FPMT Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The President and CEO is appointed by the Board after consultation with the Spiritual Director, and reports to the Board.  The CEO's main responsibilities are to:

• Ensure that the organization achieves its mission, set forth by the Board as a long range strategy towards which it should make consistent progress
• Provide leadership in developing programs with the department heads and staff, assuring that the plans and policies authorized by the Board and Spiritual Director are carried out
• Develop, in conjunction with the staff, a budget which will be submitted to the Board for approval; see that the organization operates within the budget guidelines

Director of Operations

The Director of Operations reports to the CEO and works closely with the CEO in developing policies and procedures for the FPMT International Office. The Director of Operations implements policy decisions and directives of the CEO and keeps the CEO fully informed of major operational issues that arise within the FPMT International Office and that need to be addressed by the CEO or the Board of Directors.

The Director of Operations is responsible for overall oversight of the FPMT International Office to ensure that all goals are being timely and efficiently met. Additional responsibilities include collecting and compiling monthly reports from department heads for the CEO, monitoring the work and understanding the capabilities of staff in the International Office for the purpose of making recommendations on promotions and compensation, interviewing prospective employees and making recommendations concerning recruitment of new employees.

Executive Assistant to the CEO and Charitable Projects Coordinator

The Executive Assistant to the CEO is appointed by the CEO and works with all the departments of FPMT International Office.  The main objective of this position is to help  with the workload of Ven. Roger Kunsang (assistant to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and CEO of FPMT Inc). This entails:

• Assisting with communications to and from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Roger Kunsang
• Organizing all aspects of personal travel arrangements for Rinpoche and Ven Roger, including flights, visas and health insurance. Working closely with the Center Services Director when the travel is center- related.
• Assisting with all of Rinpoche’s personal correspondence to students.
• Keeping track of Rinpoche's Dharma advice, center-related advice and advice for the organization, working closely with the other departments of International Office and Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive to ensure it is archived, accessible and available whenever necessary.
• Managing all Rinpoche’s personal projects not managed by International Office including Rinpoche’s personal finances.
• FPMT Charitable Project Coordinator – all aspects of project management – providing timely reports, creating and updating project web pages, coordinating and working with the project mangers on the ground. Working with Development Department to fundraise for the FPMT Charitable projects. 

Center Services Department

The Center Services Department maintains the flow of communication within the Foundation and is responsible for supporting staff in the organization in their service to the Spiritual Director and to sentient beings in all areas except the center's education program.  Specifically, the Center Services Department:

• Keeps information flowing between centers, projects, services and the Spiritual Director, the Board of FPMT Inc, regional and national coordinators and team members at International Office;
• Informs centers, projects and services of new advice from the Spiritual Director;
• Archives advice of the Spiritual Director to the organization;
• Coordinates and advises on the Spiritual Director's schedule and visits to centers, projects and services
• Facilitates the Spiritual Director's advice on the appointment of certain center, project and service staff members;
• Helps centers to appoint resident teachers and interpreters;
• Assists regional and national coordinators, directors, spiritual program coordinators, study group coordinators and resident teachers with orientation to their new role;
• Works closely with regional and national coordinators to support centers, projects, services and study groups;
• Facilitates the registration of new FPMT teachers and supports FPMT registered teachers;
• Communicates FPMT policy to centers, and helps them to understand and abide by it;
• Prepares additions to and revisions of the FPMT Handbook with the help of the Board and others as appropriate;
• Develops requested and needed center development guidelines;
• Coordinates the organization of CPMT meetings.

Education Services Department

The Education Services Department manages the development and implementation of FPMT standard program curriculum and study/practice materials.

