Amma Thanasanti first encountered the Dharma in 1979. As a former Buddhist nun of 26 years, she combines the precision and rigor of Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition, compassion, pure awareness practices and a passion for wholeness. Amma is in touch with the natural world and uses nature in her teaching. Amma has been teaching intensive meditation retreats in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia since 1995.

Amma’s teaching style emphasizes deep listening, authenticity, inquiry, fierce compassion, warmth, humor and an unwavering commitment to presence. She feels a special calling to do her own work so that students from diverse communities feel supported and belonging; where the community members are able to connect across differences of culture, race, gender, sexuality and ability. She invites an openness to pause and inquire into the truth of the present moment, integrating adaptive skillful means and rooted traditional approaches.

https://awakeningtruth.org/

https://awakeningtruth.org/integrated-meditation/

Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India with Anagarika Munindra and Godwin Samararatne. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher’s Council, a husband, and father.

Oren is the author of several books, including the best-seller Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, a practical guidebook for having more effective, satisfying conversations. His latest book, Your Heart Was Made For This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity and Love, explores the relevance of contemplative practice for our current moment in history. He is also co-author of two books on teaching mindfulness to adolescents: The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents and Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Teens.

Oren first became interested in contemplative practice in high school, when he picked up a little book called The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. He went on to complete a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, and later spent two and a half years of living as an Anagarika (renunciate) at branch monasteries in the Ajahn Chah Thai Forest lineage. Today, his teaching combines classical Buddhist training with the accessible language of secular mindfulness.

https://www.orenjaysofer.com/about

Eve Ekman, Ph.D., MSW, is a GGSC Senior Fellow. An experienced speaker, researcher, and group facilitator, she brings a unique background ideally suited to training individuals and organizations in the science of happiness, resilience, compassion, mindfulness, and emotional awareness. Eve creates dynamic trainings adapted specifically for the needs of her participants, drawing upon her deep scientific knowledge, direct clinical work, and experiences in a range of institutional and organizational settings, particularly within the health care field. She worked for years as a social worker in health care, criminal justice, and social welfare systems, which inspired her to earn her master’s and Ph.D. at UC Berkeley and complete her postdoctoral training at UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Her research has focused on helping professional care providers prevent burnout by giving them easier access to practices of attention, insight, and resilience. Building on her research, she developed trainings to address burnout in national and international organizations and has delivered keynotes and workshops for a wide range of companies, including Airbnb, Salesforce, and Kaiser Permanente. Eve is a second-generation emotion researcher who has had meaningful collaborations with her father, renowned emotion researcher Dr. Paul Ekman, including on The Atlas of Emotions, an online visual tool commissioned by the Dalai Lama to teach emotional awareness, and Cultivating Emotional Balance, an intensive, evidence-based training for compassion and mindfulness. Eve’s writing on empathy, burnout, and compassion has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and books, including Oxford handbooks of positive psychology and compassion science. She is a regular practitioner of meditation, yoga, and cold water surfing, and brings her enthusiasm for living a rich emotional life into her teaching.

https://eveekman.com/

Andrew Chapman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the co-director and guiding teacher at Wild Heart Meditation Center, a non-profit Buddhist community center located in Nashville, TN.  He has a psychotherapy practice and also offers mentorship, group facilitation, education, and training for individuals, groups and organizations interested in mindfulness meditation.

Andrew is licensed by the State of Tennessee to practice psychotherapy (LCSW 7188). He has also been authorized to facilitate mindfulness and empowered as a Buddhist Teacher through Spirit Rock Meditation Center after completing the Community Dharma Leader Training Program in the Spring of 2017. Andrew has spent over 6 months of his life on intensive silent meditation retreat, with a steadfast commitment to his personal meditation practice. He has been a guest lecturer at Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, Nashville Psychotherapy Institute, University of Tennessee, and Meharry Medical College, speaking to students, faculty, as well as mental health professionals. In addition to his psychotherapy practice, Andrew offers mindfulness-based therapeutic groups and workshops at several mental health and addictions treatment centers in the greater Nashville area.

