IMCW is committed to expanding the diversity of its board and committees, and especially encourages individuals from a diversity of race, sexual preference and age to offer their services. 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. The Board seeks to be an increasingly diverse group bringing a wide perspective of views and skills in service of IMCW and the Dharma.
You are always welcome to contact Board members to ask questions, offer suggestions, or give feedback and input.
President
Jake Tarr completed Jonathan Foust’s "Year of Living Mindfully" course, and is an active participant in TeleSangha.com and an IMCW KM Group. Professionally, Jake is a managing director of Kinetic Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in information, communications and clean technology companies. He is a graduate of Roanoke College and the Harvard Business School. Originally from upstate NY, Jake lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three children.
Vice President
Stacey Guenther completed Jonathan Foust’s Year of Living Mindfully" in 2014.
Professionally, she is a coach, trainer, facilitator, and consultant focusing on leadership, well-being, and positive organizational scholarship. Stacey is the former director of educational programs at the Center for Consciousness and Transformation at George Mason University, where she founded a living learning community called Mindful Living. She continues to serve at Mason as an adjunct faculty member teaching a for-credit class called "Meditation, Mindfulness, and Stress Management".
Treasurer
Paul Beaton is dedicated to walking a path toward awakening and cultivating greater compassion and loving kindness for himself and for all others. Paul began his formal meditation practice in 2013 through one of IMCW’s neighborhood classes and began a yoga-based mindfulness of body practice in 2006. The dharma and IMCW have given so much to Paul--he is delighted to be able to give back through service on the IMCW board.
Secretary
Chantelle Britton has practiced and studied vipassana meditation for over 10 years. Chantelle both participated and served as a mentor in Jonathan Foust’s “Year of Living Mindfully” program and formally volunteered during the Insight Meditation Community of Washington’s Wednesday night meditation class in Bethesda, MD. Chantelle works full time in health policy for the Federal government and her real job is caring for her toddler, who also happens to the best teacher she's ever had.
Board member
Growing up in India — the birthplace of yoga — Anna would watch her father meditate and do sun salutations barefoot before she eventually began her formal training in yoga and meditation with Master Kamal Srinivas. She went on to pursue extensive training in India and the US. Anna is the co-founder of Asian Sangha and is a mentor for IMCW and Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) teen retreats. She is a graduate of the 2-year Meditation Teacher Certification program (with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach). Anna lives in Northern Virginia with 5 earthlings: her husband, two human and two non-human children and shares her love of learning at asaya.org.
Elena Baylis was introduced to meditation through IMCW’s Wednesday night class and is a member of the Center for Mindful Living sangha. Her focus is on the benefits of daily meditation practice and integrating mindfulness into everyday life. Professionally, Elena is a law professor who writes about post-conflict justice and international law. Elena is originally from Oregon and now lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and daughter.
Laurie is dedicated to practicing and teaching awareness with compassion to live with meaning and purpose in an embodied way. She is the National Geographic author of The Mindful Day: Practical Ways to Find Focus, Calm and Joy from Morning to Evening, March 2018 and the NG magazine Everyday Mindfulness, June 2019.
A student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for over twenty years, Laurie is a Senior Mindfulness Teacher at the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute born at Google, a certified meditation teacher with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s two-year program, and a professor of Mindful Leadership at the R. H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. A former leader at Accenture and the founder of PurposeBlue Mindful Leadership, Laurie shares the science of mindfulness, compassion and emotional well-being in the US, Europe and Asia.
Silvia has been formally practicing Vipassana, Insight Meditation, for over 12 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. She is currently part of 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.
Tara Brach is a leading western teacher of Buddhist meditation, emotional healing and spiritual awakening. She has practiced and taught meditation for over 35 years, with an emphasis on vipassana (mindfulness or insight) meditation. Tara is the senior teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. A clinical psychologist, Tara is author of Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha and the book, True Refuge--Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart (Bantam, 2013). She also has a meditation CD, Mindfulness Meditation: Nine Guided Practices to Awaken Presence and Open Your Heart.
Tara is nationally known for her skill in weaving western psychological wisdom with a range of meditative practices. Her approach emphasizes compassion for oneself and others; mindful presence and the direct realization and embodiment of natural awareness.
Travis Spencer is originally from the Valdosta, Georgia. He obtained a BA in English from Valdosta State University, and is poised to complete his MA in counseling from Trinity University in Washington, DC.
Travis began his Buddhist practice in 2008 and strives to be an agent of change in our community. Currently, he is a Master’s of Counseling student at Trinity University. Travis is a lifelong learner, and wants to promote diversity, wellness and holistic care in our communities.
Member Emeriti (2-year term)
Hugh Byrne, Ph. D. is a teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. He completed a four-year teacher training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Meditation Society led by Jack Kornfield. Hugh is also trained in and teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and has completed training in Somatic Experiencing, a mind-body approach to healing trauma. He is a co-founder of the Washington Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Hugh is the author of The Here-and-Now Habit: How Mindfulness Can Help You Break Unhealthy Habits Once and For All (New Harbinger Publications, March 2016).
Hugh has been on IMCW’s Board of Directors and a member of the Teachers Council since 2003. He is also one of four teachers for the Meditation Teacher Training Institute (MTTI).