• Creates new program curriculum as needed by centers in conjunction with senior teachers
• Supports existing curriculum with guidelines, translations, study materials, exams, readings, and completion certificates
• Creates certification criteria for all FPMT standard programs
• Manages the translation of various texts recommended by the Spiritual Director
• Coordinates FPMT Translation and Editorial team in English, and translation coordinators in other languages
• Creates practice texts which complement programs, support student needs, and disseminate the Spiritual Director's advice
• Manages the production of  prayer and practice materials for distribution via the Foundation Store
• Develops and maintains a library of all standard FPMT prayers and practice materials
• Tracks the status of education initiatives that have arisen from FPMT meetings and conferences
• Provides centers with the specific text and practice materials needed for when Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches at that center
• Creates and hosts FPMT Service Trainings for FPMT staff and students

Development Department

The Development Department generates sustainable revenue for International Office operations, develops income-generating activities to support Lama Zopa Rinpoche's projects, and aligns the revenue generation of International Office with its Dharma principles, vision and mission. To this end, promoting organizational accountability, providing careful stewardship of donors and funds, and creating timely, effective communication methods are components of their work to establish long-term financial stability.  The Development Department manages all fundraising campaigns and the Friends of FPMT program.

Finance & Administration Department

The Finance and Administration Department:

• Manages and co-ordinates all aspects of the financial and management accounting functions of  FPMT Inc, to ensure compliance with Federal & State regulations and accounting standards.
• Supervises the charge and custody of all funds of FPMT Inc and is responsible for keeping true and correct accounts of all financial transactions of the corporation including the Foundation restricted funds.
• Works with the auditors in the preparation of the certification of FPMT Inc accounts.
• Assists the CEO and management team to develop and evaluate strategic business plans, prepare and manage budgets, monitor financial results, review and ensure the smooth functioning of the financial/operational procedures.
• Financial reporting for internal and external stakeholders including preparation of monthly financial reports for all project and fund directors and management of external audit and banking relationship interactions.
• Establishes financial practices and procedure and their associated business policies.
• Manages and supervises Administrative and Human Resource functions of International Office including insurances, corporate exemptions, regulations and employee benefits.

Foundation Store

The FPMT Foundation Store provides a vast selection of Buddhist study materials including Prayers & Practices, Homestudy Programs, Dharma Materials for Children, and other FPMT Education Services resources. The main motivation of the Foundation Store is to make the Dharma available in order to benefit sentient beings.

Proceeds from sales through the Foundation Store are carefully categorized and calculated to ensure that income from Dharma items is used to make more Dharma available and to further the charitable mission and projects of FPMT Inc. We carefully follow Buddhist principles for the use of Dharma income and any payments for salaries or food expenses are excluded when calculating the net Dharma proceeds from the Foundation Store.

Mandala Publications

Two FPMT publications fall under the umbrella of Mandala Publications:
- The quarterly print magazine, Mandala
- The website mandalamagazine.org

Mandala arose as a newsmagazine in the 1980s in response to the growth of the FPMT family and has transformed over the years into its current form, a quarterly glossy magazine, which is offered exclusively for members of the Friends of FPMT Program which supports the programs and services of FPMT's International Office. Mandala’s website offers supplemental stories for the print magazine as well as a regularly updated blog, which shares timely news and updates from the worldwide FPMT community as well as features advice from FPMT's Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and new and archive Mandala articles.

Mandala Publications offers articles which present the priceless lineage of teachings offered in the FPMT and how those teachings can be put into practice, for individual practitioners, for centers, projects and services and for the global community. Mandala Publications also seeks to keep the FPMT family connected with each other, informed on the activities of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and engaged with the legacy of its founder, Lama Yeshe.

Technology Department

The Technology Department coordinates all of the technology initiatives at International Office including internal technology infrastructure (network, hardware, desktop) as well as technologies used to support organizational communication, education and development (database, website, email communications, Friends of FPMT program, projects, and online education). The Technology Department works to ensure that the technology used in International Office is fundamentally aligned with the long term vision and mission of FPMT.

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FPMT Inc. – The International Office
1632 SE 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214-4702 USA
Telephone: (503) 808-1588
Fax: (503) 232-0557
Email Us

Directions to the International Office from PDX - Portland Intl Airport Head southeast - go 0.1 mi Continue on NE Airport Way - go 1.1 mi Turn right at NE 82nd Ave - go 2.1 mi Turn right at NE Sandy Blvd - go 4.2 mi Turn left at SE 11th Ave - go 0.8 mi Directions to the International Office from Downtown Portland Head east from SW Madison St Bear left at Hawthorne Brg - go 0.3 mi Bear right onto the ramp to Hawthorne Blvd. - go 0.3 mi Continue on SE Hawthorne Blvd - go 0.3 mi Turn right at SE 11th Ave - go 0.1 mi

FPMT Board of Directors

Members of the Board

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the reincarnation of the great Tibetan Buddhist yogi Kunsang Yeshe, the Lawudo Lama. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, where his predecessor meditated for the last twenty years of his life.