Bill Duane is the principal at Bill Duane and Associates, a consulting firm focused on innovation. He helps organizations and individuals execute well in ambiguity and rapid change through innovation mindset, managing complexity and resilience. He works with leading companies including tech, pharma and media.

He teaches innovation and AI workshops at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and is the Director of Strategy and Implementation at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves, working on applied AI ethics, funded by a two-year Templeton Foundation grant. He holds a Research Fellowship at Kathmandu University as part of this effort.

He was an engineering executive at Google for nine years, leading the production engineering teams for websearch infrastructure and then Google Workspace (gmail, docs, calendar, etc.) responsible for scaling these services worldwide during hypergrowth. After becoming curious about burnout, performance and culture, he started a second career at Google, establishing the role of Superintendent of Wellbeing and creating successful programs to explore the intersection of performance and human flourishing for the following five years.

He is on the advisory board of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, a Fellowship Advisor to the Just Economy Institute and advisor to several for-profit and nonprofit startups.

https://apparentselves.org/

Evan Thompson is a writer and professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He works on the nature of the mind, the self, and human experience. His work combines cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially Asian philosophical traditions. He is the author of Why I Am Not a Buddhist (Yale University Press, 2020); Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy (Columbia University Press, 2015); Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind (Harvard University Press, 2007); and Colour Vision: A Study in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception (Routledge Press, 1995). He is the co-author, with Francisco J. Varela and Eleanor Rosch, of The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (MIT Press, 1991, revised edition 2016). Evan is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

https://evanthompson.me/

I’m a Licensed Psychologist (PSY25229) in the the state of California. Most of my work has involved working with high-risk and marginalized youth in the juvenile justice system, foster care system, and those suffering from addiction issues. I’ve previously worked at the Chemical Dependency program at Kaiser Permanente with teens and their families, in a number of juvenile halls conducting psychotherapy, psychological evaluations, and  researching the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions with incarcerated and underserved adolescent populations. I am the  author of multiple scholarly journal articles and three books, I travel the country speaking at conferences and conducting professional trainings, and I am the founder and president of the Center for Adolescent Studies. 

I am passionate about training professionals from multiple disciplines in creating authentic, healing relationships with adolescents that contribute to positive outcomes. Most of my speaking lies at the intersection of building authentic relationships, trauma-informed care, and teaching mindfulness to youth. 

I am a formerly incarcerated youth myself and was privileged to change my life from a path of drugs, violence, crime, and self-destruction to that of healing and transformation. My mission is to help young people become aware of the power of self-awareness and transformation, and train professionals with similar interests. Learn more about my philosophy and approach in his books: A Mindfulness-Based Approach to Working with High-Risk Adolescents (Routledge, 2013), Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents: A 12-Session Curriculum (Routledge, 2015), and Trauma-Informed Mindfulness With Teens: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals (Norton, forthcoming).

https://samhimelstein.com/

https://centerforadolescentstudies.com/

Brent Purple Oliver is a mindfulness and meditation coach who specializes in customizing methods based on each client’s goals, needs, and personalities. He’s known for his brash, straightforward approach, sense of humor, and relentless practicality. 

Purple has credentials from Unified Mindfulness, the Engaged Mindfulness Institute, and David Treleaven’s trauma-sensitive mindfulness program. He’s been teaching groups and individuals for 15 years, helping hundreds of people find ways to become more awake, authentic, and awesome. His view and practices are devoutly life-affirming and designed to uncover our natural confidence and playfulness. 

Qualifications are important, but clients are equally drawn to Purple because they resonate with his colorful attitude and appreciate his freaky style. This work requires connection and compatibility. Meditation isn’t a generic practice and teachers aren’t interchangeable. 

Purple is one of a kind. If you’d like to learn more about him and what he does, visit his website at BrentPurpleOliver.com.