Since 2017, iBme has been engaged in shifting our organizational structure, moving away from a typical hierarchical, top-down power structure which ultimately ends with the Executive Director being the primary decision-maker, and managers making decisions and having their reporting staff carry out those decisions. iBme has instead shifted to a Collaborative Leadership System with shared decision-making, meaning that staff distributes decisions based on each person’s roles and responsibilities, willingness, and resources. This collaborative decision making also extends to a network of committees and the Board, that work with the staff to set strategies and make decisions. This process is supported by robust systems of feedback, resource, and information flows, which also extends out to include retreat staff and volunteers.
Staff
David Macek Development & Business Strategy
Since 2007, David has led dynamic organizations dedicated to personal and social transformation. His diverse experience has spanned retreat and spiritual centers, online action platforms, and various educational settings. In his most recent role, David was Executive Director of Ecochallenge.org, a digital nonprofit that activates sustainability solutions in schools, communities, and businesses. From middle schools to Fortune 100 companies, 4,500+ organizations in 139 countries have taken 2+ million actions through the Ecochallenge Platform.Prior to Ecochallenge.org, he worked with PassageWorks Institute, a leader in supporting school communities to become places of connection, compassion, equity, and excellence. PassageWorks’ professional learning programs include a suite of evidenced-based mindfulness programs designed specifically for faculty and staff working in ECE-12 settings. David holds a BS in Mathematics and Economics from Stonehill College and an MA in Environmental Leadership from Naropa University, an interdisciplinary, contemplative-based program. He is a “retired” yoga instructor and a meditation practitioner of 15+ years. David lives with his wife and daughter in the beautiful Chagrin Valley outside of Cleveland, Ohio.
Frances Ku Brand, Marketing, & Content
For the last 10 years, Frances has dedicated her career to serving mission-based organizations ranging in social justice, wellness, and sustainability causes. Joining the iBme Collaborative Leadership team in the Brand, Marketing, Content role further intensifies her passion to make the world not just a better place, but a more mindful and compassionate home for all. She holds Bachelors in Design and Business Management from Juniata College and a Certificate in Communication Design from Pacific Northwest College of Art, contributing her skills in graphic design, content marketing, and brand strategy to every workplace she enters. Outside of her professional world, Frances likes to spend her time with her husband/BFFL, Chris, and pup/BFFL, Barry, in both England and the States. She devotes her life also to being close to her family, learning about her heritage, cooking Chinese + Taiwanese food, practicing sustainable habits, growing tiny vegetable gardens, fostering animals, and, most recently, running for fun. Her 10-year plan includes building an Earthship with her own two hands and starting an animal sanctuary.
Jennifer Heitel Operations & Finance
Jen feels grateful to have been involved with iBme since 2015, serving as a retreat manager, mentor, and Health Coordinator for Northeast and online retreats. Jen is a passionate public health leader with 18 years experience in policy, advocacy, and project management in the non-profit sector and academia. She has spent her career focused on sexual and reproductive health, justice, and rights and adolescent health and wellbeing. As an independent consultant, Jen is the Coordinating Consultant for the Future of Sex Education initiative and for the Sex Education Collaborative. Previously, Jen was Director of Special Projects in the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to that, Jen served as Director of Public Policy at SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change and State Policy Coordinator at Advocates for Youth.Ms. Heitel holds an MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, with a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and a BA in International Affairs and a concentration in International Women’s Studies from George Washington University. A resident of Harlem in New York City, Jen regularly volunteers at Community League of The Heights’ Food Pantry.
