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Protecting the financial integrity, legal status and sangha community of Nalandabodhi to ensure the flourishing of dharma in the west.
The Board of Directors:
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of Nalandabodhi and the President of Nalandabodhi. Rinpoche has been teaching dharma since the age of 12 and is widely celebrated in the East and West for his engaging teaching style. He is the author of the Nalandabodhi curriculum materials, Emotional Rescue, Rebel Buddha, and many other books. Rinpoche is a lineage holder in two of the most profound traditions of meditation in both Indian and Tibetan Buddhism: Mahamudra and Dzogchen. A lover of music, art, and urban culture, Rinpoche is a poet, photographer, accomplished calligrapher, and visual artist. Rinpoche is also the founder of other non-profit organizations, including Nitartha International, Nitartha Institute, and CAUSA.
Ellen Balzé, Board Chair, NB Vice President (ellenb@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi Philadelphia
Ellen became a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 2015. A clinical psychologist with a background in organizational consulting, she is trained in a form of psychotherapy based on Buddhist teachings. She has appreciated opportunities (and reminders) to pause, relax, and reflect on serving with other East Coast Nalandabodhi members and folks across Nalandabodhi on retreats and local projects.
She enjoys baking bread and caring for succulents. Ellen lives in Philadelphia with her husband.
George Beckwith, NB Secretary (gbbeckwith@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi New York
George became a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 2009 and is a practice instructor and facilitator at Nalandabodhi New York. He recently retired from a long career in architecture with a specialization in historic preservation and adaptive reuse. With his wife Wendy Miller, a fellow sangha member and painter, they have a 26-year-old son who is a graphic designer.
George plays fingerstyle and jazz guitar and enjoys cooking, birding, hiking, and living in the Hudson Valley and New York City.
Jeff Furlong (j.furlong@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi Seattle
Jeff has been a student of Rinpoche since 1998. Since that time, he has served in various roles in Rinpoche’s organizations. Early, in the formation years of Nalandabodhi, Jeff was primarily involved in finding property for the first public centers in Seattle and played a significant role in the eventual
acquisition of Nalanda West. Currently he provides software and IT services in support of the digital resources provided by Nitartha International. Jeff has
had a long career as a software engineer creating tools to facilitate
advancements in life science research. His most recent work has contributed to vaccine development in the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and to a new cancer detection application utilizing circulating cell-free DNA.
Jeff currently resides in Seattle where he has spent most of his life since arriving as a child in 1977.
Dave Gannon, NB Treasurer (dave@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi Colorado
Dave became a formal student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 2013. He has been the Director of Finance for Nalandabodhi Colorado since 2016. In his 20’s, Dave worked as a counselor at a minimum-security correctional facility, where he assisted previously incarcerated offenders. Later, after graduating with an MBA from the University of Colorado, he pursued a career in finance. Dave worked in corporate treasury management at several large public companies for the last twenty years.
Dave and his wife are the parents of twin college students, a dog, a cat, and two beehives. They all enjoy living near the Rocky Mountains.
Anita Ho (anita@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi Hong Kong 
Anita first met Rinpoche in 1992, officially became his student in 2000 during the second Sangha Retreat. Over the years, whether as student, or director of the Hong Kong Karma Kagyu Buddhist Society from 1996 to 2016, Anita has played a vital role in organizing Rinpoche’s dharma programs whenever he visited Hong Kong. Following Rinpoche’s wishes and with his blessing, Anita founded Nalandabodhi Asia in Hong Kong in 2010 as the first Nalandabodhi seed sown in Asia. She also initiated the Asian Retreat in 2018 which has now developed into an annual event in collaboration with emerging sangha groups in Taiwan and mainland China.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Anita spent seven years in Vancouver, Canada for her studies and work before returning to Hong Kong in 1975.
Patrick Lee (pat.lee@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi Connecticut
Pat began recording teachings by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche at the first Treasury of Knowledge Retreat in Texas in 1992 and became his student in 1994. In 1998 he married Deborah Calloway in a wedding ceremony performed by DPR. In 2002, with the blessing of DPR, they founded Vajra Echoes, a dharma teachings recording company. In 2003 they were co-founders of Nalandabodhi Connecticut. Pat has attended all Treasury of Knowledge retreats since 1992 and all Sangha Retreats since they started in 1999, and has been an active member of Nalandabodhi Connecticut since 2003.
Pat enjoys hiking and biking in Connecticut and skiing anywhere the snow is good.
Darcey Quinn (mandalaliaison@dproffice.com)
Member, Nalandabodhi Seattle
Darcey moved to Seattle from Atlanta in 2001 and a few years later began hearing about Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. One Atlanta friend continuously tried convincing her to go to Nalanda West to learn more about Buddhism and maybe even be lucky enough to meet Rinpoche. She finally listened and took her first Introduction to Buddhism course in spring 2011. She was lucky enough to meet Rinpoche that fall and soon after became a student. Since then, Darcey has held various positions at Nalandabodhi Seattle, was part of the Household for His Holiness 17th Karmapa in 2015 and 2017, joined the Nalandabodhi Senior Administration Team in 2019, and finally dprO in 2022. She sits on the Nalandabodhi Board as the Mandala Liaison.
Darcey travels a lot where she loves learning new things about the world, people, and herself. When in Seattle, she enjoys spending time on the water with her husband and eating all his amazing cooking.
Yves Rémillard (yves@nalandabodhi.org)
Member, Nalandabodhi Montréal
Yves became a formal student of Rinpoche in 2012, following a 30-year quest for a Teacher, a Path and a Home, a quest that had a literary start with novelists, such as Hermann Hesse, Jack Kerouac, and Carlos Castañeda, as well as renowned Buddhist teachers such as T.D.K. Suzuki and Chögyam Trungpa. Since becoming a formal student of Rinpoche, Yves served as Co-Director of Nalandabodhi Montréal for about six years, then as General Manager of Mahasiddha Retreat Centre (a.k.a. MRC Lodge & Cabins), in Parson, British Columbia (Canada), for more than 2.5 years.
Yves was born, and lives in, Québec, Canada. A Certified Translator by profession, he also likes to study, reflect and meditate, as well as to walk and hike in forests and on mountains, looking for clarity and simplicity.
