President – Dr. Gwendolyn Binder
Dr. Gwendolyn Binder has spent her career working on ways to enable your immune system to heal disease. She received her doctoral training in Molecular Medicine at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore Maryland in 2002 and is currently the EVP of Science & Technology at Cabaletta Bio, a biotechnology company developing T cell-based therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune disease. She previously served in leadership positions at Adaptimmune Plc, and the University of Pennsylvania. Gwen has a strong commitment to yoga and the role of yoga in improving human health and reducing suffering. She received a 200 hour yoga teaching certification from Dhyana Yoga in 2010, and she served as a pro bono teacher at Raja Yoga for over a year. She has been committed to Raja Yoga since its opening day, having signed up as one of its first members. She lives locally in Center City and is committed to philanthropy in both her community and through yoga practice.
Secretary – Jennifer Riley
Treasurer – Laurissa Cardenas
Laurissa Cardenas is the Co-owner and President of the Cardenas Oil & Vinegar Taproom, a Philadelphia based gourmet food store specializing in olive oils and vinegars. She also works as the Director of Customer Development for Symphony EYC, a technology company that partners with grocery retailers and packaged good manufacturers to use customer analytics and shopper behavior to improve sales and execution. She received her Masters in Business Administration from Drexel University, and her undergraduate degree in Finance and Economics from The Pennsylvania State University in 2004. Laurissa is committed to a holistic lifestyle and knows the effect yoga and meditation can have on health, happiness and wellbeing. She received her 200 hour yoga teacher training certification from Raja Yoga in the 2012 inaugural teacher trainee program. Laurissa lives in South Philadelphia with her husband and son and is an active member of her community.
Board Member – Marc Hammarberg
Marc Hammarberg has been a licensed real estate agent for over 20 years, and is the team leader for the Hammarberg Real Estate Group at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach Realtors. He is an Accredited Buyer’s and Seller’s Representative, a Senior Specialist, and a GREEN Realtor. Marc has received numerous awards for sales production including the GPAR Diamond Award, BHHS Fox & Roach Chairman’s Circle Gold (top 2% nationally) and is a five time Recipient of the Five Star Professional Award for outstanding service as seen in Philadelphia magazine and voted by his clients. Marc is a member of several professional Realtor Associations, the Center City Residence Association, South of South Neighbors Association, and has been active in his local Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden. He has renovated and rebuilt several homes in his neighborhood as both investment vehicles and to hone his design and planning skills. Marc is a native Philadelphian who grew up at the edge of the city in the historic Overbrook Farms neighborhood. He has lived overseas and in the Midwest and loves to travel internationally. Marc is a 30-year Center City resident, living in the Graduate neighborhood for the last 22 years with his partner and their family of pets. He practices yoga as often as possible at Raja Yoga!
Executive Director – Wes Tudor
Wes Tudor founded Raja Yoga of Philadelphia in 2010, and supervised its transformation into the non-profit Raja Yoga and Meditation Center of Greater Philadelphia in 2015. On top of the day to day operations of the studio, he now works full time developing charitable outreach programs which allow our yoga instructors to serve the broader community, and fundraising for these programs. He has been practicing yoga since 1992 and became a Himalayan Institute trained yoga teacher in 2006. Prior to that, he studied meditation and biofeedback in San Francisco, while also completing a masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego. In 2001, he traveled to India for the Maha Kumba Mela festival and did intensive practices on the Ganges for one month. He teaches in the Hatha yoga style, and brings an expertise in meditation and guided relaxation to his classes. Wes has an undergraduate degree in cello performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of music.
Director of Program Development – Cory de Torres, Ph.D
Cory de Torres, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist. She has maintained a private practice in Philadelphia for over 40 years, working with individuals and couples to achieve successful and integrated lives. She practices from her offices in the Art Museum area of Philadelphia.
Cory has also had an active career as a teacher and consultant. She is President of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) Training Systems, where she has offered extensive public certification trainings in NLP designed to improve people’s interpersonal communication skills. She has also worked in-house with many businesses including Fortune 100 and 500 corporations. She has consulted with high level management, CEOs and Boards of Directors on the human elements involved in a variety of contexts including: hiring decisions, improving the function of top management teams and assessing the desirability of new business acquisitions.
Cory holds a Ph.D. from Temple University and a BA from Barnard College.