Sarah Wrean Programs & Registration
Sarah is currently responsible for management of all program activities and logistics, and works with Tonya on program strategy and new program development. Sarah works with retreat centers, staff teams, and families to ensure retreats run smoothly and is grateful to be able to contribute to this work. Sarah truly believes that the best way to prepare humanity for the challenges ahead is to help teens discover compassion, inner wisdom, and authentic connection. Sarah has spent the past 11 years working in administration and fundraising for mission-driven nonprofits. Sarah received a BA and MA in Government and Comparative Politics from Connecticut College and then Northeastern University, and focused her studies on the intersection of politics and gender through a feminist lens. Sarah spent formative time as a teen in the White Mountains at an outdoors and wilderness camp, which was the catalyst for wanting to join a similar organization. When Sarah isn’t planning retreats, she can be found singing, gardening, snuggling her four fur babies, hiking with her wife, and devouring all the live music she can!
Tom Rocco Outreach, Marketing & Communications
Tom is a career marketing professional possessing rich and varied experience with top-notch organizations, many in the non-profit arena. Immediately prior to joining iBme, Tom spent almost five years leading Marketing for Rhode Island School of Design’s Continuing Education Division. Prior to that, Tom was the first Vice President of Marketing for Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, participating in re-branding the center, as well as, establishing many of the marketing processes and systems that are still being used today. In addition to Kripalu, Tom has consulted with a wide range of retreat centers, both domestic and international. He has an MBA in Marketing from Adelphi University. At iBme, he is responsible for recruitment for program participant growth and retention for all programs; building strong and authentic relationships with strategic partners; creating impactful and authentic communications and marketing campaigns; and managing regional outreach coordinators, consultants and vendors. As a decades-long practitioner of yoga and meditation, Tom embraces iBme’s mission and is dedicated to making a positive impact.
Tonya Jones Program Strategy, Equity & Community Engagement
Tonya has spent the past 17 years working in the public sector driven by a strong commitment to social justice and equity, collective healing and building stronger, compassionate communities. Before joining iBme, Tonya was the Los Angeles Director at the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), a national organization that provides transitional work and permanent job services to the formerly incarcerated. At CEO, she was responsible for overseeing and supporting a diverse staff of 20, along with program development and management, community partnerships, fiscal oversight and working collaboratively with national fund and business development teams. Tonya is a certified mindfulness facilitator (UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior). She is a mentor for UCLA’s Intensive Practice Program, teaching assistant for UCLA’s Mindfulness and Theory course, guest teacher at InsightLA’s POC sangha, and has lectured and facilitated at numerous educational institutions and organizations. Tonya holds a BA from Howard University, MFA from Columbia University, and serves on the UC Irvine Advisory Board for the Customer Experience Certificate Program.
Board
Anthony Sartori Equity & Interdependence Committee Board Representative
Anthony strives to bring people together. After earning a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland, Anthony led mindfulness programs at an outpatient clinic for youth with mental health challenges. He is a graduate of Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Program. In March of 2020, he launched Evolving Minds with a purpose: to connect. He’s raised over $20,000, developed impactful mental health programming for students, educators, and businesses, and has graduated over 400 alumni. He currently leads the development of mindfulness content for health care workers with Vitalize, a digital wellness platform, and sits on the Mental Health America Young Adult Leader Council.
David Macek Treasurer, Finance & Legal Committee Board Representative (Interim)
Since 2007, David has led dynamic organizations dedicated to personal and social transformation. His diverse experience has spanned retreat and spiritual centers, online action platforms, and various educational settings. In his most recent role, David was Executive Director of Ecochallenge.org, a digital nonprofit that activates sustainability solutions in schools, communities, and businesses. From middle schools to Fortune 100 companies, 4,500+ organizations in 139 countries have taken 2+ million actions through the Ecochallenge Platform.Prior to Ecochallenge.org, he worked with PassageWorks Institute, a leader in supporting school communities to become places of connection, compassion, equity, and excellence. PassageWorks’ professional learning programs include a suite of evidenced-based mindfulness programs designed specifically for faculty and staff working in ECE-12 settings. David holds a BS in Mathematics and Economics from Stonehill College and an MA in Environmental Leadership from Naropa University, an interdisciplinary, contemplative-based program. He is a “retired” yoga instructor and a meditation practitioner of 15+ years. David lives with his wife and daughter in the beautiful Chagrin Valley outside of Cleveland, Ohio.
