Board of Directors

The Florida Community of Mindfulness (FCM) Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the management and affairs of FCM. This responsibility includes working with our Dharma Teacher Fred Eppsteiner to develop and oversee the realization of FCM's mission and vision; overseeing FCM's fiscal health and well-being; approving fund raising goals and campaigns; conducting strategic planning; overseeing organizational dervelopment; setting policies; formally appointing FCM's Dharma Teacher and Executive Director; and ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Board members serve three year terms and are elected at an annual meeting of the Board to serve staggered terms. Any FCM member who is interested in serving on the Board is encouraged to contact the current Board President.

Betsy Arizu, MA has worked in public education for 18 years as a school counselor and high school teacher. In her counseling practice she incorporates mindfulness to promote social/emotional well-being, stress reduction, settling the mind before high stakes testing, and mindful creativity in art. Through the Mindfulness Institute she teaches introductory classes in mindfulness and meditation, and workshops to help educators integrate the practice of mindfulness into their personal and professional lives.  She is the FCM's Community Care Leader as well as coordinator of the FCM Mindfulness Family Program.

Tammy Klein began practicing mindfulness and meditation in 2011 as a way to manage chronic pain, stress and anxiety. In 2013, she completed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Center for Mindfulness. She began practicing with the Florida Community of Mindfulness in 2013 and is an active member of the Naples sangha. Tammy is an expert on clean fuels and motor vehicles market and policy issues and strategies to reduce air pollution and mitigate climate change, and has worked with governments, and the auto and oil industry, for more than 20 years. 

John McHarris began practicing in the Dharma in 1990, with teacher Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi, at the Zen Center of Syracuse, Hoen-ji. Between the mid 1990's thru 2016, John continued his practice while living overseas in Africa, the Middle-East, Asia, and Europe. During his career as a humanitarian aid worker with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), his focus has been on hunger, food security, and nutrition. In 2010, John had the good fortune to meet his teacher Fred Eppsteiner in Southwest Florida and has since been practicing with Fred and FCM in Naples.

Carol Meyer first came to Dharma practice in 2004 as a student of Cheri Huber and the monks of The Zen Monastery in Murphys, California.  She met Fred Eppsteiner in 2009 when he came to teach a retreat at Southern Dharma Retreat Center, where Carol served as Director for five years.  She felt increasingly drawn to Fred as her teacher and joined Florida Community of Mindfulness in 2011 while still living in Hot Springs, NC. Carol served for 15 years as a Unitarian Universalist parish minister and completed two previous careers—first as an academic chemist and then as a designer of technical training programs.

Nancy Natilson, Board Treasurer, has been a student of the Dharma since 2002, and a member of the Florida Community of Mindfulness since 2005. She was ordained in the Order of Interbeing in 2011 and currently  serves as leader of FCM's Mindfulness Institute. Nancy is a semi-retired international development consultant, specializing in microfinance and reproductive health. She is also on the Board of Global Doctors for Choice and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.  She and her husband, Andrew Rock reside in Seminole Heights in Tampa and spend the summer and fall in Nova Scotia. 

Charner Reese, Board Secretary, began practicing meditation and mindfulness in 2010 when she started attending FCM’s Tampa Sangha meetings. For 30 years, Charner worked for Hillsborough County, primarily as an environmental planner, retiring in 2010. Her interest in serving on the Board is the desire to deepen her commitment to our spiritual community and to offer her time and any skills she has in a way that would benefit the community. Charner has used her knowledge and experience in gardening to guide and work with other members to care for FCM’s lovely outdoor meditation gardens.

Jacqulyn Schuett stepped on the Path of Dharma in 1999 when she visited Plum Village for her first retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh. The sign at the entrance, you have arrived, foreshadowed the sense of home she felt in the intimate environment of this small retreat. Her study with Fred Eppsteiner, through retreats and intensive studies, began shortly thereafter.  She was ordained into the Order of Interbeing (OI) in 2015 and currently serves on FCM’s OI Council and provides support for both the Tampa Practice Center and the St. Petersburg Sangha.