Nena vS Thurman
Executive Chairwoman
Nena is the Executive Chairwoman of Tibet House US and Menla. She has been married to Robert Thurman for over 50 years, and together they have raised four children, including Tibet House US Executive Director Ganden Thurman and renowned actress Uma Thurman. She was a successful...
Michael G. Burbank
Executive Director
Michael has been a student of Robert Thurman and HH the XIV Dalai Lama for 25 years, since his undergraduate years studying Eastern religions and cultures at Columbia University in the 90s. In early 2002 he was invited to help the Thurmans start up the newly acquired Menla retrea...
Lynn Schauwecker
Managing Director
With an extensive fundraising and marketing background, Lynn began working for Tibet House US in 1999 in Development as well as heading up the Annual Tibet House US Benefit Auction. In 2004 she organized the Global Women’s Gathering at Menla which initiated the International Co...
Amber Hallinan
General Manager
With over Fifteen years experience in the hospitality industry, Amber joined Menla’s Front of House team in August of 2015 after wanting to shift out of restaurant management onto a path that aligned with her spiritual goals and life interests. She became Front of House Ma...
Pamela Kalechofsky
Group Booking Manager
Pamela joins the Menla administrative team with an extensive background in arts administration, education, and movement. She is an RYT-500 certified yoga instructor, dance educator, and choreographer. In addition, she offers several modalities to assist in healing, including Reik...
Alicia Ojeda
Executive Chef
Originally from Los Angeles, Chef Alicia grew up surrounded by the rich cultural and culinary heritage of her Mexican family. She is classically-trained in the culinary arts with a career spanning more than 25 years. Among the many roles she has played professionally, she has alw...
Golriz Jahangiri
Spa Manager
Golriz has over five years of teaching and managerial experiences in ashrams, holistic retreat centers, and yoga studios in New York City, Upstate New York and Chicago. She is a certified 500 HR RYT teacher and an advanced Pranic (Energy) healing and Shamanic practitioner. Her pa...
Issis Orrego
Front of House Manager
Issis joined the Menla team as a seasonal staff member in early 2015, after having worked in hospitality for several years including Student Residential Services at University and work at other local establishments in the Hudson Valley. In 2018 she joined the Front Desk team and ...
David Giangreco
Facilities Manager
Born and raised on Long Island, David has built his career on hard work and attention to detail. Working on projects ranging from multi-million dollar estates to his own home, his focus is on preserving the beauty of historic Americana elements of the Hudson valley. David joined ...
Adam Foizen
Events & Production Manager
Adam is a man of many talents. He received an AAS from the Community College of Philadelphia as a non-traditional student and received an all-state academic honor which included a scholarship to any state school in the PASSHE system. He received his BA from West Chester Universit...
Justin Stone-Diaz
Director of New Media
Justin Stone-Diaz is a first generation digital native working with online communities creating inclusive content since 1984. A long time student of Lama Karma Rinchen and Anam Thubten Rinpoche, Justin has worked as a digital personal assistant to Sharon Salzberg, Gelek Rimpoche ...
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