Leadership
Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral
Founder and Guiding Teacher
Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral is a dharma lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition as passed down through Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and San Francisco Zen Center. Since establishing the Zen Center in 2012, she has been exploring the connection between zazen, social justice, self-care, and creativity as a path of true happiness and mutual awakening.
Rev. Dr. Andre Bennett
Board Member
Rev Andre is Pastor of Youth and Young Adults at Zion Baptist Church in Lynn. A graduate of UMass, Endicott College, and Atlantic Coast Theological Seminary, he serves as President of ECCO (Essex County Community Organization) and is a member of Zen Center's BIPOC Steering Committee. He is respected and loved as a vocal proponent of racial justice on the North Shore.
Jikan Bevan
Head Student
Jikan Bevan is Zen Center’s Shuso (Head Student). In this capacity he is a “good friend” to all, welcoming and orienting newcomers to the practice space, and supporting and encouraging sangha members. He especially enjoys working with people who are interested in learning the bells and other temple forms so please join him on Thursday evenings at 5:30! Jikan began practicing at ZCNS in 2015, and was lay ordained in 2018. When he is not at Zen Center, you can most likely find him teaching third grade, or raising his three beautiful boys.
Clint Dalton
President
Clint Dalton is the ZCNS Board President and a family law practitioner focusing on divorce litigation and mediation. Attorney Dalton was born and raised in Ipswich and is a graduate of St. John’s Preparatory School, Stanford University, The Graduate Institute at St. John's College, and The University of San Diego School of Law. Prior to attending law school he established the San Francisco office of Human Rights Watch. He began a focused Zen practice 18 years ago in California and is honored to support the mission of the Zen Center. He lives with his wife and two children in Ipswich.
Dr. Seitetsu Kate Farrington
Social Justice Group Co-Facilitator
Kate Farrington is Social Justice Group Co-Facilitator. Along with Hannah Rust, her role is to implement a year-long curriculum that coordinates self-care, education, advocacy, community-building, and action on social justice topics such as racial discrimination, immigration, housing, the opioid crisis, and the environment, among others. She is an artist and professor of liberal arts at Montserrat College of Art. She first came to ZCNS in 2015 with her Eastern Philosophies class as a way to extend the class's study beyond theory. Since then, she continues to practice and learn from zazen meditation, and has embraced the many ways Zen practice has impacted her life personally.
Chuck Gould
Finance Committee Member
Chuck Gould is a Soto Zen priest ordained at San Francisco Zen Center. His avuncular outspokenness, street lawyerly bluntness, and Buddhist bottom-lineness are as striking, refreshing and vivid as his photographic portraiture.
Dr. Laura Harrington
Board Member
Dr. Harrington teaches the history of Buddhism and Asian traditions at Boston University, where she has been a member of the Department of Religion courses in Buddhism and Asian studies since 2012. She received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Columbia University in 2002, and subsequently taught at Trinity College and Wesleyan University. Her past publications focus on the eleventh century Kālacakra Tantra, and span Sanskrit and Tibetan translations and analyses of contemporary Tibetan practice. Professor Harrington’s current research focuses on the influence of covert public-private foundations on the study of Buddhism in Cold War America. She serves on the Board of Directors of Zen Center North Shore, where she also offers lectures and classes.
Michiko Imai
Calligraphy Teacher
Michiko Imai is from Nara, Japan, where she started studying calligraphy at the age of 4. She has been a professional calligrapher in the United States (Salem, MA) since 2008 and at ZCNS since 2013. Michiko is convinced that calligraphy can affect our lives in a positive way. She believes that the effects of positive change aren’t immediately apparent, but reveal themselves only by trusting a step by step process. Michiko especially values the cultivation of patience through the practice of calligraphy. She is delighted to share her calligraphy practice at Zen Center. You can find her at michikostudio.com.
Jake Kessler
Recovery Sangha Co-Facilitator
Jake is a co-facilitator of the Recovery Sangha along with Amy Thibodeau Tyrrell. He is a person in long term recovery and has been practicing meditation since 2004 in various spiritual traditions. He received his M. Ed. in Special Education and his CAGS in Educational Leadership from Salem State University. He has worked in education for the past 19 years. He has been practicing at Zen Center North Shore since 2019. His goal is to share his experience with how the practices of meditation can enhance the lives of those living with the challenges of addiction.
Dr. Esther Ngotho
Board Member
My name is Esther. I have been a Beverly resident for 21 years, and in my time here, I have been deeply involved in the local community. I was originally born in rural Kenya, Africa, and my daughter and I came to America in November of 2001, later joined by my husband. My immigration story has shaped my beliefs about the value of every single life. I have devoted my life to community service that leaves no one behind. My life work has been in healthcare policy and practices, because I know healthy people create healthy, happy communities. I am a nurse (RN) with a Master’s degree in Emergency and Disaster Management and a Ph.D. in Public Health. I first came into contact with ZCNS in the summer of 2016 and became a friend of the Center as well as a co-facilitator of Zen Center’s Social Justice program. As a believer in multi-faith coalition, I continue to learn and embrace the Buddhist teachings about our minds, our suffering, and our humanity.
Jade Amy Tyrrell
Recovery Sangha Co-Facilitator
Jade has been gratefully sober since 2014 and co-facilitates Recovery Sangha with Jake Kessler. She began practicing at the Zen Center in August of 2018 and finds meditation essential to having a little peace on a daily basis. As a member of the sangha and a lifelong student, she looks forward to hearing from others and sharing her own experience of how a spiritual solution can help us face all our challenges.
Ivana Ustariz
Board Member
Ivana was born in Honduras and lives on Cape Ann now. She has been affiliated with ZCNS since 2012 (when we were Marblehead Zen Center). She has a degree in chemistry and is a researcher at heart which has opened her to spiritual aspects. She is interested in reclaiming the wisdom of the ancients and their sites around the world.
