Mission | Board | Finances

The Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York

The Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York was formed by a dedicated and inspired group of teachers and practitioners in 1987 as a regional arm of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States.  Our aims were threefold: to support the teaching of Iyengar yoga throughout our four-state area, to establish a central place for study and teaching that would embody the highest standards of a transformational practice of yoga, and to connect our practitioners with others in the United States and throughout the world and to the source of our inspiration, B.K.S. Iyengar, our teacher.

Meet the Executive Committee
of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York

Neil Stevenson, President
Neil Stevenson is an attorney with more than twenty years experience in corporate and commercial matters including representation of non-profit organizations. He has been practicing at the Institute for more than fifteen years.

Lisa Cirando, Vice President

Lisa is an attorney in private practice with the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. She represents corporate policyholders in business insurance coverage disputes. Lisa began studying Iyengar Yoga when she was in law school in the mid-1990s. Lisa is the Chair of the Development Committee and a member of the Association's Executive Committee. She is a member of her community board in Brooklyn and an amateur handmade book artist, producing works for her press Lost Luna, Inc.

Peter Berry, Treasurer

Peter Berry has practiced law and worked for 30 years in a variety of roles relating to taxation and other aspects of individuals, businesses, trusts and estates, non-profits, securities and investing. His work on the exchange traded fund for gold sparked his current interest in metals, resources, money and economics. He has been happily and gratefully practicing yoga in the Iyengar tradition since 2002, finding the Institute, faculty and tradition the right fit from the start. As Treasurer, he serves on the Executive Committee, and as Chair of the Finance Committee.

James Murphy, Director
James has been a tireless worker for the Association since it started. In addition to teaching full time in New York, he leads cultural yoga tours for Yoga Out There.

Ginny Shubert
Ginny Shubert is a principal of Shubert Botein Policy Associates, a consulting group that supports the development and implimentation of public policies and programs that impact low-income people and communities. Ginny is also an attorney with 25 years of experience as an advocate on housing, health, and economic justice issues. She began studying with Mary Dunn in 1986, and is a past president of the association and a current member of the Executive Committee of the board.

David McDonald

David is an attorney practicing in the areas of corporate finance, asset management and entertainment law. He is a long-time student of Mary Dunn and other Institute faculty members. David was previously a Board Member.

Board Members

Tamar Kelly

Tamar is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, and was active in the Australian yoga committee before moving to New York City in 2006. Tamar is also a member of the programming committee.

Sylvia Kier

Sylvia is a former financial manager at CBS Television Stations and marketing director at Columbia University. She has practiced yoga for 10 years and completed her yoga certification at Yoga Shanti in 2004. She is a member of the Development, Finance and Marketing committees.

Jeff Logan
Jeff teaches Iyengar Yoga full time at his studio in Huntington, Long Island. He has been practicing yoga since 1986. He is the Long Island representative on the Outreach Committee and has organized several successful fund-raising events for IYAGNY in his area.

Ann McDermott-Kave

Ann is an Iyengar Certified Yoga Teacher and a member of the IYAGNY Executive and Programming Committees. She is also the Director of the OSI Pharmaceuticals Foundation—focused on promoting community involvement with charitable organizations, especially in the areas of cancer, diabetes and science education.

David McDonald

David is an attorney practicing in the areas of corporate finance, asset management and entertainment law. He is a long-time student of Mary Dunn and other Institute faculty members. David was previously a Board Member.

W. Barnabas McHenry
Barnabas is a land conservationist engaged in a series of projects in the Hudson River Valley. He is the chair of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council and co-chair of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

Tori Milner
Tori is a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher on the faculty at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York. Before becoming a teacher, her background was in marketing, public relations, and publications. She is the editor of the IYAGNY newsletter.

Gayle Miranda, DDS

Gayle is a diplomat of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. She has a private practice in New York City and is the Assistant Chief of the Dental Service at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System. She holds faculty positions at the Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University College of Dentistry. Gayle has been studying Iyengar Yoga since 2004 and is active on the programming committee.

Julia Shaida

Julia is certified at Teacher-in-Training level, 2007, and traveled to Pune to study with the Iyengars in August of this year. She has written articles for the IYAGNY newsletter, and is co-founder of the Sutra Study Group at the Institute with Carrie Owerko.

Elizabeth Stanton

Geraldine (Gerry) Visco

Gerry is a freelance writer and photographer. Gerry wrote about the Association in the August 2008 issue of Fit Yoga magazine. Gerry has been active on the Marketing/Communications committee and has written frequently for the Association's newsletter. Gerry graduated from the New York Iyengar Yoga Institute's Teacher Training program in 2006.

Regional Representatives:

Rebecca Lerner, PA

Cynthia Worby, CT
Cynthia is a dedicated yoga practitioner and Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher who is the Director of Bedford Yoga, established in 1993, in Bedford, New York.  She is also the author of The Everything Yoga Book and Yoga on The Go: Yoga Poses to Suit Your State of Mind, a fun visual and instructive set of cards. She is currently the Westchester/ Connecticut representative on the Outreach Committee.

Advisory Board:

Loren Fishman, M.D., B.Phil.

Anna Golfinopolous, Institute Faculty

Donna Karan

Laura Shapiro Kramer, Advisory Board Chair
Laura Shapiro Kramer is the author of Uncommon Voyage, Parenting a Special Needs Child, currently in a second printing. She produced Slab Boys on Broadway with Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Val Kilmer, and was a Project Director for the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). She Chaired the Board of Directors of Resources for Children with Special Needs for ten years and serves on the Board of Advisors of New York City Outward Bound Center. Laura has been practicing Iyengar Yoga for more than 25 years. She is currently writing a new book. You can visit her website to learn more at www.laurashapirokramer.com.

Frank Lipman, M.D.

Founder 1111 Wellness Center

Viren Mehta,

Founder/CEO, Mehta Global Partners

Mira Nair

Diane von Furstenberg

Dalia Zwick, P.T., Ph.D.

Financial Reports

The Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. As such, we file an annual Federal Form 990 reporting our finances and our activities. Filed Forms 990 are available from the US Government. For your convenience, you can view the most recently filed IYAGNY Form 990 (for 2008) here. Our 2008 audited financial report with 2007 comparisons is also available here.

You will see that membership dues are essential to further the mission of IYAGNY including sustaining the quality and diversity of Iyengar Institute programs.

If you have questions about our 2008 financial reports or would like to talk about extending your support of the association, please call us at 212-691-9642. IYAGNY board member and Institute Director James Murphy will be pleased to talk with you.

back to top