Born and raised in Salt Lake City, John went to law school and worked as an attorney in New York City before moving to Portland in 2007 with his wife, Shelley, and son, Emmett. John and Shelley began attending KCC Sunday morning meditations in 2011, while Emmett participated in the KCC Children’s Program. John and Shelley took refuge with Lama Michael Conklin in 2012 and volunteered as teachers in the Children’s Program in 2013-14. John has participated in several KCC retreats, attended KCC’s annual Mahamudra seminar in 2019, and has taken personal retreats at SCOL.John also served for 10 years on the Board of Outside In, a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center supporting homeless youth and marginalized populations. John has been a practicing trial lawyer for 20 years, helping clients resolve business disputes and government investigations, most recently with K&L Gates.
Jennifer started attending KCC in January 2018 having been interested in dharma since her early 20s. She took refuge on January 1 2019 and attended the Mahamudra seminar in the fall of 2019. Jennifer helped bring the KCC library to fruition, managed the redevelopment of the KCC website and enjoys being an active member of KCC’s Dharma Digger gardening group.
Jennifer is a Kansas native and a graduate of the University of Kansas. Her 20 year career in the Federal government was as an emergency planner and responder for the US Army Corps of Engineers. “Prodding the bureaucracy to move smarter and faster” is the simplest way to describe her role in disaster response. She hopes her experience as a civil servant will help her serve the KCC community and all sentient beings.
Marci Roth has been a Buddhist practitioner and a KCC sangha member since 2001. She is a psychotherapist and a parent to three adult children (all of whom attended the Children’s Program when they were little beings). Her other passions include photography, making art, backpacking, hiking, and x-country skiing.
Marci has volunteered with KCC in many capacities over the years, including serving on the Harmony Council and the Board of Directors. She has also served as one of KCC’s photographers to document the small and big moments in the spiritual community.
She seeks and finds spiritual riches in the Great Outdoors in addition to sitting on the cushion.
Now retired, Doug worked as a psychologist for over 30 years, mostly at various branches of Oregon State Hospital. In addition to working as a psychotherapist and treatment team member, he coordinated and edited a patient newspaper there for about 15 years. In 2010 he stumbled into the Portland Shambhala Center where his skepticism about a spiritual path was slowly transformed into positive engagement and gratitude for teachings received. Seeking more traditional and accessible Buddhist teachers, he began attending KCC in 2017 and is currently a student of Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche as well. He became a Board member in 2020.
Brad is from the southeastern US, having moved to Corvallis from Auburn Alabama in 1996. His vocational background is in engineering and environmental research. A Buddhist practitioner since 2009, Brad took refuge with Lama Michael Conklin in 2011. He met Lama Eric Triebelhorn on a trip to Tibet in 2019 and shortly thereafter participated in a Mahamudra Seminar at SCOL. Since then Brad has become active at KCC both as a practitioner and volunteer, and is happy to offer service on the KCC Board. Brad currently serves on the SCOL Support Team.
Peter grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and began to study Buddhism in the 1970’s. Three key events were: Taking refuge in 1977 with HH XVI Karmapa; attending Bokar Rinpoche’s 1996 Mahamudra Seminar in Portland; and participating in KCC’s One Year Retreat in 2013.
He has volunteered with KCC since 2001, including on the Board, Harmony Council, the website team, and recently with the Program Support and Community Life Service Groups. He organizes and sometimes leads weekday morning meditations and occasional Sunday meditations.
Peter’s has also volunteered with community groups ranging from food coops to activist groups, including the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, where he served on the National Board. Peter worked in computers for most of 30 years, the last half of which was teaching at City College of San Francisco. He loves to travel, especially to India, Nepal, and to Virginia to visit extended family.
Peter hopes his collaborative skills and experience will be of help to the Board and KCC.