Welcoming Two New Board Members
We are pleased to introduce the two new directors who’ve joined the Board in the past 6 weeks. Each director volunteers his or her time and is appointed for a 3-year term.
Beth Bartl, a long-time participant at Sukhasiddhi, is now in the Bodhi program, having completed the Dharma Training Program with Lama Döndrup and studying with Lama Pat and Stephen Gross as well.
She lives in San Rafael with her husband, Gary, and a foster daughter. It was the DTP teachings that helped Beth stay grounded when she and Gary agreed to take in four sisters as foster parents, after years of Beth serving as a Big Sister to one of the girls. As instant parents, they dealt with the logistics of getting four kids to school as well as the need to provide emotional stability to the children, whose lives had been uprooted. She also had to advocate for them in the justice system. The elder sister is now off on her own and the younger one is about to graduate from high school. The two youngest moved on to another foster family.
In addition to the skills gained raising a family, Beth brings to the Board her professional expertise as a program manager for an international furniture firm. She keeps an ever-changing group of projects, budgets, systems, and problems organized over days, weeks, and months.
She accepted the invitation to join the board as "My way of giving back. Lama Döndrup is so amazing that I want to do what I can to help her disseminate the Buddhist teachings."
Jage Schiff has been an active student of Vajrayana Buddhism since walking into a center in San Francisco in 2000. After moving to Marin County with his wife, he noticed the Sukhasiddhi sign at our Fairfield center one day and stepped in to check us out. He’s been an active participant since 2016, completing the Dharma Training Program with Steven, then joining the Bodhi program with Lama Tashi (Annik). “I came in to Sukhasiddhi at about the same time as Lama Döndrup began more actively teaching. I feel very connected to her. The teacher/student relationship is a very important part of my practice.” Jage has joined the current Dharma Training Program for a review and fresh look at the core dharma teachings in Vajrayana.
A recently retired Software Engineer, Jage brings a wealth of technical and people management skills to our team. He’s designed a number of complex software applications and front-end user systems for non-profit organizations, including the American Cancer Society in Oakland and the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. For the last 8 years of his career, he was the Director of Engineering for a utility billing company.
We will definitely tap into his expertise to help us build an effective and efficient database of our members, participants and activities.
As a new board member, Jage commented, “It’s an exciting time to be joining the Board as we are opening a new chapter for Sukhasiddhi. The importance of the sangha and the opportunity to be around others while practicing is very beneficial for everyone as well as for my own practice. I’m very excited about the new center!”
From a fellow Board member: “I am really glad to have Jage join the Board. He has an insightful intelligence and a real dedication to the sangha. He also has a good sense of humor – so we are lucky to have him.”
