Teri Pipe, Ph.D.

ASU Chief Well-Being Officer

Founding Director, ASU Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience

Professor and Dean Emerita, College of Nursing and Health Innovation Arizona State University

Dr. Teri Pipe is Arizona State University's Chief Well-Being Officer. Formerly Dr. Pipe served as the Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU). She also is the founding director of ASU's Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience. Before coming to ASU in 2011, Dr. Pipe served as director of Nursing Research and Innovation at Mayo Clinic Arizona and was an associate professor of nursing at the Mayo Clinic’s College of Medicine. In 2014 she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow.

Nika Gueci, Ed.D

Executive Director, University Engagement at Center: Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at ASU

Nika Gueci is the inaugural Executive Director for University Engagement at the Arizona State University Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience. Under her direction, Center advances an environment of well-being through the promotion of skills such as mindfulness and compassion to support lifelong resilience. Creating a culture where wellness is of vital importance to the development of human potential is her daily call to action.

Tiara Cash, Program Manager, comes to Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience as an alumnus of Arizona State University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Wellness from ASU and a Master’s degree from Western Illinois University in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Psychology. Her practice of mindfulness spans the last 19 years of her life, and as a practitioner she has worked in various higher education settings including: athletics, campus recreation, and student success.

Tiara has been granted scholarships, grants, and awards for her work with mindfulness in the student-athlete population, mindfulness and equity/social justice, and creating art with a foundation of mindful practice. In 2018 and 2019 she traveled internationally to present on her research involving mindfulness and overlooked populations. Her career focuses include delving into the intersections of mindfulness in marginalized and unrepresented populations, resilience training for life transitions, and mindful performance art.

In her current role with Center, she works to create innovative programming through workshops, trainings, presentations and events. Her vision is to engage ASU and the surrounding community in life-long learning and personal development with an emphasis on mindful practices and connection through compassion.

Dara James, Ph.D. Candidate

Dara James is a Doctoral Student and Research Associate in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University. She works in the behavioral science field of integrative oncology exploring the use of meditative movement (Tai Chi Easy/Qigong) to improve health-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors. Dara has over a decade of curriculum development and program implementation devoted to mind-body sciences with specific focus on the work of mindful eating and self-compassion. Dara has extensive training in mindfulness, mindful eating, and self-compassion from several institutions. Recently, Dara has incorporated the neurophysiological biofeedback practices of heart rate variability and heart rhythm coherence to improve stress response, self-regulatory behaviors, and overall quality of life. Dara is a Consultant for Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience at Arizona State University.

Hanna Layton

Outreach Coordinator, Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at ASU

Hanna is employed by ASU’s Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience as the student outreach coordinator. In this role she serves to foster a more compassionate and connected student body at ASU. She acts as a liaison between student organizations and the Center to spread mindfulness through planning events, writing curriculum for the online programs, and leading practices that students can apply to their daily lives. She has also spearheaded Centers sustainability initiative, working to ensure that the the programming and events incorporate care for environmental resilience. Her ultimate goal in this role is to help students manage their daily stresses through healthy practices so that they can more easily achieve their academic goals.