Staff & Instructors
Administrative Staff
Gabriel Kram- Executive Director: Gabriel brings 14 years of mindfulness meditation, 10 years of yoga practice, and 7 years of participation in indigenous ceremony to his role as E.D. During his tenure as E.D, Gabriel created a Memorandum of Understanding with San Mateo County Probation Department formalizing collaboration to support enhanced service offerings for incarcerated/post-incarcerated youth, and created a coalition of Alameda County public partners, including Probation, Behavioral Health, and Healthcare Services Agency to support therapeutic continuum of care for youth incarcerated in Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center. In 2008, he authored and oversaw the development of a strategic plan and proposal for a comprehensive Mindfulness-Based Rehabilitation Initiative in Alameda County that was advanced to final round consideration for $1 million in funding (half local, half foundation) from the Local Funding Partnerships of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He has also overseen the creation of MBA’s Research Advisory Council, whose purpose is to oversee the development and implementation of evaluation as MBA seeks inclusion of its programming in evidence-based registries.
Vinny Ferraro- Teacher Training Director: Vinny is a long-time mindfulness meditation practitioner and meditation instructor. He runs a weekly meditation class in San Francisco, and is a teacher through Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Training program. In 1998, he spent a year sitting bedside with the dying through the Zen Center Hospice Program in San Francisco, as well as experiencing A Year to Live Practice. He has studied with several renowned spiritual teachers, the Dalai Lama among them. He is also the Teacher Training Director for Challenge Day, a nationally-recognized transformational change organization that helps adolescents to overcome internalized and external oppression, cultivate emotional well-being, and create healthier communities. Challenge Day has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Challenge Day’s Teacher Training process is a model for the development of instructors with profound emotional competency, empathetic capacity, and the ability to support young people through profound difficulties. Vinny has been responsible for the recruitment, cultivation, and development of an instructor corps that numbers 26 members. He has facilitated Challenge Days in schools and detention facilities around the world.
Jennifer Navarro- Administrative Director: Jennifer comes to MBA from the UC Berkeley School of Law, Thelton Henderson Center for Social Justice, where she spent two years as a program assistant. In August of 2008, she will receive her Masters in Public Administration from San Francisco State University, where she also received her Bachelor’s degree in Raza Studies. At SF State she undertook extensive coursework in non-profit management and administration, with a focus on communities of color. She was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Raza Studies Department, and Assistant to the Departmental Chair. She serves on the Board of Directors of POOR magazine, and is committed to engaged advocacy around social justice issues.
Instructors
Amani Carey-Simms
Diana DePineres
Kumari Fabio
Amutabi Haines
Sam Himelstein
Will Kabat-Zinn
Anahata Labaw
Minette Mangahas
Jon Oda
Jonathan Weinstock
Kekoa Won
