The BWC
Collective.
A curated community of healers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and artists — building their work and this community together in the heart of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
"A multicultural, multi-generational community of entrepreneurs, artists, therapists, healers, and practitioners — coming together to build communities, businesses, and impact, both individually and collectively."The Brooklyn Wellness Club
Meet the people doing
the real work.
Each member brings distinct expertise, lived experience, and a deep commitment to collective growth. They host classes and experiences inside BWC and show up for this community beyond it.
Paris Alexandra
MFA · Goddard College | MBA Candidate · Global Leaders Institute | RYT-500 · Kripalu | Mindfulness Facilitator · UC Berkeley & SoundsTrue | MWBE Certified | DOE & CUNY Vendor
Poet, yoga teacher, mindfulness facilitator, and Founder of The Brooklyn Wellness Club. Paris has spent 20+ years using storytelling, movement, and community as tools for transformation — beginning with her own. She built BWC to create the space she always wished existed.
- Nike's first global plus-size yoga athlete — poem "A Thousand Black Women" centered in their global yoga campaign
- Featured in CNN, Forbes, Self Magazine, Well+Good, and Essence
- 2× Brooklyn Arts Council Grant recipient for community arts programming
- Co-founded the first Black woman-owned body-positive yoga studio in the United States
Trishna Monplaisir
LMSW · Licensed Master Social Worker · Founder, The Release Program Inc. · 501(c)(3)
Trishna is a Licensed Master Social Worker and founder of The Release Program — a New York-based nonprofit providing direct financial support, breathwork, and emotional wellness resources for women navigating hardship and housing instability.
- Founded the Women's Well Giving Circle Fund — a mutual aid initiative providing emergency stipends for women in financial and emotional crisis
- Leads breathwork and emotional wellness workshops that center the healing of Black women
- Praised for her ability to "speak to the hearts of Black women and hold space for the burdens we carry"
- Partners with Girls Inc. and Kokoro to expand community care across New York
Laura Shmishkiss
Founder, Regeneration Inc. · Organizational Consultant · Community Herbalist
Laura leads Regeneration — a practice built on the belief that healing and liberation are inseparable. Through organizational consulting and plant medicine, she supports social changemakers in building equitable systems and reconnects communities to the wisdom of the natural world.
- Regeneration Consulting — racial equity, culture-building, coaching, and facilitation for social changemakers
- Regeneration Herbals — herbal consultations, workshops, and products rooted in ancestral plant wisdom
- Hosts Communities of Practice bringing healers and changemakers into ongoing collective learning
- Grounds all work in collective liberation — "until we are all free, none of us are free"
Dr. Halima Dargan
Doctorate · Licensed Counselor · Counselor Supervisor · Counselor Educator · Founder, The Sunny Institute
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Dr. Halima Dargan is a counselor, clinical supervisor, and educator who draws on clinical expertise and lived experience to uplift youth, families, and communities. The Sunny Institute offers counseling, coaching, consulting, and clinical supervision rooted in cultural responsiveness and social justice.
- Selected performer at the Newark Arts Festival 2025 for World Mental Health Day
- Leads "Wellness of the Helper Matters" — a monthly series at BWC for mental health professionals to rest and restore
- Provides dyadic and small group clinical supervision for professionals working toward independent licensure
- "When we do the work, we don't just break cycles — we build legacies."
Brianne Patrice Cash
Founder, The Black Healing Collective
Brianne founded The Black Healing Collective in 2024 after navigating depression, housing instability, and the family policing system. What began as one mother's fight for safety has grown into a community-wide commitment to care — offering therapy, rent relief, and healing spaces for Black women and femmes, rooted in abolition and love.
- Offers therapy, rent relief, and healing spaces centered on Black women and femmes
- Hosts "The Holding Room" — guided mental health discussions for community solidarity and strength
- Hosts "The Coven" — an ongoing healing space for Black women and femmes to gather in community
- Built from lived experience and sustained by community — centering joy, safety, and liberation
Kiara Wilson
Founder, Break Up Glow Up
Kiara leads Break Up Glow Up — a coaching community that meets people in their heartbreak and walks them all the way through to their most powerful reinvention. Her work centers radical self-love, identity transformation, and the belief that every ending is the most generative beginning of another chapter.
- Founder of Break Up Glow Up — a healing and coaching community for post-breakup reinvention
- Guides clients through identity shifts, emotional healing, and radical self-discovery
- Centers the belief that endings are not failures — they are invitations to become more fully yourself
Elizabeth DeHaan
RYT-200 · Founder, Essence Wellness Collective
Elizabeth founded Essence Wellness Collective after experiencing what it feels like to be the only one in a yoga class and not feel welcome. Her mission: bring holistic wellness practices to those who have been marginalized — and to their allies. She creates yoga, journaling, and writing experiences built for everyone in the fullness of who they are.
- 200-hour certified yoga teacher offering inclusive in-person and virtual classes in Brooklyn
- Leads guided journaling and expressive writing sessions that pair storytelling with movement
- Founded Essence Wellness on the conviction that wellness spaces must reflect the full range of human experience
- "Our differences make us stronger" — built for everyone who has ever felt unwelcome on their wellness journey
This is what community looks like.
Real people. Real work. Real connection. The BWC Collective gathers in this space every week — and what gets built here extends far beyond the studio walls.
Apply to Join the CollectiveThe community
speaks for itself.
"The Brooklyn Wellness Club created a grounding, affirming space for our chapter to pause, connect, and reflect."Sade Delta Sigma Theta
"The Brooklyn Wellness Club provides a space for our students to feel seen, grow SEL, and connect in community."Kori Baruch College · CUNY
"Trishna facilitated a breathwork session during our event. Guided breathing and reflection ushered our group into authentic conversations. We appreciate her ability to speak to the hearts of Black women and hold space for the burdens we carry."Charlotte Crabbe Cultivate Vibrance
"BWC is truly an expansion of a vision — bringing creativity, wellness, and community together, and giving people the opportunity to build and host within the space."BK Reader Brooklyn Community Press
Ready to build
with us?
The BWC Collective is growing. If you are a practitioner, entrepreneur, healer, or creative building something real — this is your community. Apply to join and grow your brand inside ours.
Build Your Brand
Host your classes, workshops, and events inside a space that already stands for something. Grow your reach through the BWC network and community.
Grow in Community
Connect with a curated group of practitioners and entrepreneurs who are building with purpose and supporting each other every step of the way.
Make an Impact
Be part of something larger than your individual practice. Together we are building the wellness ecosystem Brooklyn has always deserved.
Rooted in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn