In the fall of 2009, a group of concerned parents and educators in Idaho invited Ryan Redman to bring mindfulness to students in the Wood River Valley. With more than nine years of meditation teaching experience, three years of intensive contemplative study in India, and a deep desire to serve the community that shaped his childhood, Ryan began developing a three-month program for fifth graders at Bellevue Elementary.

In the winter of 2010, Ryan introduced secular mindfulness practices to a single fifth-grade classroom for 30 minutes each week, helping students cultivate attention, reduce stress, and develop kindness. To everyone’s surprise, the children embraced the opportunity to explore their inner lives, relax, and steady their minds. Within two years, the program had expanded to 22 classrooms.

In 2011, Ryan Redman, Katie Corkery, and Eryn Michaud co-founded Flourish Foundation. The initial classroom instruction evolved into what is now the Mindful Awareness Program (MAP). Today, Flourish-trained facilitators teach its secular mindfulness curriculum in schools across Idaho, Wyoming, and South Africa.

MAP is one of Flourish’s two flagship programs. The other, the Compassionate Leaders Program (CLP), supports high school juniors, seniors, and college students in building an intentional youth community committed to creating a better world through personal transformation, human values, and community service.

Noah Koski joined Flourish in 2014 as CLP Director, and the program quickly became a defining force in his life. Its core values resonated deeply, offering him a sense of purpose and meaning and a foundation for his adult life.

As MAP grew in schools, CLP expanded from just six students annually to more than 90, becoming the largest teen leadership program in Idaho’s Wood River Valley. Compassionate Leaders have embraced opportunities to learn, serve, and connect—with open hearts and a genuine desire to make a difference—both at home and on international trips to India, Morocco, South Africa, Mexico, the Philippines, and Hawaii.

Then the next chapter called: Noah moved to New York City, where a new community and a new landscape offered an exciting opportunity to expand Flourish’s mission.