The Awareness & Compassion Project is a humble gathering of a mindfulness & yoga teacher, a filmmaker & writer, and a musician & children’s tutor, to help do just that: plant seeds of awareness and compassion in the hearts of young people.

We are three long-time meditators who realized that we wished we learned these practices when we were younger. We know from experience that using mindful practices and techniques can help benefit our mental and emotional well-being.

We hope it helps you and your young learners reduce anxiety and generate a more aware, compassionate mind.

- Melena, Bob, & Scott

 
 
 

Co-Founder, CEO & Education Program Director

 

Melena Kiriaki is a Certified Mindfulness & Meditation Teacher, 500-hr Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified Sound Healer & Corporate Mindfulness Trainer. She is based in Austin, Texas.

Melena’s meditation & yoga practice blossomed after she came into a deep, consistent meditation practice that benefitted her mental and emotional life in transformative ways.

Melena co-founded The Awareness & Compassion Project with Bob Peck and Scott Standley in 2020. She is a senior account strategist and Mindfulness@ global co-lead at Meta. She has spoken about mindfulness at SXSW, contributed to Mindful Magazine, and trained adults and kids in mindfulness meditation since 2018. Melena also owns and operates MelWellness LLC. You can see her adult meditation offerings at her website.

 

Co-Founder & Educational Strategist

Bob Peck is the son of a schoolteacher. He is a festival award-winning filmmaker, author, lawnmower, meditator, and a spiritual student of Christ, Krishna, the Buddha, and Paramahansa Yogananda. With bachelor’s degrees in Religious Studies & Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas, he has made ‘conscious films’—spiritual & advocacy documentaries—since graduating in 2011. He’s also a Kriya Yoga practitioner through KYI and a Certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher. He works as an account strategist and Mindfulness@ Meta global co-lead since 2018. A native Austinite, he lives with his wife and young son in Austin, Texas.

His book, Original Sin Is A Lie: How Spirituality Defies Dogma and Reveals Our True Self, was published in 2022. He co-founded The Awareness & Compassion Project with Melena Kiriaki and Scott Standley in 2020. More on Bob’s projects here.

 
 

Co-Founder & Curriculum Development Specialist

Scott Standley is a musician, writer, and child’s tutor from Austin, Texas who is currently based on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. He co-founded The Awareness & Compassion Project with Bob and Melena in 2020.

Scott graduated from UT Austin with a B.A. in Rhetoric and Writing. He has been volunteer tutoring weekly since 2016, starting with the organization Tutoring Chicago. Learning from the students, teachers, parents and child behavioral specialists in that organization was a life-changing experience that informs his writing. He has also written articles and reviews for Chicago Magazine and Screen Rant.

Scott has contributed music scores for documentaries and short films. He also grew up playing live with bands in Austin and Chicago. He is currently writing new music, working on oyster farms and helping his wife build the artist residency Afternoon Camp.