At the age of ten, Rinpoche went to Tibet to study and meditate. The Chinese occupation in 1959 forced him to seek safety in a Tibetan refugee camp in North India.

Rinpoche is now the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Rinpoche teaches Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and practice all over the world and is the author of several popular books.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi was born in Nepal in 1962, Khen Rinpoche joined Kopan Monastery after being ordained by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1974. After 18 years of intensive study and debate in Sera Je Monastery in south India, Khen Rinpoche was awarded the title of Geshe Lharampa, the highest Tibetan Buddhist doctorate conferred in the Gelug monastic tradition.

After completing his education at Sera Je, Khen Rinpoche joined Gyudmed Tantric College for one year where he furthered his studies on tantra. The Gyudmed monastery is one of the two key monastic colleges in the Gelug tradition that specializes in the teachings of Buddhist tantra. Khen Rinpoche again excelled in his studies there and was awarded first position in his class.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi has been the resident teacher of Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore since 1999 and he was appointed as the Abbot of Kopan Monastery and Nunnery in Nepal on 14 July 2011 and joined the FPMT Board of Directors in 2011 .

Venerable Roger Kunsang

Venerable Roger Kunsang became a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan Gelug tradition in 1975 at the age of 26. He has been an active member of FPMT since 1974, continuously serving the FPMT.

For the first seven years of his ordination he lived mainly in Asia where he studied and practiced Buddhism. Following this he was founder, director and resident teacher of the FPMT center Vajrayana Institute in Sydney, Australia for four years. In 1986, Ven Roger became the full-time attendant and secretary to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT's Spiritual Director, and he continues to serve in this position to this day,  being familiar with all aspects of FPMT activity Roger acts as the connection between the Spiritual Director and the various elements of the whole FPMT organization.

Ven Roger Kunsang has been a member of the FPMT Board of Directors since 1989.

In 2005, Ven Roger Kunsang became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FPMT Inc. As CEO, his main responsibilities are to ensure that the organization achieves its mission under the direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and its founder Lama Yeshe.

Venerable Pemba Sherpa

Venerable Pemba Sherpa, was born in 1961 in Khumbu, Eastern Nepal. Venerable Pemba studied and worked for many years at Kopan Monastery in Nepal where he served as Administration Secretary of the Monastery.

Venerable Pemba has worked as an interpreter for several prominent Tibetan Lamas and now works as the Director of Mahayana Buddhist Association in Hong Kong, China. Venerable Pemba teaches classes in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation to a large student base in Hong Kong.

Tenzin Ösel Hita

Tenzin Ösel Hita was born 12 February 1985 in Granada, Spain. Osel was recognized soon after his birth as the reincarnation of Lama Thubten Yeshe – the founder of FPMT, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1987.

As a youth Ösel studied traditional Tibetan subjects at Sera Je Monastery in India, and simultaneously received private tutoring in Western subjects. He later attended St. Michaels University School, a private high school in Victoria, Canada. He then finished 4 years of study as Director of Cinema and Photography. Later he finished a Masters on Documentaries. Currently he lives in Spain.

In 2011 Ösel said:  “Now it is time to return the help that was given me. It is time I returned the kindness. I feel it is time to get involved in the organization more. I want to learn more about everything because I haven’t been keeping up over the last few years. That could take some time. I want to do Dharma studies too, study some more Buddhist philosophy.”

Ösel joined the FPMT Board of Directors in 2010.

