Board of Directors

Brian Lesage

Guiding Teacher

Brian Lesage has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1988 and has taught meditation since 2000. He has studied in the Zen, Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism. He was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996. His training in Vipassana Meditation includes doing extended meditation retreats in Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, and India as well as numerous retreats in the U.S. He leads retreats and teaches meditation courses nationwide. Brian also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing, which is a naturalistic approach to healing trauma. You can also visit his website for Somatic Experiencing at: www.liberatingawareness.com

Sarah Hsia

PRESIDENT

Sarah Hsia has been practicing Buddhism for four decades starting with Vipassana and then Zen traditions with Thich Nhat Hanh and others. Her most fruitful arena of practice has been in the work setting.  She has worked as an emergency physician for three decades, most of that time in Flagstaff, Arizona and feels deep gratitude for her rich encounters with all walks of human life inclusive of class, gender and race.  She is currently engaged with holding space for an Asian American Affinity Group, developing a curriculum for a local Children’s Sangha and is enrolled in the Chaplaincy program at Upaya Zen Center with Roshi Joan Halifax.

Laura LaBranche

Vice President

Laura has been meditating since the late sixties primarily on her own in the Zen tradition; in 2005 she began following the Tibetan and Theravada traditions. She arrived in Flagstaff in 1993 and in 2014 she found FIMC. In 2016 she joined the guiding council. She is a retired Physical Therapist having had a fulfilling career with the U.S. Public Health Service. Her hobbies include: fly fishing, skiing, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, sewing, and cooking. From a young age she has participated in various martial arts (Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and Aikido). While living in Flagstaff she obtained her private pilot license and enjoyed many years of flying in the area.

Leslie McLean

Treasurer

I was introduced to Insight Meditation and the teachings of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. I first traveled to Thailand in 2000 and was introduced to Theravada Buddhism and, more specifically, the teachings of Thich Naht Hanh. I began practicing and sitting at the Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community in early 2016 and joined the Board of Directors in June of 2017. In 1994 I moved from the east coast to the southwest to live and work on the Navajo reservation. After graduating from law school in 2006, I moved to Flagstaff with my two sons to begin practicing law and continue practicing parenting. I find comfort in hiking and practicing yoga.

Allen B. Atkins

Allen moved to Flagstaff in 1998 to work at Northern Arizona University (NAU) as a professor of Finance. He has been interested in meditation since first learning Transcendental Meditation (TM) in college. After college, in 1978, he was introduced to Vipassana and it has been his main practice ever since. He sits a retreat of at least a week or so almost every year. He sat the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) three month retreat three times and in 2000-2001 took a leave of absence from work to spend the year practicing at IMS and in Burma, Thailand and India. Allen taught yoga and meditation in Texas from 1979-1983. He has been teaching a six-week beginning Vipassana course each semester at NAU since 1999. The course is currently being taught with Cathy Small. His other main hobbies include music, singing and cycling.

Kvann Smith

Ya'ateeh' shi ei Kvann Smith yiniishye'; Toodiichiinii nishlii; Tootsohnii daa shi chei, dii ghii ateegoo azsdgaanii nishliii. (All is well and good, my name is Kvann Smith.  My maternal clan is Bitterwater and my maternal grandfathers are Bigwater clans, this is the woman I am.) From this most sacred place; the precious foothills of our most sacred Dookoosliid and upon the sacred living and breathing ancestral lands of so many beautiful and vibrant indigenous relatives, I am honored and happy to be asked serve FIMC as a board member. After a 25 year career right here in Kinlanii and Coconino County, I retired in January 2018 and decided to therapeutically and spiritually "return to my body, mind and spirit" by attending massage school.  It was just the medicine I needed in every way imaginable.  I graduated as a licensed massage therapist from ASIS in downtown Kinlanii, October 2018. It is my great honor and blessing to serve humanity in this manner. My first language is Dine’. I am proud to serve my people by interpreting in the court system, as well. I am an avid hiker of these sacred lands with my dog, Buddy Redbow.  I LOVE retirement and meditation, reading many different kinds of books and drinking local coffee is my pure delight.  I come to this new request with an open mind in honesty and willingness to learn from you, my relatives, to share some positive breathes and moments to exchange our healing energies.  Aho' doo Axhe'he', Kvann Smith