Meet the team

Associate Vice Provost, CWE

Ilene Rosenstein is the associate vice provost for Campus Wellbeing and Education at the University of Southern California. Prior to this position, she was the Director of Student Counseling Services at USC for nine years and Director of the counseling center at the University of Pennsylvania for 18 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Ithaca College, a master’s degree in counseling and organizational psychology from American University, and a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

She has served as a professional consultant and university administrator for over thirty years focusing on mental health, positive psychology and wellbeing. She is interested in how to help individuals, groups, communities and institutions thrive to reach their full potential.

Co-Director, Mindful USC

Allyson Pimentel is a psychologist and long-time insight meditation practitioner and teacher who works at the intersections of mindfulness, mental health, education, and social justice. Dr. Pimentel has been teaching mindfulness in university, medical, secular and spiritual settings, as well as in private clinical psychology practice for nearly twenty years. Formerly, she was the training director of the Mind-Body Psychiatry Clinic at NYU-Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City, Associate Director of UCLA Campus & Student Resilience, and Program Director of Mindful UCLA.

Dr. Pimentel holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University. She has completed numerous professional mindfulness training programs in the Vipassana/Insight meditation tradition and also is a registered yoga teacher.

In addition to her work with Mindful USC, Dr. Pimentel teaches at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) and at Insight LA, where she serves on the Board of Directors. She loves sharing the practice of mindfulness meditation as a tool for transformation, connection, well-being, wisdom, and individual and collective liberation.

Co-Director, Mindful USC

Mark Miller is the coordinator of Mindful USC and a clinical psychologist who earned his doctorate in psychology at Pepperdine University. Dr. Miller worked at the USC Student Counseling Services for three years prior to his work with Mindful USC. He has been a meditator in the health care industry for over 25 years and is interested in integrating psychology and mindfulness practices.
 
Mark regularly teaches classes in the basics of mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion to help USC community members build skills to manage strong emotions and recurrent thoughts while being compassionate towards themselves and others.

Project Specialist for Ask Ari, CWE

Lyndsey Christoffersen, Ph.D., is a Project Specialist for the Ask Ari program in Campus Wellbeing and Education. Her work focuses on leveraging evolving evidence-based technology to address through research, writing, and collaboration with campus partners. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from California State University, Long Beach, a master's degree in public policy & administration from CSULB, a master's degree in human communication studies with a focus on health communication from CSU Fullerton, and a doctorate in planning, policy, and design from the University of California, Irvine. Her diverse educational background and experience informs the multidisciplinary approach she takes to address wellbeing issues.