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Additional information

Key Staff and Departments of International Office

 

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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