Meet Our Educators

Mahnaz Malik

Course Facilitator & Admissions Team Member

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Originally from the UK, and now residing in the Middle East, Mahnaz provides exceptional support through an international lens. A graduate of FMCA, Mahnaz has been health coaching as a FMCHC since 2017, and serves as FMCA’s International Relations Coordinator. 

She supports international students deciding to take the program, during their FMCA learning journey, through to the beginning of their coaching careers. Your conversation with Mahnaz will provide a unique perspective on the international student experience.

Jess Leinbach

Admissions Team Member

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Jess graduated from FMCA in 2021 and joined the admissions team in 2024. With a career background in business, Jess was inspired to become a health coach to use her own health experience to support others. Now, in a role that aligns passion and purpose for Jess, she coaches clients with complex chronic health concerns and enjoys creating space where the body’s natural wisdom is heard.

Jess is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA from the University of Scranton.

Lucrecia Asmus

Course Facilitator

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Lucrecia is a dedicated coach and facilitator committed to unlocking human potential. As a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and ICF Mentor Coach, she continually learns and grows to serve with the highest quality, ensuring effectiveness and impact. Since 2020, Lucrecia has been supporting coaches’ development as an FMCA Course Facilitator. She champions the belief that coaching is a catalyst for well-being, a vehicle for transformation, and the ultimate expression of personal liberty: the choice to embrace life and thrive.

In private practice, Lucrecia supports and facilitates human-centered design for life, health, relationships, and work. She employs a holistic approach that addresses physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. She empowers clients to transform wisdom into inspired action and navigate life’s complexities with resilience. Lucrecia’s corporate wellness programs exemplify her commitment to fostering organizational cultures of well-being. Her mission is to equip clients, students, and individuals with the tools and mindset to flourish in our rapidly changing world.

Kiran Gill

Course Facilitator

MD, FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Dr. Kiran Gill is a Clinical Research Scientist and Professor with extensive expertise in functional medicine, neurofeedback, and health coaching. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Spartan Health Science University School of Medicine and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Biology from Benedictine University. She is a certified Functional Medicine Health Coach through the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy and holds certification in Neurofeedback. With a professional background in cholesterol management, diabetes care, epilepsy, and insomnia. She has also taught anatomy and physiology at the undergraduate level.

She is passionate about working with clients managing autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue, anxiety, mental and brain health, digestive issues, cardiometabolic health, diabetes, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, and weight management. Kiran’s personal health journey, combined with her medical experience, inspired her to identify and address the gaps in traditional, allopathic medicine. Her holistic approach focuses on optimizing the mind, body, and spirit for each of her clients, empowering them to live their healthiest and most fulfilled lives. She has a great passion to promote health and wellness, and enhancing coaching skills for her students. Kiran has a commitment that each of her students become thriving coaches a have a transformation both their professional and personal life.

Jan Goldberg

Course Facilitator

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Jan Goldberg has been a Course Facilitator with FMCA since 2017, where she also
provides alumni support. She is passionate about guiding and mentoring students as
they learn, practice, and integrate coaching skills within their cohort community. Jan is
dedicated to the coaching process and student success, with a mission to empower
each student to thrive and grow into the kind of coach they dream of becoming.

Jan is trained as a Functional Nutritionist with a Masters in Human Nutrition and
Functional Medicine. She is a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach (FMCA
2016), a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), Certified
Food & Spirit Practitioner™ and has completed the advanced training with the Center
for Mind-Body Medicine. She is also a yoga nidra facilitator.

When she’s not supporting students, Jan works as nutrition and wellness coach for
Stanford University and consults in private practice. She is also a creative spirit—an
artist, gardener, nature lover, avid hiker, photographer, and adventurous cook. Her top
character strength is Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, which she fully embraces
while living in the Eastern Sierra of California with her husband.

Cecilia Lanier

Course Facilitator

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Cecilia Lanier has worked for FMCA since 2021 after graduating from the program and is a
National Board-certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and a trainee in life coaching.
She is working toward certification as an ICF coach. She serves as a course facilitator and
faculty member at FMCA and has contributed to training webinars on Motivational Interviewing
in coaching. She coaches in private practice and also serves as a coach for patients from various
Functional Medicine and Integrative clinics.

