Founder and President
Susan Pembroke works as a psychotherapist and is also founder and guiding teacher of Insight Meditation of Ventura. She began meditating in 1986 and has studied with a number of teachers within the Buddhist Theravada tradition. Susan was drawn to the jhanas (states of concentration) and studied these meditative absorptions with Ayya Khema. The AFB was formed to support monastic Theravadan women. One of Ayya Khema's enduring concerns was the revival and support of the bhikkuni sangha. This organization is a continuation of her efforts. Heading the AFB is Susan's way of showing gratitude to Ayya Khema and honoring her memory. Susan received an Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award in 2009.
Vice President
Jaqueline Kramer is the author of "Buddha Mom: The Path of Mindful Mothering". She is also director of the Hearth Foundation. Through the Hearth Foundation she teaches lay Buddhist practice classes to mothers all around the world. She has been studying and practicing Theravadan Buddhism for 30 years, was a Religious Science Practitioner and is a student of the world’s wisdom traditions. In 2007, Jacqueline received an Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award for her work teaching Buddhism to mothers. Her root teacher was Anagarika Dhamma Dinna who taught in the Sri Lankan tradition. She also studied with Ven. Ananda Maitreya, Achan Sobin Namto, Ven. Punnaji Mahathera and Ayya Khema. Jacqueline has a deep interest in supporting Buddhism as it comes to the West, in both lay and monastic forms. She also feels called to support her Thai sisters to pursue their spiritual calling.
Communications Officer
Brenda Batke-Hirschmann began practising meditation in 1982. She has studied with many teachers in the Theravadin and Tibetan traditions throughout the USA, Asia, and Europe. She is currently participating in Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner Program III, while completing doctoral research at the University of Adelaide. She has engaged in long retreats in both the East and West, is deeply committed to the development of the four-fold sangha, and has a special interest in working with the dying (working towards becoming a board-certified Buddhist Chaplain). Brenda lives in Vancouver, B.C. and is affiliated with the BC Insight Meditation Society and the Interspiritual Centre of Vancouver Society.
Research and Librarian
Marcia Pimentel is a hybrid contemplative living on solar in the southern Tennessee hills. She is a first generation American from a long Cuban ancestry, having moved to the U.S. at the age of language acquisition. Marcia hikes, meditates, studies the Suttas and writes. Her simple rustic lifestyle is natural reflection of a lifelong affinity with nature, animals and insects. Marcia is currently on sabbatical from the AfB journal, Present, while her research interests have sited the study of gender revisioning in Buddhist history. She is a novice Jhana practitioner and an Abhidhamma enthusiast.
Treasurer
Randy Graves
Secretary
Marsha Morrow
Board Members
Donna McCarthy
Peggy McInerny
Advisory Council
Ayya Tathaaloka, Theri
Abbess, Bodhi House, Buddhist Vihara
Lucinda Green, PhD
President: Rocky Mountain Insight