Karuna Cayton

Karuna Cayton has studied Buddhist psychology and philosophy for over 25 years. He worked for Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery from 1975-1988. During that time he created and taught the secular studies program for the resident Tibetan and Nepali monks. He also assisted in running the Buddhist programs for foreign visitors and was the co-founder and director of the Himalayan Yogic Institute, a city center in Kathmandu. He has been on the FPMT Board of Directors since 1988. He has been a licensed therapist since 1992.

Karuna is trained as an Executive Coach and has worked with numerous non-profit organizations, businesses, and schools, assisting them in developing collaborative and preeminent entities and having a positive impact both within and outside their organizations. He is presently the director of Karuna Consulting Group, a project of the FPMT designed to transform business leaders and their organizations into preeminent enterprises based upon the Buddhist principles of wisdom, compassion, and ethics.

Andrew Haynes

Andrew Haynes graduated in Systems and Management from City University in London, England. In 1983, Andrew moved to Italy where he studied Buddhist philosophy at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa. From 1986 to 1989 he was Director of the Institute.

In 1990, he returned to London where he pursued careers in local government and software development. Andrew was Chair of the Board of Trustees of Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London for ten years. He currently works as a software developer for a major media and telecoms company. Andrew has extensive experience with the third sector including setting up an educational charity.

Peter Kedge

Peter Kedge graduated and began a career as a design engineer with Rolls Royce Aero Engines in England. From 1980 he was involved in major engineering projects in Asia while owning and managing his business. He now works full time for the Maitreya Project, which he has headed since May 1997.

Timothy J. McNeill

Since 1988 Timothy J. McNeill has been president, CEO, and publisher of Wisdom Publications, an FPMT Center and leading not-for-profit publisher of books focusing on Buddhism. Prior to coming to Wisdom he had been Associate Issues Director for the Dukakis Presidential Campaign and Vice President of International Data Group a leading publisher focused on information technology.

Tim earned a Masters in Public Policy degree from Harvard University in 1979. He first met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Fourth Kopan Course in 1973.

In addition to the FPMT, Tim has served on several corporate and nonprofit boards of directors. He is currently on the board of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC), a major effort to preserve and make available in electronic form the vast library of original Tibetan texts.

Paula de Wijs-Koolkin

Paula de Wijs-Koolkin was born in New York City but has lived with her husband in Amsterdam, Netherlands for more than 30 years. She met Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Nepal in 1972 and organized the first Lam Rim course for Ven. Marcel Bertels in the Netherlands in 1975. This was the beginning of the Maitreya Institute, which was founded in 1979. She also helped to found the Tibetan Affairs Coordination Office, the Dutch Foundation for Tibetan Medicine (NSTG), and the Tibet Support Group. She was the first FPMT European Regional Coordinator, has served on the Boards of the Buddhist Union of the Netherlands, the organizing committees for visits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and in various other functions. She now serves as the director of Maitreya Institute, Amsterdam (Buddhist meditation center) and on the National Board of Maitreya Institute.

Alison Murdoch

Alison Murdoch has been a student of HH The Dalai Lama and Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche since 1987. On graduating from Oxford University she initially worked for Sotheby’s the art auctioneers, and then spent 8 years working with and for street homeless people in the UK. In 1994 she was appointed director of Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, and led the centre through nearly 10 years of development which included purchasing The Old Courthouse, setting up community projects, and raising over a million dollars to renovate the building.

Since 2004 she has been director of Essential Education, an FPMT-affiliated initiative to help people of all cultures and traditions develop their innate capacity for compassion and wisdom. Alison is the author of 16 Guidelines for Life and a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio. In addition to her Buddhist teachers, her heroes include Gandhi, Muhammad Yunus, Jean Vanier, Ram Dass and Peace Pilgrim.

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International Office is the headquarters of the international FPMT organization, coordinating communication between Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the organization, as well as providing support and services to the entire Foundation.

International Office's purpose is to implement the vision, the resolutions, and strategic decisions laid out by the Spiritual Director and the Board of Directors.

FPMT International Office is the office of FPMT Inc., which is the legal entity of International Office.  The terms FPMT Inc. and International Office are interchangeable. International Office is Lama Zopa Rinpoche's office, therefore whenever FPMT Inc. or International Office is mentioned, the guidance of our Spiritual Director is implicit.