Cecilia earned her master’s degree in educational leadership/administration at the University of
Alabama in Birmingham, as well as the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
certification.  She has 25 years of experience as an educator and found her deepest passion in
coaching fellow teachers during the final years of her teaching career. A personal transformation
inspired her to use coaching to support others on their journey toward change and growth. She
cites Motivational Interviewing as the primary influence in her work and the catalyst that led to
her becoming the lead author of the new book Motivational Interviewing in Life and Health
Coaching: A Guide to Effective Practice, 9/2024.

Renny Letswalo

Course Facilitator

MBA, NBC-HWC, FMCHC

Renny Letswalo is FMCA’s Course Facilitator, a board-certified Functional
Medicine Health Coach, and a founder of Inheritance Academy, a coaching
institute based in South Africa. In addition, Renny is a certified Recode Coach,
Dr Wahls Practitioner, Radical Remission Coach and Cancer Psycho-Emotional
Specialist. She coaches clients worldwide on chronic conditions, neurological
conditions, brain health, and cancer. Her passion is to support clients achieve
healing through behavioural and lifestyle changes. She is encouraged by
everyone’s inherent resources like character strengths, values, purpose and
vision to draw from in propelling them to achieve their goals.

Renny holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Chicago, which she
applied in her over 25-year corporate career until she shifted into a Health
Coaching career. She is currently studying for a Master’s in Dementia at
Tasmania University in Australia and a Master’s in Psycho-Oncology with Spain
Tech University, where she focuses on unpacking evidence-based research and
techniques that help clients make behavioral lifestyle changes to prevent
disease onset and progression. Renny, an experienced leader in the corporate
field, brings her strong communication, business operations and psychology
background to her FMCA Course Facilitator role.

Amber Letz

Course Facilitator

NBC-HWC, FMCHC

Amber Letz has 25+ years of experience in moving people into a healthier lifestyle. Her journey began with her own family as she saw the need to take prevention into her own hands to make sure her children had the best nutrition in order to be healthy, to learn, and to thrive. This learning shifted to teaching when she made the decision to home-educate her children.

As her children grew, she realized she had not done such a great job of caring for herself and was diagnosed as morbidly obese. She realized she needed support, which began her journey into weight loss; to date, she has lost and kept off 80 lbs.

Having worked for the largest weight loss company in the world, she realized that not everybody could simply follow a plan and lose weight. This sparked the question, “Why is that?” and the shift to Functional Medicine began.

Amber is a Wahl’s Certified Practitioner graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. Her proudest achievement is passing the NBHWC exam and becoming one of the first National Board Certified Health Wellness Coaches.

Amber believes in people and empowers them with the tools to make their desired changes. Lots of encouragement and high fives while still asking the hard questions and putting the client in the driver’s seat. Keeping it simple and believing that small steps lead to big results.

Beatrice Strayer

Course Facilitator

NBC-HWC, FMCHC

Beatrice Strayer, FMCHC, NBC-HWC, is a health coach from Los Angeles, California, whose passion for coaching began when she worked alongside a Functional Medicine Practitioner in Loma Linda, a renowned Blue Zone city. Driven by her personal health journey and the impact of illness on her family—especially her mother’s battle with colon cancer—Beatrice sought answers and discovered a deep interest in health optimization. While serving as a patient advocate and manager, she embraced the opportunity to attend FMCA to enhance her ability to support clients in developing healthier habits.

Beatrice joined FMCA as a Course Facilitator in 2018, committed to guiding future health coaches and helping them explore the endless possibilities within their communities. She invites others to embark on this exciting journey, especially those passionate about self-care and supporting others.

In her personal life, Beatrice enjoys exploring hiking trails in the San Gorgonio Mountains and learning new skills, from experimenting with recipes to painting abstract art. She has two adult children: her daughter, a health and wellness advocate and makeup artist, who lives in the Crestline Mountains with her family, and her son, a distinguished military service member pursuing a full career. Beatrice continues to be a trusted health advocate for her siblings and has supported family members through their health challenges, including her brother’s recovery from a kidney crisis.

