership, loving service, and empowered action.
ellen@connectionpractice.org
Ayako Nozawa
Director of International
Teacher Training
MA in Counseling, Ed. D. in
Holistic Education
Master Connection Practice Trainer,
Master Curriculum Instructor
Aya Nozawa is an experienced holistic educator (and former counselor) for 30 years, has shared the Connection Practice with over 300 educators in the USA, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and has trained 60 Japanese Connection Practice Curriculum Instructors for day care, home school community, K-12, college and graduate school staffs/professionals. She was an academic facilitator in the Hiroshima peace education program, Oleander Initiative, wrote an academic article on the Connection Practice in education in 2017 and has made 6 presentations in international holistic education conferences in 5 countries. Aya is fascinated by the power of the Connection Practice, always ready to help it be integrated in an educational setting worldwide.
Mary Ellen Steveling
Assistant Director of Education
Mary Ellen Steveling has a B.S. in Education and is a Connection Practice Coach, Trainer, and Children and Youth Instructor. With over three decades as a wellness educator, Mary’s passion for fostering peace and well-being is evident in her diverse experience. Previously, she supervised the Wellness Department at a non-profit hospital offering expertise in stress management, yoga, and meditation with the hospital community and students at St. Mary’s College. Today, drawing on her knowledge of Nonviolent Communication, Mary facilitates a community meditation group and leads an ongoing book study group centered on Thom Bond’s The Compassion Book. She is a certified HeartMath provider, empowering individuals through one-on-one sessions. Additionally, Mary guides individuals and small groups in the practice of Restorative Yoga. Her overarching mission is to nurture peace, beginning with inner harmony and expanding to enrich relationships.
Kelsey Visser
Director of Parent Training
Kelsey Visser has her M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, D.C. and is a Florida Supreme Court Certified County Court Mediator with over ten years of experience in teaching and training. Her primary focus has been peace and conflict resolution education and she’s had the opportunity to explore this topic on both the local and international level through her work with various nonprofits and organizations. Now, as a parent of two young children, she is passionate about also fostering peace in the home and hopes to help others learn and share the Connection Practice in her role as Director of Parent Training.
Beth Seed
Administrator
For over a decade Beth has been helping her clients create powerful and positive changes in their lives with her breakthrough methods. The people that are drawn to work with Beth know they are ready to embrace wellness and have a deep desire to step into action! Beth assists her clients with their growth & helps them discover their strengths to thrive in all areas of their lives.
Having been familiar with Rita Marie’s work for over 30 years, she is inspired by both the depth and the simplicity of the Connection Practice. She is highly skilled at identifying barriers so her clients walk away with a clear sense of purpose, inviting more ease and joy into their lives!
Yumi Morita
Director of International Outreach
Graduate, Ochanomizu University, Letters and Education Department
Performing Arts (Dance Education)
CNVC Certified Trainer Candidate
Yumi Morita is a Master Connection Practice Trainer. She founded Rasur Japan in 2016, which officially became incorporated in 2017. There are 38 Japanese Connection Practice trainers as of January 2019. Yumi speaks Japanese, English and some Spanish. She is passionate about spreading the Connection Practice in the world. She is the author of more than 10 books in Japanese and is an international speaker on health, environment and peace.
Maia Gallo
Director of Community Outreach
BA in Communications
MA in Education
Certified Connection Practice Trainer & Coach
Maia Gallo has spent her adult life working with children and families in various capacities. The bulk of her work has centered on Early Childhood Development as a Teacher and Director of play-based preschools, though she has also worked with children aged 5-19 as a staff member in Democratic Free schools. Her training in the Connection Practice, Non-violent Communication, Heartmath and Yoga guide her towards heart-centered education where each child’s strengths are celebrated and needs are addressed. As Director of Community Outreach, Maia’s goal is to create a replicable model for sharing the Connection Practice locally, as a way to bring more understanding, joy and peace into our communities.
Yesid Castro
Director of Technology & Global Community
Yesid Castro earned a B.A.H. in Linguistics from Stanford in 2017 and began developing comuno.org, a language practice website, in 2018. In 2021, he was approached to collaborate on the digital Connection Practice Boards—an interactive tool for empathy and conflict resolution. In 2025, he joined RFI as Director of Technology and Global Community. In this role, Yesid develops and manages RFI’s websites and applications. He created the Global Community platform, which connects the global Connection Practice community and allows coaches and trainers to promote their services. He previously worked at Stanford University in several roles, and as a researcher for FlipWord, a language learning startup—and he continues to conduct linguistics research in his spare time. Yesid is passionate about linguistics and languages, particularly minority and endangered languages, and sees technology as a powerful tool for addressing societal challenges. Through his work at RFI, he applies this passion for using technology for social good to foster human connection by spreading the Connection Practice worldwide.