Board of Directors
Rachel Pickett
President
The Thinking Project's Executive Director, Rachel, strives to work with teachers and students to build classrooms where diverse perspectives are valued, learning is relevant to the lives all of us lead, and where students develop ways of thinking that support them in leading thoughtful, creative, contributing lives.
Finding authentic and creative ways to bring Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR) to young people has been a living turnaround in Rachel's life since 2004. It ignited her passion to become a teacher and co-found The Thinking Project. She holds a Master's degree in Education (concentration in Curriculum and Instruction) from the University of Denver and is a Certified Facilitator of IBSR.
Serving on the Board is a privilege to her because she gets to collaborate with thoughtful, caring people to develop The Thinking Project as a quality, honest, equitable organization.
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Rachel lives in Denver, Colorado and loves learning, walking, engaging with the world (both inner and outer), spending time with family and friends, and dreams of hiking the Hebrides Way in Scotland.
As a serial entrepreneur, Michal enjoys dreaming up impactful products and bringing them to life. He’s a co-founder of Joya, the maker of Marco Polo video communications app for close friends and families. He studied computer science at Harvard and business at Stanford.
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He’s been a big fan of Rachel’s vision and creativity from the moment he first learned about The Thinking Project in 2019. He’s excited to be joining the Board of Directors to help make research-based social-emotional education accessible to kids from all backgrounds.
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Michal lives in Menlo Park, California, with his wife and two daughters. He loves the redwoods and super soft blankets :)
Michal Bortnik
Chair
Dana Anderson
Secretary
Educator Dana Anderson, MS, is a Montessori guide, a kids and teens digital content advisor, and an author. Dana has taught students ages pre-K through high school in a variety of educational environments. She works with schools, teacher training programs, tech companies, and nonprofits to improve the digital lives of kids and teens.
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Dana has a passion for IBSR and has used IBSR lessons from The Thinking Project with her middle school students to support lessons in Language Arts and Digital Citizenship.
Dana lives in Florida and is the proud mom of three grown children. Her passion is supporting kids, teens and adult educators to live balanced lives through high-quality tech, nature, shared personal storytelling, and The Thinking Project!
Carla Meyrink is the co-founder and head of school at The Community for Learning in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Passionate about reimagining education, she works to make learning more relevant and student-centered by championing student-led learning and self-assessment practices.
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After connecting with Rachel, Carla introduced lessons from The Thinking Project to her secondary school teachers, witnessing firsthand how IBSR strategies empower students to become stronger metacognitive thinkers. Now, as a member of the Board of Directors, she is eager to help bring these transformative approaches to a broader audience.
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Carla lives in Santo Domingo with her husband, their dog, and five cats. An avid reader, she loves walking along the beach, practicing yoga in her backyard, and staying on the cutting edge of educational research and innovation.
Carla Meyrink
Board Member