Christina Taurence

Course Facilitator

NBC-HWC, FMCHC, MENG

Christina Taurence joined the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy as a Course Facilitator in 2021, and now brings with her several years of experience in both 1:1 and group coaching through her private coaching business. Holding a Master of Engineering degree in Chemical and Bio-Engineering, Christina’s love of learning has been a driving force throughout her career. Her journey into Functional Medicine began in 2016 when traditional medicine failed to address her daughters’ post-concussive syndrome and undiagnosed autoimmune disease. This personal experience ignited her passion for brain health and inspired her to empower others through coaching and education. She completed additional training in ReCODE 2.0 with Apollo Health for supporting her clients at risk for or struggling with Alzheimer’s and dementia. She also is a Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath Certified Practitioner and Certified Breath Coach (YogaBody Teachers College).

With a strong passion for guiding and mentoring new coaches, Christina leverages her Coach training and practice, Functional Medicine knowledge, and additional training in Mind Body Medicine to support her students in their educational journey in their Live Training Sessions and 1:1 feedback sessions on their coaching assessments. She is dedicated to fostering a safe, supportive, educational, and FUN environment that nurtures both professional and personal growth for her students, empowering future health coaches to thrive in their careers while maintaining a commitment to lifelong learning.
Christina shares her life with her husband and their 4 nearly-all-grown children…and their dog, who occasionally sneaks into her office to attend the Live Training Sessions, supporting the cohort from a cozy chair behind her. They live in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Charlene Vairy

Senior Student and Alumni Support Manager

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Charlene is honored and privileged to serve as the Senior Student and Alumni Support Manager at FMCA and is dedicated to ensuring that everyone she interacts with is met with kindness and authenticity.

She has worked in the health and wellness industry for over 25 years and is completely enamored with all things Functional Medicine. After graduating from FMCA’s September 2020 class, she became board-certified with NBHWC and started working for FMCA in June 2022. She has since expanded on her role and plays an integral part in making sure that students, alumni, and FMCA staff are given the utmost care and attention.

Charlene is also a Bach Flower Registered Practitioner (BFRP) through The Bach Centre in Oxford, England and a Certified Gluten-Free Practitioner (CGP) through Dr. Tom O’Bryan. She is also the Inspired Entrepreneur behind the now closed, yet beloved Your Big Picture Café, which operated in Davie, FL from 2009 through 2016.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, visiting her young adult kids who have flown the nest, catching up with friends, learning new things, gardening, and creating a peaceful environment in her home.

Kristi Criswell

Director of Student Services

MAOL, NBC-HWC, FMCHC

Kristi has worked for FMCA since 2018 after graduating from the program and then becoming board-certified by NBHWC, first as a Course Facilitator and now as Director of Student Services. She worked as a Health Coach for a Functional Medicine practitioner for six years after earning her Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership. Prior to being a health coach, Kristi worked in the nonprofit industry. She continues to satisfy her love of this work by serving as a volunteer board member for a community social services organization. Kristi lives in Vancouver, WA, and enjoys spending her time camping, reading, and crafting. She is married, has three young adult children, and one very spoiled dog.

Jennifer Sharpe

Student Success Manager

FMCHC, NBC-HWC

Jennifer has been a team member at FMCA since 2018, following her graduation from the program and soon after earning her NBHWC board certification. She currently serves as the Student Success Manager, where she oversees student records management, administrative support for both students and staff, and drives process and automation improvements to enhance efficiency and ensure students’ successful completion of graduation requirements.

Jennifer brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles in accounting, finance, and project management in both Corporate America and Higher Education. Her diverse background allows her to implement effective solutions that streamline procedures and foster student success. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.

Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her family, attending her children’s basketball games, and traveling.

Natalie Maxam

Content Marketing Specialist

Natalie joined FMCA in August 2024, driven by a love for health and wellness that fuels her every day. With a Bachelor’s in Communication and an MBA from Boston College, Natalie blends her passion with over five years of digital marketing experience in the Fitness, Health & Wellness industries. Her expertise spans content strategy, community engagement, and lead generation, alongside her work as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer.

