Mia Arakaki

Big-Hearted Facilitator

Mia envisions a world where every young person is surrounded by connection, care, compassion and love. As a healing-centered mindfulness practitioner and creator / facilitator of culturally responsive, social-emotional learning programs, Mia integrates over 20 years of experience in youth sports coaching, classroom teaching, school administration and non-profit leadership. Her work aspires to empower young people to drive positive change in their lives and communities.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Mia played Division I college soccer at Yale and earned her Master’s in School Leadership from Columbia University’s Teachers College. As the founder of a youth soccer club, she merges her passion for soccer with her dedication to holistic youth development and wellbeing. She also plays soccer / futbol whenever she has the opportunity!

Proud of her Uchinanchu heritage from the Ryukyu Kingdom, now known as Okinawa, Mia lives by the Uchinanchu saying, “choo kukuru ru dee ichi”—The heart is the most essential quality. She hopes to pass on this wisdom to her two children and to young people everywhere.