Tsewang Namgyal is a Director in the Structured Finance Group of Global Corporate and Investment Banking at one of the world’s largest financial institutions. He serves on the Tibet Fund Board and the Garrison Institute Advisory Board, where he founded the Compassionate Leadership in Finance (CLiF) program. He is a founding member of Mindful on Wall Street and the key visionary behind the Reimagining Doeguling Tibetan Settlement Project. Tsewang is a graduate of Tibetan Children’s Village, Dickinson College, and the Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he serves on the Thunderbird Global Alumni Network Advisory Council (TGAN).
Michelle Flores Vryn, CFRE is an engagement strategist and fundraiser who helps nonprofits grow with clarity and integrity. With over 15 years of experience across conservation, higher education, and civic engagement missions, she co-founded two national research efforts—the AI Equity Project and the Social Impact Staff Retention Project—focused on the future of nonprofit work. She also serves as a board member for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Global.
A frequent writer and speaker, Michelle is passionate about building bridges across sectors and communities to spark more regenerative forms of social change. One of her deepest grounding practices is daily meditation, a discipline she has carried for nearly two decades. Outside of work, you can find her on long walks with her dogs or discussing business strategy with her endlessly patient husband.
Park Krausen is a story sharer with over 30 years of experience as a professional actor, director, producer, and translator. She is committed to supporting cross cultural and cross disciplinary conversations—exploring timely questions at the intersections of science, belief systems, and creativity through art. As Producing Artistic director of Théâtre du Rêve, the only professional Francophone theater company in the U.S., she performed classics, commissioned new works, and created immersive public experiences.
Recently, as a story sharer turned filmmaker, Park is honored to capture the current manifestation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s initiative to foster a dialogue between Buddhism and science in the forthcoming documentary, Frontiers of the Mind: The 100 Year Project. The film highlights a collaboration between young monastics and international academic researchers. Since 2019 she has traveled to Drepung Loeseling Monastery, Dharamshala, Mind & Life’s Summer Research Institute, and Emory and Northwestern Universities, capturing the newest chapter of the Emory Tibet Science Initiative’s Research training program, which inspires groundbreaking research initiated by monastic scientists. Additionally, Park served as the Director of Monastic Research Training at Northwestern and supported Mind & Life’s initiative to expand monastic involvement in the Summer Research Institute.
She is deeply grateful for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings and inspired by found family—the monastic scientists—to live the teachings.
Gábor Karsai, based near Budapest, Hungary, is a long-standing member of the MLE Association, and presently serves as Rector of the Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Budapest, as well as Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Gabor has undertaken Ph.D studies with a focus on process philosophy (A. N. Whitehead), phenomenology and Buddhism. Over the last 15 years, he has had extensive management engagements, including as a deputy CEO at Bankar Holding Plc. (Hungary), Director of the Spirit of Humanity Forum (Iceland), the Education for Peace Foundation (Switzerland) and as CEO at the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (Taiwan). He combines practical experience in running a not for profit organisation together with a deep appreciation for contemplative practice and science as well as the values and vision which MLE embodies.
Yuri Belfali leads the work of the Directorate for Education and Skills in the field of early childhood education and care, and international comparative studies of education systems. She oversees large scale surveys including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Teaching and Learning International Survey programme (TALIS). She also manages thematic policy analyses and supports education systems and schools to develop policies and innovations for better learning and well-being of learners.
Ms. Belfali spent the last 20 years in France, the US, and in several countries of SouthEast Asia, Africa and Middle East and North Africa regions. Before joining her current organization, she worked for UNICEF as Chief of the Education Section in Morocco and the World Bank in the field of human development between 2002 and 2012. She had a leadership role in advising governments for education reforms and gender mainstreaming. Ms. Belfali, a Japanese national, holds a Master’s degree in International Educational Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University.
Wendy R. Bradford is an accomplished HR professional with over 25 years of experience in
developing and executing HR strategies in global organizations. She excels in fostering
partnerships with business leaders and implementing policies that drive employee success and
organizational goals. Wendy is skilled in strategic planning, talent management, compensation
and benefits, staff performance, engagement, and employee relations across diverse and globally
distributed workforces.
Wendy thrives in cultivating cultures of excellence and inclusivity while ensuring compliance
with employment laws and maximizing HR operations efficiency. As a strategic leader, she has
provided overall management of the human resource function in fast-paced, complex global
organizations. Known for her firm yet collaborative leadership style, Wendy fosters collegial
partnerships and possesses an entrepreneurial drive to strengthen and advance organizational
goals.
Wendy holds a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources
and a Bachelor of Science in Law from California Southern University.
Ami Henson is a seasoned CEO with over 25 years of leadership experience. Over the course of her career, she has managed more than $300 million in programs and nearly 300 staff, including leading teams of up to 80 people and overseeing annual budgets exceeding $80 million. Her ability to navigate complexity while driving operational excellence and fostering innovation and alignment has made her a trusted leader in driving sustainable and measurable outcomes in the organizations and communities she serves.
In addition to her leadership and management expertise, Ami is an expert in strategy, program design and impact measurement. Her technical achievements include: designing how donor development programming in Bangladesh measures results at the country level; developing a Papua New Guinea vocational program to enhance workforce capacity on behalf of a donor government; and designing strategies for donor programs in Sudan that shaped policy implementation.
Ami integrates mindfulness practice into her technical training on systems change, monitoring and evaluation, creating opportunities for reflection that foster deeper learning and collaboration. She lives outside of Houston, TX and has a passion for food, the outdoors, and spending time with her husband and young son.
