Board Of Directors
Our Governing Body
The Board of Directors is the governing body of IMCW, a 501 C3 non-profit religious corporation.
Board members serve as the stewards of IMCW, its resources, programs and activities. Officers include the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. The Board meets quarterly to discuss issues, deliberate policy, and to vote.
IMCW is committed to expanding the diversity of its board and committees, and especially encourages individuals from a diversity of races, sexual preferences, and ages to offer their services.
You are always welcome to contact Board members to ask questions, offer suggestions, or give feedback and input.
Board Members
Stephen Gold (President and Acting Treasurer)
Stephen (he/him) started his journey in Vipissana meditation as one of Jonathan Foust’s early students in 2006. He is a graduate from the Year of Living Mindfully, has attended dozens of daylong and weeklong meditation retreats over the past 15 years, and is involved in three spiritual friends meditation groups, including administering one of IMCW’s virtual meditation groups.
A strong believer in the need to bring insight meditation philosophy and practices into the workplace, Stephen introduced mindfulness practices into his own nonprofit company in 2016, and has presented on the topic of mindfulness in the workplace to other companies and at conferences. He has an M.A. in history from George Washington University and a J.D. from George Mason School of Law.
Booma Venkataraman (Secretary)
Booma (she/her) has been practicing Vipassana meditation for 7 years and has attended several residential retreats. Booma graduated from the 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP) in 2021.
Booma is born in Kolkata, India, and was drawn to the mystery of spirituality from a young age. She dedicated herself to Hindu meditation practices, including the reading of Bhagavad Gita. Her professional work brought her to the U.S. in 1997. In 2011, she moved to the Washington D.C. area, and she felt a strong urge to explore and enhance her spiri, motivating her to explore the Insight path. One Wednesday evening in 2015, she walked into Tara Brach’s sangha—the teaching was like a cool, clear, fresh fountain. This felt like “a spacious home” for Booma and there was no turning back.
Booma works for the Federal Government. She’s trained as an engineer and has a Master’s degree in business administration. She has held several leadership positions, including championing the promotion of diversity and inclusion activities at her work. She is delighted to serve as the IMCW board member. Booma sees this as an opportunity to deepen wisdom, collaborate, and serve all beings by the rippling of compassionate action.
Anna Johns
Growing up in India, Anna (she/her) watched her father meditate in the woods and later began her own daily meditation and yoga practice. Anna has taught seekers to transform their lives through meditation and yoga and finds participating in others’ journeys to be deeply rewarding.
Anna completed a year-long Buddhist chaplaincy training under Gil Fronsdal and another year-long residency in Spiritual Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center. At present, Anna divides her time between working as a hospital chaplain and serving as a private yoga and meditation teacher through her organization, Asaya, as well as by teaching through IMCW as well as serving on the Board of Directors. Anna is an experienced registered yoga teacher (E-RYT 500) with more than 1,000 hours of teacher training in many modalities. Anna was part of the first cohort of in-person mindfulness meditation certification training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield in partnership with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.
Anna continues to grow with regular meditation and multi-day residential retreats. She is training in trauma healing to become a Somatic Experiencing practitioner and is in the current cohort of Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader training.
Read Anna’s blog article here.
Visit Anna’s website to learn more https://www.asayameditation.com/
Neele Johnston
Neele (he/him) is a retired investor and philanthropist. He has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 2018, and is an enthusiastic supporter of long meditation retreats and retreat centers, including Seven Oaks, Spirit Rock, and IMS. His early experience was in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, and he completed the Year of Living Mindfully with Jonathan Foust in 2019-2020. Neele has been a regular participant in the IMCW sangha at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, MD, and was instrumental in reviving the weekly in-person sangha meetings, previously led by Tara Brach, after the COVID shutdown. Neele retired from Fannie Mae as a Senior Technical Consultant after a long career in IT.
In addition to serving on the board of IMCW and the Seven Oaks Capital Campaign Fundraising Committee, Neele is a member of the board of directors of The Georgia Investor Action Fund, the 501(c)(4) arm of the Georgia Alliance for Progress, based in Atlanta, GA, whose mission is to foster a progressive movement in Georgia that advances a more racially just democracy supported by a network of donors and funders. Neele also actively supports other mindfulness-based nonprofits in the DC area, including Peace of Mind, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which provides tools for educators teaching mindfulness-based social and emotional learning to elementary and middle school students; and Insight on the Inside, a 501(c)(3) network of meditation teachers which serves the incarcerated, returning citizens, people transitioning from homelessness and those in substance abuse treatment programs.
Silvia Garcia-Pereira
Silvia (she/her) has been formally practicing Vipassana, Insight Meditation, for over 15 years. She graduated from the Year of Living Mindfully program in 2009 and in 2013 graduated from The Meditation Teacher Training Institute’s two-year program with teachers Tara Brach, Jonathan Foust, Hugh Byrne and Pat Coffey. That year, she also received a .b mindfulness in schools, teacher certification and has recently completed the Advance Practitioners Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, a one-year program for senior students of the dharma. She has been an IMCW Affiliate Teacher for several years.
Silvia holds an MFA in film and television from NYU and works as a video producer for Montgomery County Public Schools. She has contributed as video producer to several of IMCW’s videos and is happy to work on multiple video projects to spread her love for the dharma.
As a mother of two young adults, her practice is an integral part of daily life.
Stig Regli
Stig (he/him) is a teacher for IMCW. He has practiced Vipassana meditation since 1984 and facilitated sitting groups and classes since 1997. He was introduced to the practice in Thailand in accordance with the teachings of the Burmese Mahasi Sayadaw tradition. He has been guided by numerous Asian and North American teachers with his primary teacher being Tara Brach. Stig is grateful for finding sangha through engagement with IMCWs formation, previously serving on its first board and as vice president. In 2008 he completed the three-year Community Dharma Leadership program sponsored by the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He is thrilled with now serving again on the board.
Stig retired from USEPA in March 2021 after working for 40 years as an environmental engineer, regulation manager, and senior policy advisor and receiving a Distinguished Career Service Award. His search for “right livelihood” prior to EPA is described in the book he recently co-authored: The Road Taken: The Remarkable Story of a Transcontinental Bicycle Odyssey. He and his wife, Melanie La Force, two daughters, and two dogs live in Arlington, Virginia.
Valca Valentine
Valca Valentine (she/her) is a public engagement strategist and former journalist developing and leading communications programs for a variety of government, corporate and non-profit organizations. From 1994 to 2012 she oversaw program and public affairs as Director of Communications within the DC Mayor’s Executive Office, was Senior Associate at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, and Strategic Communications Contract Manager for the Veterans Health Administration and most recently, Senior Technical Editor for General Dynamics Information Technology. Her roles included management of cross-functional teams, public awareness campaign development and relationship management strategies.
A co-founder of Mindful Living in DC, Valca is a 2019 graduate of the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program for Teaching Awareness and Compassion-Based Practices founded and taught by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. Valca’s mindfulness and meditation practice evolved from a desire for healthy responses and ease toward an individual and shared spiritual path of enlightenment.
