AZC Board of Directors
Mission Statement
Austin Zen Center, Zenkeiji Temple, is dedicated to providing Zen Buddhist practice, training and teaching to all who wish to participate. We will make accessible and embody practices reflecting the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. Austin Zen Center follows the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center.
Current Board of Directors
The work of the board is to determine the mission of AZC; select and support the Head Teacher or Abbot; support the staff; engage in strategic planning; oversee AZC's budget and programs; protect our organization's assets; assist with fundraising; and ensure AZC's legal and ethical integrity.
The board values your feedback about our practice community. If you would like to share a concern or a delight, please feel free to contact Pat Yingt or Rudi Miller using the "board liaison" link below, next to their names.
- Shirley Gamble, since December, 2010
- Jack Hohengarten, (bio) since October, 2009
- Betty Holmes, (bio) since March, 2010
- Vickie Schubert, (bio) since March, 2013
- Patty Speier, (bio)
- Eric Travis, (bio) since March, 2013
- Kosho McCall (bio)
Jack Hohengarten became interested in finding a Buddhist community where he could learn more about the Dharma and begin to practice after reading such books as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind and What the Buddha Taught. He has been practicing at the Austin Zen Center for three years. He joined the Board in 2009 to help ensure that AZC continues to be a resource for those who wish to explore these vital, ancient teachings. Jack attended the University of Texas as both an undergraduate and graduate student, and has lived in Austin for nearly thirty years. He is an administrative lawyer at the Texas Attorney General's office. He is married to Nancy Hohengarten. They have two sons, Will and Matthew.
Jack chairs the Governance Committee.
Betty Holmes has been a devoted practitioner of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism for over 15 years. She served on the founding board of AZC and was instrumental in the founding of the Houston Zen Center. In 1997, she created Tenzo, a Buddhist retreat center in the Texas Hill Country where meditation retreats and teachings were offered. It was there in 1998 she met her Zen teacher, Reb Anderson. A psychotherapist by profession, Betty integrates the Internal Family Systems model with Buddhist wisdom and compassion practices in her work with clients. As a member of the AZC board, Betty is committed to sustaining the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in Austin and to embodying kindness. She lives with her husband, Frederick Bryan, and her teenaged son, John.
Patricia Speier, DMin, is Executive Director of the Seton Cove. She is a spiritual director, teacher, and retreat facilitator who specializes in the use of literature and writing for spiritual growth and ethical development. She is passionate about the connection between Spirituality and Leadership and has developed a year long intensive for leaders in all fields (business, medicine, law, religion, non-profit) which is now in its eighth year. Speier is a 2008 DMin graduate of Perkins School of Theology and a graduate of the Episcopal Theological Seminary. She has studied spirituality at the Pecos Benedictine Monastery in New Mexico and Integral Spirituality with Ken Wilber. She has also practiced Big Mind work with Genpo Merzel Roshi. She is an Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministries at the Seminary of the Southwest.
Eric Travis was sure he would like to join a sangha some day after many years of reading about Buddhism. He began sitting at the Austin Zen Center in 2008 and received the bodhisattva precepts in December 2012. Eric has worked as a librarian at various locations within the Austin Public Library system since 1991. He is married to Vivien Addison, who is also a librarian. They have a daughter, Ariel, and a son, Severin, who are now adults and do not show any signs of becoming librarians. Eric has lived nearly all of his adult life in Austin and grew up in San Antonio, Texas.
Kosho McCall is Teacher and Head Priest of Austin Zen Center. Originally from Maine, Kosho practiced at San Francisco Zen Center for 20 years. He trained for 12 of those years at Tassajara Zen Mountain monastery where he became Head of Monastic Practice. Kosho received Dharma Transmission (authorization to teach) from Zenkei Hartman Roshi in 2003 and became Teacher at Austin Zen Center in May of 2009.
Kosho is an ex-officio member of the board and of all AZC committees.
Interested in either starting or deepening your Zen practice in a residential setting with others? Our Guest Practice program is a short term opportunity (one to four weeks) that includes meditation, study, work practice and discussions with other practitioners about Zen Buddhism.
