Companions in Practice

Meet OurFacilitators

Our facilitators are practitioners who support students on their journey by holding space for connection, practice, and the shared exploration of the teachings.

Jessica Larson

Director of Education and Programming

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Edomyas Solomon

Director of the Compassion in Action® Fellows Program

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Emily Ballentine

Community Engagement and Programming Specialist

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Rachel Ashley

Program and Curriculum Specialist

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Eliza Bishop

Yoga Teacher and Guest

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Jessica Larson

Director of Education and Programming

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.

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Edomyas Solomon

Director of the Compassion in Action® Fellows Program

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.

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Emily Ballentine

Community Engagement and Programming Specialist

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.

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Rachel Ashley

Program and Curriculum Specialist

Rachel has been engaged with Buddhism for most of her adult life. Her exposure to this tradition began as a teenager with her mother, who would continually invite her to attend Buddhist retreats. Rachel finally attended her first Loving Kindness retreat in the Theravada tradition in Taos, NM. From there forward, Rachel continued to practice and study the Dharma and attend yearly retreats, mostly focused on the Four Immeasurables.
In 2016, she was introduced to Namchak through a dear friend and began diving into Vajrayana Buddhism. She began serving on Namchak’s Community Advisory Board, and a few years later, began working for Namchak full-time as the Community Steward. Before her work with Namchak, she served as an educator in various settings for over 15 years with elementary through college-aged students, teaching English, Language Arts, dance, mindfulness, and meditation. She holds both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education, as well as certification and training in various mindfulness, dance, yoga, and meditation forms.
Since her involvement with Namchak, Rachel has been studying and practicing under the direct guidance of Lama Tsomo, Namchak Khen Rinpoche, Jetsunma Jamyang Yeshe Palmo, and other Nyingma teachers, predominantly Yeshe Dawa (Amita Lhamo). With the request and blessings of Lama Tsomo, Rachel now helps to develop, support, and facilitate some of Namchak’s entry-level courses, programs, and retreats. Rachel is devoted to the Vajrayana path and loves to share the Dharma with others.

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Eliza Bishop

Yoga Teacher and Guest

Eliza was introduced to yoga in 2002 while completing her academic degrees at Carnegie Mellon and Oxford Universities. Grateful for the relief from chronic back pain, Eliza grew to appreciate the insight yoga offers into the connections between physical, mental, and emotional patterns and its value as a tool for developing the mind. This made her ripe to begin her formal Buddhist path in 2007, which led her to study for years in India, Nepal, and Europe with numerous teachers, primarily His Holiness the Sakya Trinzin the 41 st, and Her Eminence Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding Rinpoche.

At present, she has done years of cumulative meditation retreat and is an authorized Kum Nye Facilitator via the Nyingma Institute. She is also an internationally certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor. Eliza is the copyeditor and proofreader for the Namchak Translation Committee, and she is grateful, beyond words, to be connected to Gochen Tulku Sangnak Rinpoche and his vast vision.

As a Kum Nye facilitator, her focus is on the inner healing and greater well-being that naturally occurs by expanding one’s ability to be fully embodied and present. She says, “Kum Nye is like magic you put into your body that unfolds through time.”

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