Who We Are
Our Mission.
Open Up's mission is to teach mindfulness tools through movement practices and interactive arts while centering people living with disabilities.
Our Vision.
We want all people to be able to have ease of access in finding avenues for increasing their sense of overall wellbeing. We believe that all people should be able to experience joy in community with others.
Our Philosophy.
We teach mindfulness tools because we believe they help us learn to evaluate how we feel in a moment. They empower people to make good decisions about what is best for themselves and their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. These tools increase our ability to make good decisions as we work to cultivate healthy relationships. At Open Up, we believe that increased self awareness and increased healthy relationships, lead to an increased sense of joy and overall wellbeing.
Our organization hopes to provide an environment where diverse populations can find space and practices to heal; where people can strengthen resilience through joy and flourish as individuals and as a community. Our goal is to model the benefits of shifting from individualistic mindsets toward equitable collectivism and inclusive practices that highlight how we can all benefit from supporting one another.
Our Values.
Openness
Community: We practice authenticity, radical acceptance and take a wholehearted approach to making spaces equitable and inclusive. This includes ongoing learning about how we can individually and collectively leverage our privileges to effectively create inclusive spaces.
Wholeheartedness: We want people to be able to bring their whole selves to all experiences and to do so with an open and loving heart.
Wellbeing
Joy: We believe that all should be free to pursue what brings them happiness as well as explore what it means to experience happiness in community with others.
Personal & Collective Growth: We want all to have ease of access in increasing their sense of overall wellbeing. We believe that every person’s individual wellbeing is directly linked to the wellbeing of others.
The values of Open Up Pittsburgh were first learned and practiced by its three cofounders. Tessa and Marissa practiced yoga together in Grad School and were both Special Education teachers at the time. Dedicated to promoting mindfulness to all people, Megan encountered Marissa in an entrepreneurial space in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, and the three finally turned the magical idea into reality.
Megan, Tessa, and Marissa established Open Up Pittsburgh in 2014 with their very first program: Open Schools. Their success was immediate, with people constantly asking for more programs. So along came more programs one after another, including Open Training, Open Stages, and Open Spaces. The inclusion of more programs helps bring communities together.
Through years of hard work, Open Up transitioned from fiscal sponsorship in the beginning of 2020 and became an independent nonprofit organization.