Lorene Jabola has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism since 1985. Her training as an educator and psychotherapist finds expression in teaching, writing, and consulting dedicated to awakening and finding one’s original voice. Her bicultural upbringing in the Philippines and Southern California, education in Eastern and Western religious traditions and psychology, and meditation practice in the Thai forest tradition infuse both personal and professional life.

Devoted to social justice and integrative approaches to mental health, Lorene helped found two community organizations in Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Psychoanalytic Society and Institute Psychotherapy Center and Midwest Meditation and Psychotherapy Institute. As a graduate of the Community Dharma Leaders Training Program IV (Spirit Rock Meditation Center, CA), she is committed to supporting the development and growth of multicultural practitioners and leaders.

In her professional life Lorene enjoyed teaching (as core faculty of graduate psychology programs California and Minnesota) and clinical practice. Currently, she provides consultation/mentoring to both individuals and professional organizations.

Victoria Mausisa, (she/siya/we), Filipina, Lola/grandmother. Victoria began her practice over 20 years ago and is ordained in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Order of Interbeing. She is a community builder, sangha and retreat leader. An advocate for racial and social justice, she co-founded ARISE Sangha — Awakening Through Race, Intersectionality and Social Equity. Victoria is called to heal communities of color and to cultivate inclusiveness. She is a graduate of East Bay Meditation Center’s Spiritual and Teacher Leader Program. A contemplative at heart who leans on authenticity and ritual, Victoria thrives on spiritual practice and deep relationships with our ancestors, our lands, family, and friends

First introduced to mindfulness and the teachings of the Buddha in 2003, through Thich Nhat Hahn and the Plum Village tradition, Kimi has been student and practitioner ever since. A Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, their commitment to racial, gender and healing justice is evident through the dynamic and ways they hold space and as a consultant, facilitator, coach, and conflict transformation practitioner.

As a sangha builder and community leader, Kimi is a graduate of EBMC’s Commit2Dharma program, Spiritual Teacher and Leader training program, has served as former Board Chair and later co-founder of Restorative Practices for Dharma Practitioners (RPDP) deep refuge group. Beyond EBMC they have had the privilege and joy of teaching at various sangha affinity groups (BIPOC, QTPOC, Queer/Trans/Non-Binary folx); daylongs and retreats at Braided Wisdom, Dhamma Dena among others. Kimi loves connecting through ritual, movement and nature, centering liberatory practices that cultivate wholeness and well-being in everyday life.

For a decade, Jonathan Relucio taught trauma-informed yoga, meditation, and mindfulness in urban schools, mental health clinics and juvenile detention centers as a Senior Trainer for Niroga Institute. He has completed Spirit Rock’s Mindfulness, Yoga and Meditation Training; Communities Rizing teacher training program; and East Bay Meditation Center’s Spiritual Teacher and Leadership training. Jonathan facilitates transformation in social justice movements with Rockwood Leadership Institute; integrates trauma-informed mindfulness with restorative circles for healing and racial equity as co-founder of AllThriveEd.org; and serves on the Healing Advisory council for Filipino Advocates for Justice.

With over 20 years of experience in social services, community organizing, training, and leadership development, Jonathan values yoga, meditation, indigenous medicine and dance as practices for liberation that heal us from the impact of oppressive systems.

Founder of Healing Without Hierarchy & Kapwa Flow Somatic Meditation, Jessy Zapanta (he, she, siya) is a community builder, educator, and survivor-centered mindful movement and meditation facilitator born and raised in the working-class, BIPOC-majority parts of the lands known as the Bay Area (Ohlone territory). Jessy is a graduate of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action Program and inaugural two-year Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Program, and is a co-founder of Dharma in Motion Sangha. Experienced in western and Asian bodywork, counseling, Raja Yoga, qigong, somatics, and improv, he has held space for queer, trans, gender-diverse, disabled, and neurodivergent folks of all ages. Siya is passionate about radical inclusion and access, inviting the collective needs of participants into the room. With roots spanning across Pangasinan and Pampanga, Nagasaki, and Fujian, Jessy’s path includes reclaiming diverse ancestral teachings, trusting intuition, and building intersectional, intergenerational communities of care.