	...It [the International Office] is important—to make some sort of communication between the centers and me and to facilitate a learning process among the centers themselves.
–Lama Yeshe

	There is a need for organization in order to be able to help others, to be able to help more sentient beings. As an individual we can't do much. We need to be organized.
–Lama Zopa Rinpoche, USA, April 2006

International Office was known as Central Office until 1996.

Services Provided by International Office

Communication Services

• Collects, archives and transmits advice from the Spiritual Director throughout the organization and to specific centers, projects and individuals.
• Keeps the Spiritual Director and the Board informed of the status of all parts of the FPMT, shares new policy and advice from the Board with the organization.
• Keeps aware of the activities of the different aspects of the organization, being able to share information as helpful and needed.

	...[International Office] can put all the information together and make it known in each different place. ...We exist as we do now through a process of evolution. Some older centers have had good experiences and have learned how to do things well. Doing things is not simply an intellectual exercise but something that comes from acting every day and learning the way to do things until you reach the point where you can do them straight away. Therefore it is good that [International] Office has a pool of this collective experience so that all our centers can share in it and help reinforce each other.
–Lama Yeshe

• Distributes information about the organization via various communication channels, including fpmt.org, Mandala magazine, brochures, and so on.
• Provides information and support when appropriate to organizations and individuals wishing to interact with the FPMT.

Organizational Development

• Promotes and diffuses FPMT Wisdom Culture, which is the way of life and practice originated by the founder and Spiritual Director of the FPMT, throughout the organization.
• In consultation with the Spiritual Director and FPMT teachers develops standard education programs and materials.
• Advises the Board of FPMT Inc about new initiatives and policy which may be needed  and helpful for the organization's development.
• Creates guidelines in response to the needs of the organization.
• Works to fulfill the administrative needs of the organization in order to leave the Spiritual Director free to devote his time to transmitting the Dharma.
  
  

  	...I cannot do everything. Yet you call on me for everything. If you ask me all these things then there is no need for the Central Office. However, my idea when I made the Central Office was that it would be helping me so that I would have more time for Dharma education. You people understand all these modern things. I want my main occupation to be Dharma education. ...Lama Yeshe cannot do everything... that is why I give each center a geshe and an interpreter, a director and administration. That is why I created the Central Office. Do not bring every job to me.
  –Lama Yeshe

• Assists groups or projects considering affiliation with FPMT.

Organizational Support

• Produces texts, curricula and study materials for the different Dharma courses and teachings throughout the Foundation.
• Supports the development and certification of qualified FPMT Dharma teachers.
• Responds to the needs of centers, projects, services and students either directly or by referral to suitable sources of assistance.
• Works with center directors, regional and national coordinators and others to support organizational development and solve problems.
• Creates training workshops for those offering service.
• Provides human resources assistance in appointing suitable teachers, directors and spiritual program coordinators
• Arranges annual long life pujas for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
• Arranges for the pujas and other virtuous activities put in place by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at various monasteries in Nepal and India for the development and harmony of the Foundation. Whenever these pujas are performed, monks read a one-page dedication prepared by Rinpoche, so that the merit is dedicated to removing all obstacles to all the FPMT Dharma activities (including all centers, projects and study groups) and for all students and the benefactors of the Puja Fund.

Implementation of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Projects

• Raises funds for and monitors all the charitable projects introduced by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Manages Lama Zopa Rinpoche's personal donations directed to specific charitable projects

Fund Monitoring

• The Finance Department of International Office monitors funds and trusts dedicated to activities within the Foundation.

International Office Budget and Finances

In dependence upon agreed priorities for the organization's development and support, the different departments in International Office create an annual plan and budget, which requires approval by the Board of Directors of FPMT Inc.

International Office operating expenses are funded through:

• Friends of FPMT Donations
• An administrative fee charged on donations to managed accounts. (As is customary for non-profit organizations, a percentage of all incoming donations is deducted and donated to offset a portion of the administrative expenses of FPMT Inc.  This percentage is decided by the Board and reviewed from time to time.)
• Fundraising
• Profit from the Foundation Store
• Investments Income

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