Our resident teacher, Geshe Thubten Sherab, is joined by a team of some thirty FPMT and other teachers, facilitators, and meditation leaders from around the world, these days exclusively via Zoom.
Our Teams
The Buddhist Center, Thubten Norbu Ling, is one of the 160+ organizations affiliated with the FPMT and is a religious nonprofit corporation, registered in New Mexico.
The Executive Director – known in the FPMT organization as the Center Director and appointed by and reports to the center board of directors.
A team of managers, some of whom also serve as officers of the corporation as required by the state of New Mexico, oversee the various departments of the center.
Each department in turn has its own team, some of whom are paid but most of whom are volunteers.
Our four main teams these days are Spiritual Program, which is organizing our curriculum of some 20 classes a week, Hospitality, which has a team of 17 Zoom hosts, and Marketing and Finances.
Director
Nina Highfill
Nina has two decades of international business experience gaining leadership skills honed over her career in the US and Switzerland. She has a passion for tackling big issues by building diverse and harmonious teams where individuals can collaborate, thrive, and have fun together in order to achieve an organization’s goals, which will be an asset for The Buddhist Center and our members. She and her husband, Jeff, have relocated back to the US from Switzerland and currently live in Crestone, CO. Nina plans to grow our center by building community connections, attracting new members, and continuing to offer a robust spiritual program to our global community.
About
Management
Ven. Losang Dondrub
Spritual Program Manager
Ven. Dondrub began studying the Dharma at Drepung Loseling Institute in Atlanta in 2008. He took refuge vows from Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa in 2011 and novice monk ordination vows in 2013. For seven years, Ven. Dondrub served FPMT’s Guhyasamaja Center in Washington DC as spiritual program coordinator and on the board of directors. Since early 2021 he has been working on the spiritual program at The Buddhist Center Thubten Norbu Ling where he also teaches and leads meditation. Recently, Ven. Dondrub moved from Washington DC to Santa Fe to become our new center manager.
AboutMatt Bunkowski
Giving Manager
Matt works in the investment management industry and also co-owns the Wild Birds Unlimited Santa Fe store with his father. Matt joined Thubten Norbu Ling’s board of directors in 2019. He is passionate about community engagement and is actively involved in other non-profits including our sister FPMT center in California, Land of Medicine Buddha, as well Cooking with Kids in Santa Fe, Museum Foundation of New Mexico, and Kalamazoo College.
AboutRick Voltin
Audio / Visual Manager
Isabela Acebal
Marketing Director
Isabela Acebal is a marketing manager, writer, artist, digital nomad, and yoga teacher. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara and has been traveling ever since. Isa loves to explore not only the external world but also various spiritual traditions and the inner workings of human nature.
AboutLinton Alfred
Center Manager
Linton is a lifelong martial art practitioner with over twenty-five years of teaching experience, a retired NYPD Detective, and a traditional healer. He holds several degrees and certificates in Southern Dragon Fist Kung Fu, Wu Tai Chi, Acupuncture, Medical Massage, Traditional Thai Massage, Physical Fitness Training, and Nutrition. Linton moved to Santa Fe a few months ago. He loves the outdoors, the mountains and the fresh air. Linton is a "people person" and he is looking forward to meet each and every member of our community. We are so excited to have him on board and to welcome him in our team as our Center Manager.
AboutOfficers of the Corporation
Nancy Savoia
Secretary
Matt Bunkowski
Treasurer
Ven. Losang Dondrub
Spiritual Program Manager
Board of Directors
Nina Highfill
Nina has two decades of international business experience gaining leadership skills honed over her career in the US and Switzerland. She has a passion for tackling big issues by building diverse and harmonious teams where individuals can collaborate, thrive, and have fun together in order to achieve an organization’s goals, which will be an asset for The Buddhist Center and our members. She and her husband, Jeff, have relocated back to the US from Switzerland and currently live in Crestone, CO. Nina plans to grow our center by building community connections, attracting new members, and continuing to offer a robust spiritual program to our global community.
AboutMatt Bunkowski
Matt works in the investment management industry and also co-owns the Wild Birds Unlimited Santa Fe store with his father. Matt joined Thubten Norbu Ling’s board of directors in 2019. He is passionate about community engagement and is actively involved in other non-profits including our sister FPMT center in California, Land of Medicine Buddha, as well Cooking with Kids in Santa Fe, Museum Foundation of New Mexico, and Kalamazoo College.
AboutCharlene Wunderlich
Charlene has been an active volunteer and member at our center since 2007, after attending her first teaching with Ven. Robina Courtin. Charlene has served as the Dharma shop manager, the Sunday morning meditation leader, and umdze for Geshe Sherab’s classes on Sundays. She has served on our board of directors since 2007. Charlene and her cat, Snow, regularly attend lots of classes at our center.
AboutVen. Losang Dondrub
Ven. Dondrub began studying the Dharma at Drepung Loseling Institute in Atlanta in 2008. He took refuge vows from Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa in 2011 and novice monk ordination vows in 2013. For seven years, Ven. Dondrub served FPMT’s Guhyasamaja Center in Washington DC as spiritual program coordinator and on the board of directors. Since early 2021 he has been working on the spiritual program at The Buddhist Center Thubten Norbu Ling where he also teaches and leads meditation. Recently, Ven. Dondrub moved from Washington DC to Santa Fe to become our new center manager.
AboutAdditional Team Members
Ajna Seret
Teacher Care
Christopher Harris
Teacher Care
Dawn Furlong
Puja Set Up and Teacher Care
Coral Clark
Grounds Manager
Doris Tattrie
Social Media
Lauren Ross
Systems Manager
Vacant
Cafe Manager
Mary Camille
Zoom Host
Anna Wa Thea
Zoom Host
Heather Fox
Zoom Host
John Ballantyne
Zoom Host
Gregg Duong
Zoom Host
Louis DeSantis
Zoom Host
Xela Thomas
Zoom Host Coordinator
We would also like to thank our shyer team members not pictured:
Janice Gorman, Teacher Care
Jolana Janisova, Bookkeeping
Mary M, Zoom Host
Stephen Azuma, Zoom Host
Som Pourfarzaneh, Zoom Host