Holly Gayley, Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a scholar and translator of contemporary Buddhist literature in Tibet and Himalaya. Her research areas include gender and sexuality in Buddhist tantra, ethical reform in contemporary Tibet, and theorizing translation, both literary and cultural, in the transmission of Buddhist teachings to North America. Gayley is author of Love Letters from Golok: A Tantric Couple in Modern Tibet(Columbia University Press, 2016),

Ms. Corinne Cassini, an accomplished Alexander Technique (AT) teacher and cellist, currently serves as a senior lecturer of AT in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University. Certified by both the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) and Alexander Technique International (ATI), she actively participates in professional meetings and international congresses. She is also a Registered Somatic Movement Educator with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA).

Jimena is a Colombian designer and Fulbright scholar. Jimena has 17 years experience as an industrial designer and entrepreneur. She is passionate about designing for persons with disabilities, fashion prosthetics, human factors, sustainability, human center creative processes, meditation and ritual. Having been born without her right hand drove these passions in her mind and brought value to experiences and business strategies of sustainability and inclusive practices.  With an integral scope of human-object relationship, she specializes in solving design problems related to well-being and inclusiveness.

Matt Lentz is an artist, Buddhist meditation instructor, and group facilitator now living in Boone, NC.

He has been a student of Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche since 2002 and led the Chicago Padmasambhava Buddhist Center for 11 years. He also helped lead Speak Up Chicago with his wife, Aarti Tejuja, out of the Chicago Shambhala Center. Speak Up Chicago was a youth-led arts and mindfulness group for young people living in impoverished neighborhoods in the area. Between these two, Matt has been a foster parent, mentor, retreat organizer and leader, meditation and Vajrayana practice instructor, circle keeper, space holder, listener and friend to the many people he met through these organizations.   

Matt has also co-written, recorded, and released six physical recordings from three bands. His understanding of how to work with group dynamics and inside of healthy communities stems from these experiences. The punk DIY ethos and experimental freedom he learned from the Chicago music scene continues to inform how he approaches creative and collaborative projects to this day.

In 2017, Matt developed an unknown chronic illness which stalled his search for a publisher for his completed novel, The Silver Spike and The Unbreakable Bell. Two years later, he was diagnosed with a rare and poorly understood condition called Functional Neurological Disorder. With no road map on how to navigate this disorder, Matt charted his own course through therapists and other healers, sometimes developing his own interventions based on what he had learned and observed about his condition.

As movement issues and motor planning are central issues with FND, Matt studied Aikido and attained the rank of 3rd kyu while training with Dianne Costanzo Sensei. He credits Aikido and Costanzo Sensei for providing him with a safe haven during his recovery. His experiences battling FND inside of the medical system also gave him a personal understanding of how people can be ignored and pushed out of systems that are meant to support them.

While still battling seizures, falls, and fatigue, Matt has recovered a significant portion of his health. Today, he lives in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, still practicing Aikido and giving occasional Buddhist instruction at the Whispering Waters Sangha. An interest in the possibilities of embroidery for non-representative expression has led him to the Nth Gallery in Boone where he participates as a fledgling member. An appreciation for the nature around him informs all three of these practices.

Matt continues to work in the construction management industry and is a board member of both the Antara Facilitators Network and the Moya Intentional Living Community. Through these activities, he hopes to help establish long-lasting communities centered on contemplative living and transformative justice practices.