Advisors
Bill Duane
Principal at Bill Duane and Associates, a consulting firm focused on the intersection of individual performance, organizational effectiveness and the future. He works with leading companies including tech, pharma and media as well as teaching workshops at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. He is the Director of Strategy and Implementation at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves, working on applied AI ethics. He holds a Research Fellowship at Rangjung Yeshe Institute at the University of Kathmandu. He was a Google engineering executive and then Superintendent of Well-Being over a 13 year period.
Lao Yang
American mindfulness teacher and neuroscience research consultant.
His systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation, known as Unified Mindfulness, has resulted in collaborations with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Vermont in the burgeoning field of contemplative neuroscience.
Shinzen’s interest in Asia began at the age of 14 when he decided to attend Japanese ethnic school in his native city of Los Angeles.
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Todd Mertz
Todd has filled a number of roles in working closely with Shinzen since 2011. Chief of Staff may be most accurate as a single title throughout that time. His degree in counseling psychology and work experience in various fields have contributed valuable experience to a number of projects supporting Shinzen's work and developing this community.
Faculty
Meg Salter
Meg Salter is an Executive Coach and Mindfulness Coach, supporting individuals to create
greater ease and impact in their world.
She brings a deep mindfulness practice, global business experience, and expertise in evidence
based research on the evolution of human perspective taking and meaning.
Meg is the author of Mind Your Life: How Mindfulness Can Build Resilience and Reveal Your
Extraordinary, the first work published in China on Shinzen’s mental training system (China
Renmin University Press, 2023).
Blake Ashley
A retired attorney, has been a Shinzen student since 2001. He has been teaching Shinzens's methods for fifteen years. He has taught at the Tucson Community Meditation Center, for the City of Tucson and Pima County Employee Wellness programs, for the University of
Arizona Student Health Department, for the Arizona State Bar
Association, and elsewhere.
Chen Yan
Internationally certified human resources professional, gaining her credential in New York. Prior to founding Stage Ai, Yan Chen worked for international humanitarian organizations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Refugee International as well as L3 Communications, a Fortune 500 company. Yan Chen had also worked for various international projects in India, Tajikistan, London, Vancouver, San Francisco, and New York. As someone committed to integrating her life experience and passion towards life, she leads a conscious team in the building of a holistic bridge between China and the world.
Jack Liu
Jack had been studying and practicing Buddhism for more than twenty years. Once the Ph.D. candidate on the topic of modern jhana meditation practice, Jack's own practice integrates original Buddhist mindfulness with the spirit of science. He is also the founder of Canadian Halfmoon Foundation by which he promotes the communication between eastern and western contemplation practice. Jack is also the owner of an education business in Vancouver.
Olivia Lin
B.S. in biology from Fudan University, M.S. and M.Phil. in biostatistics from Columbia University.
Mindfulness Coach, Psychophysical Educator (certified by Dimon Institute), Alexander Technique Teacher (certified by Dimon Institute and AmSAT), Mandarin Chinese/English Translator, Simultaneous Interpreter.
Christopher Zobrist
Chris has studied with Shinzen since 2015. Since then, he has completed over 60 weeks of silent retreats, 20 weeks with Shinzen, and the remainder with other teachers, including Jon Kabat-Zinn, Daniel P. Brown, Joseph Goldstein, Mingyur Rinpoche, and others. He works at the intersection of innovative start-ups and finance for positive change, and is currently completing his doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership at USC.
