Who We Are
The Team
Kaira Jewel Lingo
Kaira Jewel is a Black and biracial meditation and mindfulness teacher with a lifelong interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice. She grew up in Chicago and Nairobi and after earning a MA in Anthropology and Social Sciences, at the age of twenty-five she entered a Buddhist monastery in the Plum Village tradition and spent fifteen years living as a nun under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She received Lamp Transmission and became a Zen teacher in 2007, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Today she sees her work as a continuation of the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh as well as the work of her parents, inspired by their stories and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King Jr. on desegregating the South. In addition to writing We Were Made for These Times: Skilfully Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption, she is also the editor of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children. Now based in New York, she teaches and leads retreats internationally, provides spiritual mentoring, and interweaves art, play, nature, racial and earth justice, and embodied mindfulness practice in her teaching. She especially feels called to share the Dharma with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, as well as activists, educators, youth, artists, and families. Visit kairajewel.com to learn more.
Dr. Marisela Gomez
Marisela is a founding member of VOLAR and mindfulness practitioner in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing, public health scholar-activist, preventive/alternative medicine physician. Of Afro-Latina ancestry, she lives in Baltimore involved in social justice activism and community building/research, and co-facilitates mindfulness gatherings with Baltimore and Beyond Mindfulness Community for BIPOC and Social Activists. She is the author of Race, Class, Power and Organizing in East Baltimore, and numerous book chapters in popular and scholarly publications. She has blogged at HuffPost and mariselabgomez.com on the intersection of wisdom, justice, and mindfulness.
Vivien Qiao, Fellowship and Administrative Coordinator
Vivien is a senior at Smith College studying Biochemistry and Engineering. She is working towards becoming a physician-scientist with a specific interest in targeted therapy for cancer. Vivien is passionate about helping others become their best self to create maximum change in the world. She also loves working with kids and getting them interested in STEM. Her hobbies include doing puzzles, finding new food places to try, and going on outdoor walks. As the administrative coordinator, Vivien created the BYJaH website and is now in charge of managing the fellowship curriculum.
Asmae Lichir, Fellowship and Finance Coordinator
Asmae is a senior at Smith College who double majors in biology and pre-medicine. She concentrates on community engagement and social change. Her career aspiration is to work in underserved areas as a Women Health-Oncology provider. She is passionate about changing the world and achieving global healthcare equality. She founded PathopacketTM and is working toward becoming its CEO. She is a mother to a 6-year-old child who is her inspiration. Through BYJaH, “I have grown to feel that social justice and healing came from individuals who invested the time to effect change and encourages others to do the same”.
Nancy Jimenez Zigler
Nancy is the Assistant Director of the Jandon Center of Community Engagement at Smith College. Nancy was born the year of the dragon, deep in the heart of Texas. Here are a few of her favorite things: Houston skies, glitter, avocados, Pluto, pizza, angora bunnies, and magic. She enjoys reading, scrapbooking, and writing stories. She received degrees in finance and chemistry from Texas A&M, and a Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Pittsburgh. In the past, she has worked for Union Pacific Railroad, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and several energy corporations. Today, she leads students, staff, and faculty on social change projects (follow along @jccesmith). She is most inspired by her beautiful son, the work of James Baldwin, and her legacy as a first-generation Mexican-American. She can usually be found dreaming away in Westfield, MA.
Spiritual Activists Who Inspire Our Work
“Mindfulness must be engaged. Once we see that something needs to be done, we must take action. Seeing and action go together. Otherwise, what is the point in seeing?”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of ‘critical mass.’ It’s always about critical connections.”
Grace Lee Boggs
“When we engage love as action, you can’t act without connecting. I often think of that phrase, only connect.”
bell hooks
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde
“Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”
Dolores Huerta