Falcon Laina Youth Advisory Committee Board Representative
I attended an iBme retreat in 2018, and experienced such welcoming like I never had before in any place. Since then I have considered the iBme community to be my spiritual family, and I’ll never miss a chance to give back to this community that has done so much for me. I am especially interested in relational mindfulness and the ways it can be employed to foster healthier learning environments, systems of leadership and societal infrastructure.
Jacqui Clay Board President, Systems Committee Board Representative
Board President, Equity and Interdependence Committee Member Photo: Path at Insight Meditation Center
Jennifer Heitel Secretary, Staff Board Representative
Jen feels grateful to have been involved with iBme since 2015, serving as a retreat manager, mentor, and Health Coordinator for Northeast and online retreats. Jen is a passionate public health leader with 18 years experience in policy, advocacy, and project management in the non-profit sector and academia. She has spent her career focused on sexual and reproductive health, justice, and rights and adolescent health and wellbeing. As an independent consultant, Jen is the Coordinating Consultant for the Future of Sex Education initiative and for the Sex Education Collaborative. Previously, Jen was Director of Special Projects in the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to that, Jen served as Director of Public Policy at SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change and State Policy Coordinator at Advocates for Youth.Ms. Heitel holds an MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, with a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and a BA in International Affairs and a concentration in International Women’s Studies from George Washington University. A resident of Harlem in New York City, Jen regularly volunteers at Community League of The Heights’ Food Pantry.
Mark Wax Teacher Advisory Committee Board Representative
Mark Wax is deeply grateful to be working with iBme. Mark has been a sincere student of many meditative arts for the last 15 years. He has worked for Yoga International, The Himalayan Institute, and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He recently completed his 500-hour yoga teacher certification through Spirit Rock’s Mindful Yoga and Meditation Training.
Standing Committees
Equity and Interdependence Committee
Guiding Teachers Committee
Systems Committee
Teachers Advisory Committee
Youth Advisory Committee
Advisors
Brian Galla
Brian Galla, Ph.D., is an assistant professor and research scientist at University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education and Learning Research and Development Center. He holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame, Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from UCLA. Brian’s research combines laboratory and field research to better understand motivational factors that support academic achievement and mental health. He focuses in particular on the study of self-control. Known colloquially as willpower, self-control refers to the mental process of pursuing enduringly valued goals despite conflicting impulses. Brian also has a strong interest in mindfulness-based approaches to enhancing self-control and their potential to improve health and academic achievement.
Diana Winston
Diana Winston has been the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA Semel Institute’s Mindful Awareness Research Center (www.marc.ucla.edu) since 2006. She is the co-author (with Susan Smalley, Ph.D.) of Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness, the author of Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens, and the CD, ‘Mindful Meditations’. She is one of the early teachers and developers of the Teen Retreats at Insight Meditation Society. She has also founded and developed UCLA’s Training in Mindfulness Facilitation, one of the leading mindfulness teacher training programs, and is the founder of the Mindful Awareness Practices (MAPs curriculum). She has been teaching mindfulness nationally and internationally since 1993 and has brought mindful awareness into schools, hospitals, businesses, and nonprofits, as well as to leaders, educators, adolescents, and health professionals in the US and Asia. Her work has been mentioned in the New York Times, Newsweek, O Magazine, Women’s Health Magazine, CBS and ABC News, and the LA Times, among others. She has been called by the LA Times: ‘one of the nation’s leading mindfulness teachers.’ She is also a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and the mom of a first grader.
