Our Mission
Cuddle Party Inc.’s mission and purpose is to promote and enable empowered consent, choice and nurturing touch. We do this by training and certifying facilitators who produce Cuddle Parties and other related events.
Your Trainers
DeVika Lyles
FOF and Cuddle Party Certification Trainer,
Cuddle Party Board Member,
DeVika Lyles M. Ed. is the Owner and creative Education Officer of the Center for Transformative Sexology. She is committed to granting people an unparalleled experience of themselves through Coaching, Education, Workshops and Training. She is highly trained in effective Communication, Sexuality Education and Relationship Coaching.
She is a Certified Sexuality Education Facilitator, Cuddle Party Facilitator, Somatic Practitioner and Transformation Coach. She is the Creator of the Skin Hunger Project, Cuddle Sutra, and a body of work called “The Seven Sexological Conversations”. Currently residing in Fort Worth, Texas, she dedicates much of her time to supporting Social and Reproductive Justice. As a Board Member of the International Institute for Sexual Empowerment, she is accountable for designing and curating programming that transforms lives through education. Additionally, as a Board member of Cuddle Party Inc., she is accountable for the Diversity, Inclusion and Community Care Team. In all her endeavors, she maintains a commitment to self-development and continuing education.
More about DeVika: Cuddle Party Inc. | Marcella Lyles, M.Ed.
Mary Sorensen
FOF and Cuddle Party Certification Trainer, Executive Director, and President of the Cuddle Party Board
Mary is retired and splitting her time between Panama and Utah as well as travelling and visiting as much as she can. She has been a certified Cuddle Party facilitator, and certified Cuddlist, facilitating group events and educational offerings since 2014. Mary is invested in creating opportunities for people to find their way to their best and highest self. We can help the world be a better place, one hug at a time.
As we are growing our teams here at CPI, Mary is working on managing the Cuddle Party website, helping with technology and communications, working with admin and finance as well as managing training and recruitment.
You can book a chat with Mary to talk about your role with Cuddle Party at Meet with Mary S. (google.com)
Marcia Baczynski
In-person FOF Trainer, Co-creator of Cuddle Party, Creator of Foundations of Facilitation, former Cuddle Party board member
Marcia has led Cuddle Party events and facilitated in-person and online groups for over 20 years. As Cuddle Party grew in popularity, she realized that training other people to run these events was a crucial next step for creating more opportunities for people to cuddle and learn about boundaries, communication and consent.
After many months of trial and error, she launched the first Cuddle Party facilitation skills training in 2005. At the time, it was purely for future Cuddle Party Facilitators. Soon, the team realized that many people were attending simply because they wanted to become better facilitators of their own events. Thus, Foundations of Facilitation was born.
Marcia’s primary mission is to help people to overcome shame and get in touch with what they truly want – romantically, sexually and relationally – even if it’s off the beaten path. Her deepest wish is to see more people building a nurturing, consent-based world where our vulnerabilities are cherished for the gifts they are.
She holds a degree in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. She is a communication coach and instructor for medical students and healthcare practitioners and has trained extensively in many interactive ways of being intimate with oneself and others from professional acting training to the Work of Byron Katie.
Madelon Guinazzo
FOF and Cuddle Party Certification Trainer, Cuddle Party Board Member, Co-founder and director of training for Cuddlist.com
Madelon Guinazzo is a certified Cuddle Party facilitator, trainer and member of the board of directors. She is the Co-Founder, Director of Training of Cuddlist.com and a professional cuddler. As such she has created the certification program for professional cuddling resource based on Cuddle Party’s values of consent and communication. Her mission is to encourage individuals to live satisfying lives by learning to claim their inner authority, give it voice, hear others openly and effectively move toward their deepest yearnings.
She holds a degree in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. She is a communication coach and instructor for medical students and healthcare practitioners and has trained extensively in many interactive ways of being intimate with oneself and others from professional acting training to the Work of Byron Katie.
Adam Paulman
FOF and Cuddle Party Certification Trainer, former Cuddle Party Board Member, Cuddlist and Associate trainer for Cuddlist.com
Adam Paulman has been a facilitator of workshops, trainings, festivals and multi-day events for over 40 years. He is fascinated by group dynamics and the elements that support cohesion and purpose. He is a certified Cuddle Party facilitator and trainer as well as a member of the Cuddle Party board of directors. He is also a certified professional Cuddlist and associate trainer for cuddlist.com. Adam studied NVC with Marshall Rosenberg and is a ZEGG forum facilitator as well as a veteran of 20 years in public school. It is his greatest joy to assist others to achieve what they didn’t know was possible.
Adam likes to describe Cuddle Party as “an advanced communication workshop cleverly disguised as a pajama party.” Cuddle Party and Cuddlist provide the medium for platonic affection in a touch deprived world. The rules of cuddling are simple in scope and revolutionary in practice. Many describe the communication skills learned at a Cuddle Party as life changing.
Adam has degrees in Mathematics and Multi-cultural education. San Diego is home, but Adam loves to travel. When he is not facilitating Cuddle Parties around the globe he likes to spend time with his children and grandchildren and play bass guitar.