Who we are
The Santovas Foundation was born out of one family’s belief in the benefits of yoga and meditation in meeting the various challenges of today’s fast paced world and its stressors. Tatiana Santos and Mantas Manovas have personally experienced the benefits of these tools in helping to navigate work-related stress, and as parents of three young children. Having woven mindfulness into their family life, Tatiana and Mantas want to offer young people opportunities to experience the benefits of yoga and mindfulness. Their hope is that Santovas Foundation program facilitators will provide youth most in need with opportunities to acquire tools and skills they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Board of Directors
Mantas Manovas
Founder and Co-Director of the Board
A freethinker, polyglot and a history lover that grew up in three different countries, Mantas is also an entrepreneur, a marketing specialist, an investor in young technology companies and a dedicated father. His love of yoga and meditation goes back twenty-five years, having started the practice at Concordia University with Clearlight Gerald (yogaspace.ca). Today his meditation journey continues with a deep appreciation of yoga nidra and the desire make the benefits of meditation more accessible.
Tatiana Santos
Founder and Co-Director of the Board
A mother of three, Tatiana appreciates the balance that yoga practice brings to her life. Whether it be through volunteering, teaching, and as a public servant in the domain of occupational safety and health, helping others has always been a part of Tatiana’s nature. The Santovas Foundation enables Tatiana to merge her combined passions of community service work and yoga, for the benefit of youth in need.
Charlotte Larose
Co-Director of the Board
Charlotte is a lawyer and a busy mother of three. She has been practicing business law for over fifteen years and always seeks to give back through volunteer involvement that is close to her heart. Charlotte hopes to bring serenity to young people in difficulty through her participation with the Santovas Foundation.
Jonathan Platt
co-director of the board
Jonathan is a social worker by profession and a student in business management (M.B.A.). The son of a Japanese mother and Quebec father, he proudly calls himself a Montrealer. He joins the board of Santovas, which he believes serves the population with the greatest mental health needs: young people in the youth protection system. Providing access to trauma-informed yoga saves lives, period. To our donors and partners, thank you. And for those discovering the organization for the first time, he invites you to take part in this cause.
Camille Vaillancourt de Jocas
Co-Director of the Board
Camille is a sociologist with a master’s degree in economic sociology specializing in the impact of responsible consumption. Over the last eight years, she has held various management positions in community organizations, mainly focused on youth missions. She has also been a consultant in philanthropy and responsible management, as well as a director on several boards.
On a personal level, Camille is a happy mother who practices mindfulness and exercise regularly because she believes they are essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Staff
Jacqueline Celemencki, PhD. (she/her/elle)
Executive Director
Jacqueline has been teaching mindfulness-based yoga and working with youth since 2003. Merging her academic training in critical race studies in education with over twenty-five years of yoga practice, Jacqueline is driven by her commitment to social justice for underserved youth, through yoga service work. She is involved in all aspects of Santovas Foundation, including teaching youth participants at our partner facilities.
Santovas Facilitators
Nancy
Isabelle
Champa
Values
We acknowledge the courage and resilience of the youth and the personnel and that we work with.
Authenticity
We endeavour to embody self-compassion and empathy across all aspects of our programs and work relationships.
Connection
We strive to establish transparent and collaborative relationships with youth participants and the adults who work with them.
Adaptability
We are committed to meeting the diverse needs and circumstances of youth participants and partner organizations.
Vision Statement
Santovas foundation offers free and accessible, trauma-sensitive, mindfulness-based yoga and meditation programs for youth in Quebec. Our programs support the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of youth. We provide programs in places where youth live and learn, such as government-run facilities, group homes, public schools, and community centres.
Our goal is to ensure that youth have access to ongoing programs to support their overall well-being. We therefore endeavour to establish long-term partnerships with youth service providers and schools, and not simply one-off classes. Santovas programs can help youth participants to cultivate self-compassion, self-confidence, and resilience, practical tools for engaging in a healthy and productive life.
FAQ
What are the Santovas programs?
Please see What We Do
What does trauma-sensitive mean?
To be trauma-sensitive means that as an organization we acknowledge that having experienced or witnessed (one or many) traumatic events can make daily life, and even the gentlest yoga class, a very difficult experience for many youth participants. We approach all aspects of our work with this awareness and sensitivity. For more information see What We Do.
Who can request Santovas programs?
Santovas programs are made available, free of charge, to public schools and other institutions and community programs that provide services and care for underserved youth. We work with youth attending local schools, youth in government care (youth protection), youth in addiction rehabilitation treatment, and teen parents. Other youth service providers not mentioned here can request Santovas programs at their facilities and institutions. See the contact us section of this website.
Are Santovas programs only for physically active or able-bodied youth?
Not at all! Santovas facilitators adapt their classes to meet the needs of their students. For example, mindfulness-based meditation is a component of every class, and participants can choose to lie down, sit, or stand for this activity. Yoga can be vigorous or very, very gentle, modifications and are always offered, and yoga forms can be done seated or lying down.
Who teaches the Santovas programs?
Santovas programs are taught by certified yoga teachers with a minimum of three years of teaching experience. These program facilitators have received training in working with youth, and in trauma-sensitive mindfulness and yoga for youth.