Leadership
Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral (she/ella)
Founder and Guiding Teacher
Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral (she/ella) 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.
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.
Rev. Dr. Andre Bennett
Johanna Chao Kreilick (she/her)
Board Co-President
Johanna serves as board co-president and has been practicing with Zen Center North Shore since 2024. She brings over two decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, strategy, and organizational development, with a career dedicated to advancing justice, equity, and planetary well-being. A longtime student of meditation and collective healing, Johanna is committed to making practice spaces inclusive, accessible, and rooted in community. She lives in Gloucester with her family.
Board Co-President
Clint Dalton is a ZCNS Board co-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.
Clint Dalton (he/him)
Seiran Ruth Dumser (she/her)
Board Member
Seiran Ruth Dumser has been a member of ZCNS since 2022 coming rather late to Zen practice after a lifetime of inquiry. Seiran lives in VT and practices remotely although welcomes opportunities to come to the North Shore for special events and for sesshin.
Seiran worked as a special education teacher and particularly enjoyed working with families and children in Birth-to-Three programing. In addition, she has worked as a volunteer coordinator at several nonprofit organizations and has been has worked in therapeutic riding programs, Meals On Wheels, and animal welfare organizations. Seiran welcomes the opportunity of ZCNS board membership during this beautiful time of settling, expanding, and meeting challenges with determination, joy, and creativity.
Kenho Emily Dashawetz (she/her)
Guest Manager
Kenho is a poet, writer, and community volunteer who has served as a nonprofit communications professional for nearly 20 years. She is particularly passionate about contributing her energy to nonprofit organizations partnering with children and teens. Currently she is director of marketing and communications at YouthBuild Global. A native of Annapolis, Maryland, Kenho relocated in 2006 to Somerville, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband Markian. Together they enjoy exploring New England’s natural beauty in any weather. She has practiced at ZCNS since the spring of 2019 and received lay ordination in December 2020. With the ZCNS sangha, she is grateful to deepen her inquiry into what it means to build community together, and what it means to serve.
Board Member
Mark is a utility scale renewable energy developer with over 30 years of project development, facility acquisition and subsidiary management experience across a broad range of renewable energy technologies. Currently, he manages the development of a pipeline of wind, solar and storage projects located in the central and western U.S., with past work experience in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. He holds an Aeronautical Engineering degree and MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He began formal Zen practice in 2001 and has been a member of sanghas in Brookly, NY and San Jaun, Puerto Rico. He began sitting with ZCNS in 2019 and continues to deepen and expand his practice with their seamless support.
Mark Green (he/him)
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.
Michiko Imai (she/her)
Chisei Stephanie Majeau (all pronouns)
Jisha, Queer Zen Facilitator
Chisei began practicing with Zen Center North Shore in 2013. They received lay ordination in 2017 and are a candidate priest. Chisei facilitates ZCNS's Queer Zen program. They are currently the jisha, or attendant to the guiding teacher. Chisei is a career environmental and climate educator and communicator, having taught in both classroom and outdoor non-profit settings for over 15 years.
Justice Adviser
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.
Dr. Esther Ngotho
Dr. Seitetsu Kate Farrington (she/her)
Artist-Philosopher
Kate Farrington is an artist and professor of liberal arts and environmental ethics. 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.
Community Development Team Leader
Jennifer Snyder is a member of the Community Development Team for Zen Center North Shore. She received her M.B.A. from Endicott College in Beverly, MA in 2020, where she is currently an Adjunct Professor. Prior to teaching, Jennifer spent many years in leadership positions at marketing software companies helping small business owners and non-profits leverage technology to bring awareness to their businesses and mission. She began her Zen practice in 2023 through Community Zen at the Beverly Public Library and joined Zen Center North Shore for formal practice after seeing the many ways keeping regular practice is helpful. Jennifer serves on the Board of the Beverly Waste Reduction Committee and is passionate about community-building. Since starting practice Jennifer has held various positions within the sangha.
Jennifer Snyder (she, they)
Recovery Support
Jade has been gratefully sober since 2014 and received jukai (lay ordination) in 2023. 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. For questions about, or support in, recovery, she's available via recovery@zencenternorthshore.org
Jade Amy Tyrrell
Ino
Nora is a person of many trades, hobbies, and interests. At the moment these energies are focused on her work with the City of Somerville helping administer grants. She likes that these grants are specifically oriented toward social impact, food justice, and preventative services that run parallel to her commitment to being a lifelong learner and advocate for social and racial justice. In 2017, she received a Bachelor's of Arts from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA in Spanish Literature and Culture as well as Religious Studies. She then received a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 2020 where she explored the historical and spiritual dimensions of identity in transnational adoptees in the U.S. Nora enjoys spending time in Cambridge with her dog, Kaia, and connecting Zen practice with everyday life.