Gretchen N. Rohr
Gretchen N. Rohr’s first trainings in meditation were in 1994 while working alongside formerly imprisoned activists who developed techniques to liberate their minds from conditions of solitary confinement. These teachings in interdependent awakening supported her professional life restoring justice within communities in need of healing; they ultimately led to her appointment to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Judge Rohr has lectured extensively across the country on effective workforce and leadership development for incarcerated youth and adults, reconciliation and restorative practices for building safe communities, and trauma-informed police, correctional and judicial crisis responses. In her free time, she supports integration of contemplative practices while teaching at Georgetown University Law Center, hosting educational exchanges for local restorative justice practitioners and helping facilitate Insight Meditation Community of Washington’s People of Color (POC) and Insight on the Inside(incarcerated people’s) Sanghas. She participates in the Community Dharma Leadership training program and was one of 120 Buddhist leaders nationwide called to participate in the first Whitehouse Buddhist Leadership Conference in 2015. Since 2013, she has been leading IMCW’s creation of accessible spaces in D.C. where meditation practitioners can take refuge after exiting jail and prison and train to become the next generation of teachers. Her work, in partnership with organizers in the reentry community, has culminated in a meditation and reconciliation series integrated within DC neighborhoods experiencing a spike in gun violence. Justice in Balance is a free monthly event where community members share meditation and mindfulness practices to restore personal balance and open-hearted healing. Each forum is co-facilitated by a survivor of violent crime, of incarceration, or of other contacts with law enforcement.
JoAnna Hardy
JoAnna Hardy has been exploring and practicing multiple traditions since 1999. In 2005, her focus landed on Buddhism and Vipassana meditation, which is the premise for most of her current teaching. She teaches; adult and teen weeklong silent retreats, day longs and weekly classes, and works with at risk youth and non at risk youth in institutional and school settings. Helping communities and individuals that don’t typically have access to the traditional dharma settings and building multicultural community is top on her list of priorities. She has been trained in council facilitation with the Ojai Foundation and is an empowered teacher in the Ajahn Chah, Mahasi Sayadaw, Spirit Rock, IMS lineage. She is the grateful mother of CJ and Harris – her main inspirations.
John Braman
John Braman was a U.S. Air Force Survival Instructor during the Viet Nam era, an experience that turned him into an anti-war activist. Since that turn of events, he’s been dedicated to youth leadership development, interfaith understanding, and developing the interior life. From 1979 to 1989 he was director of the department for experiential education at Albuquerque Academy, leading hundreds of wilderness solos for teens, while teaching tracking, ecology, and creative writing – for which he was awarded the Klingenstein Fellowship for excellence in teaching. Later, was appointed as the Heinz Fellow for Ethics at Polytechnic School in California. In 2003, as president of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS), he created Global Youth Leadership Institute (GYLI), a three-year sequence of learning with wilderness solos in northern New Mexico. He is past vice president of Thompson Island Outward Bound and past executive director of Upaya Zen Center, where he co-taught the famous 10-day wilderness quest. He also founded Global Leadership Forum of the United World College-USA, which incorporates yogic practices. He maintains all these commitments to social progress through Braman Group International, working with schools and colleges dedicated to making the world a more sane and safe place. John is a student of Henry Shukman of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University with a masters degree in educational administration from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Linda Lantieri
Linda Lantieri, MA has been in the field in education for over 40 years in a variety of capacities: classroom teacher, assistant principal, director of a middle school in East Harlem, and faculty member at Hunter College in New York City. She is a Fulbright Scholar and internationally known speaker in the areas of Social and Emotional Learning and Mindfulness in Education. Currently she serves as the Director of The Inner Resilience Program whose mission is to cultivate the inner lives of students, teachers and schools by integrating social and emotional learning with contemplative practice. Linda is one of the co-founders and presently a Senior Program Advisor for the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department of Columbia University, Teachers College. Linda is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and coauthor of Waging Peace in Our Schools (Beacon Press, 1996) editor of Schools with Spirit: Nurturing the Inner Lives of Children and Teachers (Beacon Press, 2001), and author of Building Emotional Intelligence: Practices to Cultivate Inner Resilience in Children (Sounds True, 2008, 2014).
