Jessica (she/her) serves as the Director of Education and Programming at the Namchak Foundation. She is passionate about sharing Tibetan Buddhist practices and wisdom in accessible, engaging, and community-rooted ways. A dedicated practitioner, Jessica finds joy and grounding in meditation and meaningful connection with others.

Throughout her career, she has worked with mission-driven nonprofits and is especially energized by helping individuals and organizations craft vision-based, action-oriented strategies. Her compassionate, practical, and community-centered facilitation style reflects her values of inclusion and connection.

Edomyas Solomon is also a co-founder and member of the Enlivened Cooperative, an eco-social for-impact organization offering relevant, meaningful and innovative learning experiences. Over the past five years, he has also been an active and contributing member of the Ecoversities Alliance of learners and communities reclaiming diverse knowledge systems, relationships, and imaginations to design new approaches to higher education. 

Edomyas has worked in the non-profit and private sectors and, over the past five years, more extensively with youth of all ages in a variety of roles, including directing and managing recreational and academic summer programs, facilitating food justice courses and workshops, and developing curriculum that focuses on wellness and experiential learning. 

Edomyas holds Master’s degrees in Business Administration and in Transpersonal Psychology, with a specialization in Creativity and Innovation.

Edomyas’ lifelong commitment to spiritual reflection, awakening, and transformation was seeded via growing up in a deeply devotional Christian tradition; then finding some rooting in the Gelugpa lineage of Mahayana Tibetan Buddhism in his 20s; and over the past 10 years, flowering through finding deep resonance with the more secular non-dual philosophies and practices inspired and informed by the Indian Advaita Vedanta traditions.

Consequently, touched by love, freedom, and beauty, Edomyas continues to be a willing and joyful instrument for the playful expression of the ineffable through presence and friendship and the art of weaving stories through words, sounds, and images.

Edomyas’ other interests include playing Capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts form and cultural movement; listening to music and occasionally trying to play the trumpet; enjoying nature hikes; and drawing and painting…currently working on an illustrated children’s book focused on ecological regeneration and the power of community in creating sanctuary.  

Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and having lived in various places in the U.S., Edomyas is now based in Berkeley, California.

Emily has been a student of Namchak since 2018. She has enjoyed contributing to many Namchak endeavors over the years, including serving on the Community Advisory Board and assisting in creating the Compassion in Action® Network and Fellows Program.

Now, Emily serves as the Community Engagement and Programming Specialist, supporting students across all Namchak offerings. Prior to her current role with Namchak, Emily worked as a research coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania, conducting clinical research on anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Emily’s passion for mental health led her to Temple University, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Today, she is an enthusiastic practitioner who enjoys cultivating sangha (community) and deepening into Vajrayana wisdom and practice.