Howard Cohn, Guiding Teacher

Howie has led the Mission Dharma sitting group in San Francisco for over 30 years. He has practiced meditation since 1972, has led vipassana retreats since 1985, and is a senior teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Howie has studied with many Asian and western teachers of several traditions, including Theravada, Zen, Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta, and has been strongly influenced by contact with the Indian master H.W.L. Poonja. Howie is known by his students for his kindheartedness and warm sense of humor.


​​Mary Davis, President

Mary fell in love with meditation in 1997 and has practiced and studied in Tibetan traditions before coming to Insight Meditation ten years ago. She is one of three co-leaders of Insight Richmond, weekly sangha in her hometown of Richmond. In addition, she graduated from Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leader program 2017, and has taught beginning meditation classes at Mission Dharma. Mary has taken the lead in bringing mindfulness classes and sitting groups for staff and physicians at Kaiser San Francisco, where she works as an administrative manager.   

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                                                                       Dan Petrie, Vice-President

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Dan has been practicing meditation and Buddhism in a number of lineages including Vipassana since 2010. He's been a regular at Mission Dharma since 2014, and has made it his home sangha. Most recently he completed UCLA's Training in Mindfulness Facilitation (TMF) through the Mindful Awareness Research Center overseen by Dr. Dan Siegel & Diana Winston. Dan enjoys cycling, cooking, and weekend getaways into the wilderness. 

Katherine Janes, Treasurer

Katherine has been practicing various types of mediation since 2006, and has been a part of the Mission Dharma community since 2011.  She also volunteers with environmental nonprofits in the Bay Area.  Katherine enjoys spending time in nature while hiking and camping and likes to practice meditating while running marathons.

Ken Barnes

Ken was introduced to meditation 8 years ago, and since that time has had a daily practice, deepening his understanding of the path leading to liberation. His chosen tradition is Theravada, with the addition of some studies in Dzogchen. Ken has been a member of Mission Dharma for 7 years, with Howie as his several-year guiding teacher. He has attended numerous residential retreats, and is now a member of the current two-year cohort of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner Program. He is teaching in the Introduction to Meditation classes of Mission Dharma. For many years a social justice advocate, he is currently active in a coalition of community organizations around the issue of equitable health care. He is honored to be a new member of the Mission Dharma Board and looks forward to serving the sangha and the wider Buddhist community.

​Noemi Sohn

Noemi has been part of the Mission Dharma sangha for almost nine years and Howard Cohn is her primary dharma teacher. She has studied Zen and Tibetan Buddhism.  However she is most nurtured in the Theravada/Vipassana tradition. Noemi has been to several residential retreats and practices in the dharma everyday. She has devoted her life to working for social justice, working in racial equality, ending violence against women and disability rights. Sometimes she’s a poet.