Ahimsa Trust (India) represents Thich Nhat Hanh and his community in the Indian subcontinent. It aims to spread the consciousness of peace and love through alliances and programs in the areas of mindfulness in education, community building, responsible tourism, and sustainable livelihoods. Ahimsa organizes workshops and retreats for teachers on Cultivating Mindfulness in Education, days and evenings of mindfulness, teachings, and fundraisers partly through pilgrimages “In the Footsteps of the Buddha.” Ahimsa is setting up a Mindfulness Practice Center in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is spearheaded by Mindfulness Teachers and OI members Shantum and Gitanjali Seth: www.ahimsatrust.org.
Wake Up Schools Spain (Spain), is a network of Spanish teachers and practitioners dedicated to building communities of Happy Teachers in the Spanish-speaking world. It is overseen by the Comunidad Budista de Interser (CBI), the official representative of Plum Village in Spain. www.interser-es.org.
Escuelas Despiertas (Spain), in collaboration with the University of Barcelona’s Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación (ICE), offers a program inspired by the Plum Village approach to mindfulness in education. It is taught by Pilar Aguilera, an OI member. It grants credit through the Continuing Professional Development Plan of Catalonia’s Department of Education: www.escuelasdespiertas.org.
Wake Up Schools France (France) is a wide network of Francophone teacher-practitioners who coordinate local Sanghas, host workshops, and share experiences: www.wakeupschools.org/fr.
Vivir Despiertos (Ecuador) meets weekly at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Professor Andrés Proaño Serrano helps organize the group’s weekly meetings to study and practice sitting, walking, and eating meditation: www.facebook.com/vivirdespiertosEcuador.
The Center for Mindfulness and Consciousness Studies at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States was inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and is directed by Tony Silvestre, an OI member and dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition. The Center includes practitioners from both Buddhist traditions and MBSR and organizes its activities around scientific research on mindfulness, bringing mindfulness into schools, and service to the community: www.mindfulnesspitt.org.
Minding Your Life (MYL) (United States) was founded by Plum Village dharma teacher, OI member, and educational consultant Richard Brady. Richard is also a retired math teacher from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. He leads retreats for educators. MYL has a website that includes his articles and newsletters on mindfulness in education: www.mindingyourlife.net.
The Mindfulness Institute offers programs for professionals, including teachers, administrators, school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, and others in the kindergarten through twelfth grade and college settings. These programs are designed to help educators integrate mindfulness into their own lives and learn how to introduce simple, research-based mindful awareness practices to students. The Mindfulness Institute also focuses on how to work under pressure and how to build and strengthen collaborative relationships: www.floridamindfulness.org/MI.
Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward from the United States are dharma teachers in the Plum Village tradition and OI members, and have supported school systems by integrating mindfulness into the curriculum. They facilitate in-service workshops and retreats for students, parents, and teachers. Peggy is completing her book for teachers and parents titled Down to Earth. They can be reached at www.thelotusinstitute.org.
Kaira Jewel Lingo from the United States is a lay dharma teacher, OI member, and mindfulness educator, leading retreats and offering mindfulness programs to educators, parents, and students in connection with the Wake Up Schools program in the United States and Europe. She was an ordained nun from 1999 to 2015 in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village community. As a teacher of color, she also offers retreats for people of color, artists, and activists and focuses on a mindful response to climate change. She lives in Washington, DC: www.kairajewel.com.
Michael Ciborski and Fern Dorresteyn (United States) were ordained monastics at Plum Village Practice Center in France from 1996 to 2003. They are both OI members as well as dharma teachers in the Plum Village tradition. They founded MorningSun Mindfulness Center and Community in New Hampshire, which hosts days of mindfulness and retreats. They also organize activities for parents and families at local schools: www.morningsuncommunity.org.
Michael Schwammberger (Spain and United Kingdom), former Plum Village monk (1997–2012), now a lay dharma teacher within the OI lineage, leads and co-leads retreats in the Plum Village tradition in Europe, including family retreats and retreats for schoolteachers within the Wake Up Schools program. He also visits schools sharing Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings and practices to the children: michaelms@ tutanota.com.