Patricia Broderick
Patricia Broderick, PhD, is a Research Associate with the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University and former director of the Stress Reduction Center at West Chester University of PA. She holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from Villanova and a Ph.D. in School Psychology from Temple University. She is a licensed psychologist, certified school psychologist (K-12), certified school counselor (K-12). and certified teacher. She was trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the Center for Mindfulness (CFM) at UMASS Medical Center and has taught MBSR since 2003. Her developmental psychology textbook, The life span: Human development for helping professionals is now in its third edition. She is also the creator of Learning to BREATHE, a school-based mindfulness curriculum for adolescents. Visit her website at learning2breathe.org.
Philip Murphy
Philip Murphy is a founding principal of the Commonwealth Mindful Philanthropy Group, a philanthropic advisory firm that provides institutional advancement solutions for nonprofit organizations in the US and the UK, with an emphasis on serving organizations in the contemplative sector. Following a successful tenure as an independent music record label executive, Philip embarked on a career in the advancement field and has served in senior leadership positions at several research universities including the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he directed the $500 million Campaign for Students fundraising initiative. Philip earned a degree in social and behavioral sciences from Johns Hopkins and also hold a professional designation in authentic leadership from the Authentic Leadership Center at Naropa University. He is certified as a mindfulness facilitator by the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. Philip currently serves on the board of directors of the Insight Meditation Center of Pioneer Valley (Easthampton, MA) and the Hope House recovery home (Boston, MA), and is a former board member at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center. He resides in western Massachusetts with his wife Anne, and their four rescue greyhounds.
Spring Washam
Spring Washam has practiced meditation in various traditions since 1997. She is a founding teacher of the East Bay Meditation Center, located in Oakland, CA. She is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leaders program and is in teacher training with Jack Kornfield. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based meditation practices to inner city communities. She currently leads retreats and workshops throughout the US and teaches a weekly sitting group in Oakland, CA.
Tara Brach
Tara Brach, PhD, is a beloved dharma teacher and the founder and senior teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, and teaches Buddhist meditation at centers in the United States and Canada (such as Kripalu and Omega). A clinical psychologist and author of Radical Acceptance, Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha. She has taught extensively on the application of Buddhist teachings to emotional healing. Visit her website at tarabrach.com.
Tempel Smith
Tempel Smith has been practicing mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation since 1989. Tempel launched the West Coast teen retreat program and helped to launch the teen retreats in Virginia. He is a graduate of the teacher-training program at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California and regularly leads teen and young adult retreats in California and Virginia.
Vijay Sinha
Vijay Sinha holds an MBA in Business Strategy and Analysis and Organizational Development from Boston University Questrom School of Business and BS in Electronics Engineering from Bangalore University, India. He is a strategy consultant with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, providing strategic advice and direction on Information Technology to customers based on their organization’s IT business strategy. Vijay is a strong believer in the power of meditation, as it helped him to become more self-aware and to advance in his own life. Realizing the benefits of meditation, Vijay got involved with iBme to help them promote their mindfulness educational programs to help improve the lives of many other individuals. Vijay lives in Massachusetts with his wife and teenage daughter.
Willoughby Britton
Willoughby Britton holds a B.A. in Neuroscience and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health at Brown Medical School and Research Director of the Brown University Contemplative Studies Initiative. She received sleep/EEG training at Harvard Medical School and was a Research Fellow at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA/NIH) and Andrew Weil’s Program in Integrative Medicine. She spent several years in Asia studying meditative techniques and received her mindfulness instructor certification training at the Center for Mindfulness at the UMASS Medical School. With the aim of investigating the link between contemplative practices, brain function, sleep, attention and affective disturbances, she has conducted federally funded RCTs on the neurophysiological effects of MBCT in depression; and education-based mindfulness training in middle school and university students in comparison to music and dance.