Click here to watch "Donna's Dream", the story behind the
Urban Zen Foundation.

Urban Zen Foundation Faculty:

Donna Karan designed her first collection and staged her first show while still in high school. After her second year at Parson's School of Design, Donna was hired by Anne Klein. Ten years later, she introduced the first Donna Karan New York Collection, and four years after that she unveiled DKNY, both of which revolutionized the fashion industry. With social causes a heartfelt priority, and through the frustration she felt with the treatment her late husband, Stephan, received through traditional Western medical practice, Donna founded the Urban Zen Foundation. One of its three programs is to create a working environment where the worlds of conventional and alternative medical practices unite to invent new ways of healing, health and well-being for all of us.

Christiane Northrup, MD, is a visionary pioneer and beloved authority in the field of women's health and wellness. Recognizing the unity of body, mind, and spirit, she helps empower women to tune in to their innate inner wisdom to transform their health and truly flourish. Dr. Northrup is the author of several best-selling books, has hosted six highly successful public television specials, and has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, The View, the Rachael Ray Show, and Good Morning America. For more information, visit drnorthrup.com

Pamela Miles is an integrative health care consultant and Reiki Master who is internationally known for her pioneering work bringing Reiki into conventional medical settings. She has practiced Reiki since 1986 and been a student of meditation and yoga for 45 years. She is the author of REIKI: A Comprehensive Guide and numerous peer-reviewed medical papers. Ms. Miles is the founding president of the Institute for the Advancement of Complementary Therapies.

Jamie Naughright is a professor of athletic training and yoga studio owner with 19 years of experience evaluating, treating, and preventing sports injuries for athletes. She assists Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman with the Urban Zen Foundation Yoga Program founded by Donna Karan.

Jill Pettijohn has a background as a registered nurse and has worked as a professional chef for over 20 years. Her deep understanding of nutrition and health inspired her to create a nutritional cleanse program to help people achieve better overall health and balance. She owns and runs Jill’s Café, an organic café in Brooklyn. 

Colleen Saidman Yee has been teaching yoga for 12 years. She co-owns and codirects Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, NY, and continues her studies with her husband, Rodney Yee. Her passion for working in health care started in junior high at a geriatric center and continues today as cochair of the Urban Zen Health and Wellness Foundation.

Robert A. F. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, a cofounder of Tibet House US, and a personal friend of the Dalai Lama for more than 40 years.

Rodney Yee who has been practicing yoga for 27 years and teaching for 23, got his foundation from Iyengar Yoga. He continues his studies together with his wife, Colleen Saidman. Thirty DVDs and two books later, he has turned his yoga passion toward health care by cochairing the Urban Zen Health and Wellness Foundation, founded by Donna Karan.