Mindfulness at Work

President, Athena Group International

Kim Cermak currently serves as the President of Athena Group International. In this role, she works with organizations to strengthen their ability to lead, manage and build multicultural teams and create meaningful connections with their employees, partners and clients.

Kim has over 25 years of intercultural and leadership experience helping firms craft cross-cultural solutions for their workforces at home and around the world. Her experience includes time spent studying, living, and working abroad in both France and Luxembourg. During her career, she has dedicated her efforts to inculcating attitudes that encourage inclusive spaces where people of all backgrounds can thrive.

In 1996 Kim began her career in the intercultural field working for Window on the World in Minneapolis, MN as the director of marketing and then national director of business development for FGI, Global Services. As part of a team of multilingual cross-culturalists who lived, studied or worked internationally, she was constantly learning and expanding her mindset.

From 2006-2009 she worked in the nonprofit sector. As chief administrative officer for Nonviolent Peaceforce she supported their mission of reimagining security and civilian protection in areas most impacted by conflict around the world to interrupt and prevent violence. As a microenterprise consultant at WomenVenture, she advised women and other marginalized and disadvantaged populations starting new businesses.

In 2019, Kim became a mindfulness coach. In this capacity she has more tools that further an individual or team’s capacity to get comfortable with ideas, concepts and ways of being that are new or different. Creating space for a more insightful and expansive response to both internal and external events can replace habitual or culturally influenced and reinforced reactions, with those that are more useful and helpful to address the most complex issues of our time.

Kim holds her Master of Liberal Studies: Focus: Impact of Cultural Values on Religion from The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN and her Bachelor of Science in International Business from The University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. She completed her studies to become a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction practitioner from the Myrna Brind Center for Mindfulness Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Jefferson, Philadelphia, PA. She serves as an emeritus board member for Open Field, a nonprofit organization improving the lives and futures of youth from West Africa and immigrant and refugee communities in the United States, through soccer.

Kim currently resides in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where she enjoys hiking, yoga and spending time with family and friends.

Elizabeth is a Psychologist and has worked in Leadership and Organizational Development for over 30 years specializing in cross-cultural training, executive coaching, meaningful organizational design, and wellness. Elizabeth is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MōD, Meaningful Organizational Design Inc., a consulting firm in Los Angeles, CA, offering services in mindfulness-based leadership and social impact strategy. Elizabeth researched and designed the Presence Coaching executive coaching model, an evidence-based 4-step process, STOP – OBSERVE – ALIGN – ALLOW, used to guide entrepreneurs and teams to build more effective and sustainable leadership skills. Elizabeth has a Ph.D. in Psychology and Holistic Human Development and works in private practice as a trauma-informed Psychologist in Los Angeles, CA, specializing in executive and expatriate mental health.

Jamie Müller combines 25 years of experience in personal, organizational and leadership development with a strong focus on managing intercultural relations. She is the founder and owner of Caterpillar Spirit as well as The Healthy Expat.Her background includes program administration and planning for the University of Minnesota, USA, consulting and advising for the US Foreign Commercial Service in Germany, as well as global leadership development and delivery for Fortune 100 & 500 companies, governments, non-profit organizations and universities around the world.

In addition, she has extensive experience in account management and business development working with organizational development departments in developing programs and policies appropriate for their global workforce. Jamie has broad knowledge, expertise and experience in intercultural issues relating to global teams, expatriates and their families. She is an Adjunct Professor in Intercultural Communication at the University of Tübingen, Germany and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cooperative Education, DHBW, in Stuttgart, Germany. Jamie received her degree in German and International Relations from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the University of Hamburg, Germany. She has completed MBA graduate and Intercultural Communication coursework at the University of St. Thomas.

She is an ICF, International Coaching Federation, Associate Certified Coach (ACC). Jamie also holds a certificate from the Steinbeis Hochschule-Berlin as Systemic Business Coach. She has a certificate in Adult Education from the University of Educational Sciences, Ludwigsburg, Germany. In addition, Jamie is a certified COM / COI practitioner and a certified Natural Juice Therapist from the CMA. She is the Secretary of the German-American Business Club in Stuttgart. She has active membership in SIETAR & Young SIETAR, the International Women’s Club, Stuttgart and serves as Ask the Expert for Expatica. Jamie currently lives in Neckargemünd, Germany, close to Heidelberg. Prior to this, she lived in the United States, Italy and Hungary and has traveled and worked throughout the United States and Eastern and Western Europe. She is fluent and works in English and German and has basic knowledge of Spanish.