When she’s not working, Natalie enjoys diving into wellness podcasts, taking long walks, and spending time with her chihuahua, Tito.

Scott Hawksworth

Marketing and Sales Director

Scott Hawksworth has been with FMCA since July of 2023, and is responsible for telling the FMCA story, and helping grow the reach of health coaches around the world. He built his first website in 6th grade, and hasn’t looked back since. Now a 15 year marketing veteran, Scott has a passion for optimizing customer experiences and leveraging content and digital platforms to grow audiences. Scott holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration – Marketing from The Ohio State University.

When not working, Scott enjoys playing guitar, spending time with his family (including the 3 cats), and cheering for the Buckeyes.

Haywood Wright

Director of Operations

Haywood Wright serves as the Director of Operations at FMCA, where she leads the Operations and Student Services Department, overseeing the delivery and execution of FMCA’s certification program and student support services. In this role, she spearheads initiatives to enhance processes and efficiencies, contributing to optimizing FMCA’s organizational goals.

Bringing a wealth of operational expertise to FMCA, Haywood’s background is rooted in the restaurant industry. She successfully owned and operated a restaurant before spending several years in restaurant consulting, collaborating with small to mid-sized brands to streamline and expand their operations.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Yale University. 

Carly Valvassori

Chief Operating Officer

Carly Valvassori is the Chief Operating Officer at FMCA and has been with the team since 2016.  Carly spent the early part of her career working with children in residential treatment experiencing profound crisis and trauma.  Through this experience, Carly gained a deep understanding of the importance of mental health and the critical role that health coaches play in the future of healthcare.  Carly loves attending live music events, spending time with her family, and hula hooping.  She is thrilled to be a part of the FMCA team and witness the incredible work of our students and alumni over the years. Carly is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Sandra Scheinbaum

FMCA Founder and CEO

Ph.D.

Dr. Scheinbaum, a lifelong learner and innovator in education, has been making significant contributions to holistic health and wellness since the start of her career in 1972. Initially focusing on students with learning disabilities, her journey led her to earn a PhD in clinical psychology from Fielding Graduate University. She went on to practice as a health psychologist for close to 40 years. Specializing in the integration of positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mind-body medicine, she continuously expanded her expertise.

Dr. Scheinbaum’s innovative spirit led her to pioneer the use of neurofeedback and conduct one of the first randomized controlled trials of this approach in her role as founder of a clinic for attention deficit disorders.

In 2013, she earned recognition as the first psychologist to attain the title of Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner. She taught courses in the psychology of eating, the psychology of wellbeing & mind-body medicine in the Masters Program in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine at the University of Western States, and taught in the teacher training program at National Lewis University.

As the founder of Feed Your Mind Wellness, LLC, she ran individual, group, and corporate wellness programs. In addition to her PhD, Dr. Scheinbaum holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Northwestern University, pursued additional education in holistic nutrition, and became a registered yoga instructor. Her passion for holistic approaches to health is evident in her recreational pursuits as well, as she enjoys activities like yoga, Pilates, ballet, and cooking.

Dr. Scheinbaum is the author of Functional Medicine Coaching: How to Be Part of the Movement That’s Transforming Healthcare, as well as two books on using the Functional Medicine approach to stopping panic attacks, Stop Panic Attacks in 10 Easy Steps and How to Give Clients the Skills to Stop Panic Attacks. The founding of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA) in 2014 marked a pivotal moment in Dr. Scheinbaum’s career. Driven by personal experiences with the limitations of conventional healthcare, rather than retire at age 65, she set out to create the preeminent training program for health coaches, as she believes that health coaching is the key to combatting chronic disease.

Today, she leads FMCA as a reflection of her commitment to growing the health coaching profession, and bringing innovative approaches to training students in this rapidly-growing field, underscoring a career that comes full circle back to her roots as an educator and a lifelong learner.

“I believe that Functional Medicine coaches are uniquely suited to help people take charge of their health. My mission is to transform healthcare, and through the power of coaches working alongside doctors, we can create a culture of wellness. With my passion for sharing my knowledge and experience, I’m honored to serve as your teacher and mentor.”