Valerie Brown is an OI member since 2003, international retreat leader, educational consultant, leadership coach, author, and principal of Lead Smart Coaching, helping educators apply and integrate mindfulness in daily life. She is also a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and a certified Kundalini yoga teacher and mindfulness practitioner. She works holistically with school leaders to embody leadership: www.leadsmartcoaching.com.
Joe Reilly (United States) is an OI member, singer, songwriter, and educator. To quote his website, he “writes songs from his heart. Joe’s songs are playful, clever, engaging, joyful, and always have something meaningful to say. The core of his message is an invitation to heal our relationships with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth”: www.joereilly.org.
Betsy Rose (United States) is a singer, songwriter, peace activist, and educator offering workshops, in-school programs and trainings, conference presentations and keynotes, and musical inspiration to spiritual and social justice groups. Her musical programs for children and educators focus on earth care, conflict resolution, diversity, and mindfulness. For all who are involved in the lives of children: www.mindfulsongs.org. Betsy’s programs and music for peacemakers, women, and all working for a just and sustainable world: www.betsyrosemusic.org.
Terry Cortes-Vega (United States), a OI member and dharma teacher, created the Master School, a secular summer day camp inspired by Plum Village practices that supports the needs of gifted youngsters. It is a family-run camp and is now in its thirty-fifth year: www.masterschoolkids.com.
Meena Srinivasan (United States) is a program manager for the O ce of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) for the Oakland Unified School District in California. An OI member, she embeds Plum Village practices into her work with teachers and school leaders. Meena has developed a four-week online course about mindfulness and social emotional learning based on her book Teach, Breathe, Learn: www.meenasrinivasan.com. Meena and her husband, Chihiro Wimbush, also started A Lens Inside, a nonprofit that develops mindful media and lms to create educational programs that promote SEL through the exploration of social issues: www.alensinside.org.
Julie Berentsen (United Kingdom) offers workshops and ongoing classes. She works with young people (first and high school students), parents, staff and communities: www.weareinsideout.com.
Tineke Spruytenberg and Claude Acker (Netherlands) are both OI members and have created an educational program that o ers six-week courses and ongoing support to teachers, school teams, school boards, and others working in education: www.HappyTeachers.nu.
Dzung X. Vo (Canada), an OI member, has developed a secular mindfulness-based intervention for adolescents, inspired by Plum Village, MBSR, MBSR-T, MBCT, and other mindfulness-based interventions. e website includes free mindfulness videos, downloadable guided meditations, blog, and excerpts from his book The Mindful Teen: www.mindfulnessforteens.com.
Katherine Weare (United Kingdom) is a professor and academic, a mindfulness teacher and researcher, writer, and public speaker. She works across the world in a range of mindfulness traditions with adults and young people, and including
the Plum Village approach, MBSR and the Mindfulness in Schools program. She is joint author of this book and author of many other publications on mindfulness, social and emotional learning, mental health, and well-being. She can be contacted at skw@soton.ac.uk.
Marianne Claveau (France) works with OR2D and Clermont Ferrand University (École Supérieure du Professorat et de l’Education). Her research focuses on how mindfulness helps develop core skills in education for sustainable development and facilitate innovative and creative teachings. She offers workshops and ongoing classes to school teams, university researchers, and students: marianne.claveau@orange.fr.
Elli Weisbaum (Canada) is an OI member and mindfulness educator. She is an instructor at the University of Toronto’s Applied Mindfulness Meditation certi cate program. She offers in-school introductory workshops, days of mindfulness, and does public speaking and research: www.elliweisbaum.com.
Stillness Revolution (Denmark) was founded by Nikolaj and Didde Flor Rotne, authors of Everybody Present and offers training, counseling, and coaching both in person and online: stillnessrevolution.com.
Youth Mindfulness (United Kingdom) was founded by Michael Bready and delivers teacher training programs in curricula for first school through higher education and at-risk youth inspired by Plum Village, positive psychology, MBSR, and other mindfulness-based interventions. It also offers an in-depth one-year mindfulness teacher training program and an eight-week course for adults: youthmindfulness.org.
The Dharma Primary School (United Kingdom) has a long-standing relationship with Plum Village. It is a small first school that practices mindfulness through a whole-school model. They run workshops on Mindfulness for Children and host Open Mornings three times a year: www.dharmaschool.co.uk.