Hello! It is an odd task to condense aspects of my life for presentation… Nonetheless, here are two narratives to offer you something…

A short version…

I am a musician, meditation teacher, mentor, and consultant who hopes to be a part of the changes that unbind each of us from the systems that limit our momentum toward expressions of joy, love, grief, compassion, and creativity. I am currently the Director of Programming in Buddhist Studies and of the Thích Nhất Hạnh Program for Engaged Buddhism at Union Theological Seminary, on the board of Lion’s Roar Foundation, and am participating in the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock retreat teacher training program from 2025-2028. I love being in the mountains, near the ocean, in the forest, in-between, and looking up to see and contemplate space and the galaxies in the cosmos!

And a longer version…

As a first-generation American and child and sibling of political refugees who grew up in a relatively small town in Ohio, I developed an intersectional consciousness that included questions about assumptions regarding race, imperialism, gender, patriarchy, capitalism, and ethics from an early age.

I initially grew an interest in Buddhist teachings as a teenager while reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s reflections on social, interpersonal, and internal difficulties and responsibility. His positionality and lived experience as a political refugee who was clearly speaking against violence and also not demonizing groups of people resonated deeply with my family history and as a practical and potentially radical orientation of practice in this chaotic world. 

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in violin performance, I started meditating regularly. Then, while pursuing my master’s degree in music, a back injury forced me to rethink professional aspirations. After completing that degree, I moved to New York City to continue school and become a special educator. I completed another master’s degree, this time in education with a specialization in students with disabilities and taught in NYC public schools for five years as a special educator. In my fifth year of teaching, I was able to pilot a violin class in the school I was teaching, offering violin lessons to students for a year at no charge to their families. I happily still teach violin and chamber music to motivated young people.

It was in NYC that I found my first Dharma friends. After an injury that ultimately ended my elementary classroom teaching days, I was forced to reconsider my work life again. I eventually ended up working at New York Insight Meditation Center as a program manager, and now serve as the Buddhist Studies Program Director at Union Theological Seminary. I have also taught meditation and Buddhadharma with various meditation and retreat centers in the northeastern United States and in France. Through time, speaking, coaching, consulting, and mentoring individuals have also woven themselves into the work I do. Naropa University even invited me to be their guest commencement speaker in May 2024!

Seeing relationality as central to the path of awakening, I have trained in and was recognized in June 2024 as an Insight Dialogue teacher, which is an interpersonal meditation practice that brings together meditative awareness, the wisdom teachings of the Buddha, and human’s natural relatedness. I will also be participating in the IMS/Spirit Rock retreat teacher training from 2025 to 2028. After serving a term on the board of directors for the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, I am currently serving on the board of directors for the Lion’s Roar Foundation.

I am committed to the ongoing work of undoing internalized oppression that has been conditioned socially. I am interested in resolving and healing personal and intergenerational trauma, while cultivating and strengthening the resilience, talents, and ways of knowing we’ve inherited from the long line of ancestors that have made our lives possible. With sincere and dedicated effort, I believe communities and societies can move toward healing too. Today is a good day for any and all of us to lean into that process.

photo credit: Felix del Toro