Board of Directors

Meet our highly qualified board of directors. They are all  experienced in financial, high-tech, government or education management and knowledgable about the realities of operations and governance. Most are sangha members of Mountain Cloud Zen Cente

Carolyn Klamp (President of the Board of Directors)

Carolyn has been a practicing attorney for over 30 years working mostly in the non-profit sector. She has experience working with non-profit Buddhist organizations, including Thich Nhat Hanh’s organization, Plum Village. Carolyn is happy to become an official member of the Mountain Cloud Board after serving as an ex-officio member and the Board Treasurer for the last few months.

Bryan Baldwin (Treasurer)

Santa Fe resident Bryan Baldwin brings more than 25 years of progressive responsibility helping mission-driven organizations become more purposeful, focused, and strategic. He has extensive nonprofit management experience and most recently served as a senior administrator for a large public university in New England and concurrently led its private foundation. The earlier part of his career was spent working in the international diplomatic arena. Bryan earned a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Public Discourse from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is also a graduate of Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management. He and his wife, Lisa Cushing Shaw, are avid travelers, lived abroad, and have visited more than 50 countries. Along with their sweet and whimsical dog Bruce, they now call Santa Fe their permanent home.

Miguel Gomes is a financial services and banking professional with 15+ years of experience in strategy planning, regulatory compliance, risk oversight, and IT incident resolution. He is a proven collaborative leader in driving strategy and efficient process improvements with a focus on quality and risk controls. Miguel is passionate about creating an engaging and inclusive working environment using positive motivational techniques to empower people to become their best selves. Miguel is also a dharma teacher with the Mindfulness in the Midst Meditation Group, a meditation instructor, and a concert cellist. Miguel lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Andreas Hernandez is a Professor at the University of New Mexico and Director of UNM’s Sustainability Studies Program. Andreas received his PhD in Development Sociology from Cornell University. He has Masters and Bachelors degrees in Social Work. Andreas is widely published, is a filmmaker, and has received numerous grants and awards for his teaching. Andreas is a dharma practitioner and associated with a dharma ecovillage in Brazil. Andreas lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico (when he’s not in Brazil).

Patrick McCarthy (Secretary) is currently the Water Policy Officer at the Thornburg Foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Previously he served as the Conservation Director of the Colorado River Program of The Nature Conservancy; Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Southwest Climate Change Initiative; Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Programs in New Mexico; and Director of the Zambezi River Basin Project in Zambia, among other leadership positions in conservation and land stewardship. Patrick is a member of the Mountain Cloud sangha.

Valerie Forstman (Ex-officio) is MCZC’s Guiding Teacher and is an Associate Zen Master of the Sanbo Zen lineage. Her first teacher, with whom she continues to work, was Ruben Habito Roshi. Since 2003, she has also trained under the guidance of Yamada Ryoun Roshi, current abbot of SanboZen. Valerie’s vision of the core of the Zen path is a way of coming home to who we truly are. This includes koan training, “just sitting” practice, and breath awareness practice, and what it means to undergo the immense change of heart implied by the term “awakening.” What a joy and what a long road it can be, not just to taste this, but to embody it and live it out in lives of compassionate service.

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