Who We Are

Tajali Theresa Tolan, MS is a Certified P Mindfulness Educator, Peace Educator, Marriage and Family Therapist, Family Life Educator, and Registered Yoga Teacher. She is the founder of both the Children’s Global Peace Project and The Consciousness Project–an Empowerment Life Coaching business. She has worked in the field for 30 years and is passionate about teaching social-emotional and mindfulness skills. Tajali’s work specializes in creative expression, communication, healthy parent-child relationships and peace work.

Danielle Nicholas is a mindfulness and meditation practitioner with over 20 years’ experience. She has an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies with a focus on Eastern religions from Brown University. Additionally, she has a Master’s in Education with a focus on biology teaching for grades 5-12 and. This interdisciplinary background enables her to work with students from a deep understanding of both the science and practice of mindfulness. Her instruction inherently seeks to create an environment for critical thought and reflection.

Danielle is non-tenure track faculty at Montana State University and has a proven record of student engagement. Danielle is a certified Koru Mindfulness teacher and teaches MMPs young adult offerings. She has called Bozeman home since 2000 and is committed to creating a community of belonging. She has been on the board of the Montana Mindfulness Project since 2020.

A transplant from the midwest, James has called Bozeman home for 22 years. He is a physician with Bozeman Health practicing Internal Medicine and Hyperbaric Medicine, but has served in predominantly administrative roles for the last 15 years. After a decade on the health system’s executive leadership, he currently works to change healthcare reimbursement to be based on the health of the population, and how well patients are cared for instead of how much care they receive.

Having practiced mindfulness through Zen Buddhism for over thirty years, James is personally familiar with the benefits of mindfulness practice. MMP’s work of promoting mindfulness furthers the effort toward improved public health by giving youth tools to remain copacetic in a turbulent world. James joined the MMP Board in 2020 and serves as Vice President.

Sarah Fitzgerald is a Partner at NorthFork Financial, an independent financial planning and investment advisory firm, specializing in socially responsible investing. Prior to joining NorthFork, Sarah spent over 10 years working in impact finance, providing small business loans to entrepreneurs, structuring large real estate deals, utilizing New Markets Tax Credits, and designing and deploying a custom impact fund, focused on food security, low income housing, indigenous communities and BIPOC entrepreneurs. Sarah is originally from Helena and is grateful for her Montana roots. Beginning in college, she spent summers working in Glacier National Park and went on to spend nearly a decade working seasonally in remote, wild places in Montana, Utah, Arizona and Alaska. Sarah holds undergraduate degrees in Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development and a Masters in Business Administration. Sarah is also a Certified Teacher for the Search Inside Yourself Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence (now SIY Global) program.

Amy Carse was raised in Vermont on a farm between two covered bridges. After getting a Bachelor’s degree at UVM in Anthropology and Environmental Studies in the early 90’s she went to find bigger mountains and fewer bugs in Montana and found Bozeman to be home. Her mindfulness meditation practice began in 1992 while attending a 10-day silent meditation retreat with a Buddhist monk in Thailand. Her fascination with how humans adapt to their environment and a love for wild places, people and travel led her to become a professional Mountain Guide in the US and Nepal for the first two decades of her adult life, where climbing was her mindfulness practice. She still enjoys adventuring and discovering new things, but current expeditions are more often to explore the workings of her own mind. She is passionate about individual and community well-being and continues to better herself so she can show up as her best for those around her. Amy believes that we are more the same than different and that given the right tools, we can interact with ourselves and each other in a positive manner. She loves to teach children and adults and is a Certified Mindfulness teacher through Mindful Schools. She looks forward to sharing these Mindfulness practices with elementary students this year and as a result she hopes to add a bit of positivity, kindness and compassion to our community, society, and world. Her other interests are wildcrafting, beekeeping, singing, and spending time in wild places with her family and friends. Favorite quote: To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.” Brene Brown

Jessie is a licensed clinical social worker who has a private practice in Bozeman and Ennis Montana. Jessie graduated from Walla Walla University in 2010 with an MSW. She is strongly devoted to cultivating human connection by focusing on personal strengths. For the past twelve years, Jessie has focused her work with children, adolescents, adults and families from all cultures and backgrounds. She uses a variety of evidence based interventions to help link the mind/body connection such as mindfulness, compassion work and grounding techniques to help folks heal from past trauma. Her goal is to assist her community by encouraging personal growth in others through nurturing strengths, authenticity and resilience. Jessie enjoys her own meditation practices, exercising in her garage gym, hanging with her family, reading with curiosity and being out in nature with her furry companion.

Amiya is obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a Minor in International Business, and an emphasis on Community Health at Montana State University. She currently is the Montana District Governor of Circle K International, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship Ambassador, and a 4-H member. Her own life experiences have shown her the value in resiliency, and her passion has always lied in helping others, as well as helping them find resilience in their own situations. After working with numerous non-profits and community organizations, her love to serve others only deepened. As a Montana native, she grew up in the outdoors and enjoying all the things Montana has to offer. Amiya is a social butterfly who loves spending time with friends & family; whether that be exploring, watching a funny show, or baking them some goodies.

Abby is endlessly curious about the power of language and how the work of words can bring about meaningful change. She first combined this curiosity with her love for nonprofit work in 2018 when she became a founding member of Crescent Montana—a Bozeman-based nonprofit working to combat period poverty in Montana. At Crescent, she started to learn about the importance of finding fitting funding opportunities to achieving one’s goals. Now, she applies these lessons and more to her desire to make the world a better place, one grant application at a time.
Abby’s background rests in American Studies, Hispanic Studies, and Native American Studies, which gives her the invaluable tools to explore problems with an interdisciplinary and complex lens. Seeking connection, understanding, and change through collaboration and creativity are her jam. She thrives in environments that allow for curiosity and the chance to help and give back to others whenever possible (including volunteering at Haven, working at the World Language Initiative’s BELLA summer camp, and continuing to pour her heart into Crescent Montana).

Abby grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota with a family that taught her to love to play outside—skiing, hiking, camping, picnicking, general romping in the snow, you name it. She also enjoys reading and spending time with friends and family. Much to the chagrin of her bank account, she loves to travel whenever and wherever possible. She’s trying, but mostly failing, to improve her yoga and journaling habits.