MEET OUR FACULTY
Blending unique expertise in Zen, leadership, and leadership development
Our faculty has been there: In the leadership trenches making big things happen, from building a space station, to getting cities and healthcare systems working for more people, to helping people face the most difficult situations of their lives. We’ve been developing leaders and training in Zen, from several years to several decades, and we put all that together in our commitment to help you stretch as far as you want to go.
Our Founder
Ginny Jiko Whitelaw is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Zen Leadership, a Zen Master, scientist, and expert in developing the whole leader.
Read MoreRoshis & Zen Leadership Instructors
Gordon Greene
Roshi, Abbot, Chosei Zen, Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin
Gordon Hakuun Greene is the Abbot of Chosei Zen, a Rinzai Zen Buddhist training organization headquartered in Madison, WI, and the Head Priest of Spring Green Dojo, its rural training center.
Kenneth Kushner
Roshi
Kenneth Setsuzan Kushner is a priest and Zen Master in the lineage of Tenshin Tanouye Roshi, Founding Abbot of Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple. Kushner Roshi founded the Chosei Zen Dojo of Wisconsin in 1982 and is the principal instructor in the Madison Dojo.
Patricia Greene
Roshi
One of the delights of training at the Spring Green Dojo is eating a meal cooked by Pat Greene, who serves as tenzo (temple cook). She began her Zen and martial arts training in 1975 and, in 2006, moved to Wisconsin with her family to help start the Spring Green Dojo, the rural training center for Chosei Zen.
Scott Kiel
Roshi
Scott Kiel started his formal Zen training in 2006 under Greene Roshi. He teaches and serves as jiki in the Institute for Zen Leadership programs.
Rebecca Ryan
Roshi, Zen and ZL Instructor
Rebecca Ryan is a futurist and economist who helps public sector leaders “lead fearlessly”. She’s a ZL instructor and has served previously as Board chair of the Institute for Zen Leadership
Andy Robins
Roshi and ZL Instructor & Coach
An executive coach, former businessman, and ex-Royal Navy field gunner, Andy Robins felt like he was coming home as he experienced his first IZL program in 2013 at the Spring Green Dojo. He became pivotal in expanding Zen Leadership to Europe and Asia and is now growing Zen and Zen Leadership training in the UK where he lives with his family.
Dennis Tirman
ZL Instructor & Coach
Dennis began Zen training 7 years ago and is an instructor in Zen Leadership. Active in the Institute for Zen Leadership (IZL) from its start, Dennis has co-taught in several IZL programs, and has trained in Zen sesshin and BodyZen.
Cris Nakano
Director In Europe and ZL Instructor & Coach
Cris is a strategist, coach and facilitator, passionate about helping develop more inclusive, engaging and “on-purpose” leaders and organizations, where people can be their best selves at work and live meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Bob Caron
Education Consultant, Deloitte, IZL Instructor & Coach
Dr. Bob Caron is a certified instructor of Zen Leadership and a FEBI Certified Coach. He brings a dynamic and caring presence to the team and seeks to guide leaders, entrepreneurs and anyone trying to make a difference in the world toward their true purpose and passion.
Heal & Zen Instructors
Cindy Haq, MD
HEAL Instructor, Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, University of CA, Irvine
Cindy Haq, MD, is Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. She has been a champion for health equity, primary health care, community health and family medicine throughout her career.
Bethany Howlett, MD
HEAL Instructor
Bethany Howlett, MD, MHS is an Associate Professor in the UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH). She is on the Board of Directors for Chosei Zen Dojo of Wisconsin.
Adrienne Hampton, MD
Zen and HEAL Instructor
Adrienne Hampton, MD is Integrative Medicine residency curriculum director at the University of Wisconsin Madison Family Medicine Residency. She provides a patient-centered blend of Integrative and Allopathic primary care, as well as Integrative Medicine consultations with a focus on one on one therapeutic yoga and meditation. Adrienne is an ordained priest and instructor in the Chosei lineage of Zen.
Alex Greene
Zen Instructor
Alex Greene is a long-time Zen practitioner and Zen priest in the lineage of Tenshin Tanouye Roshi, Founding Abbot of Chozen-ji a Rinzai Zen Temple. He has been a core part of building the Spring Green location of Chosei Zen Dojo of Wisconsin and has taught in numerous IZL programs in the US and UK.
Geoffrey Ashton
Roshi
Professor Geoffrey Ashton is an Associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of San Francisco.