Vipassana Hawai’i- mindfulness meditation, compassion, and giving for the modern world

Vipassana Hawai'i Board of Directors

Board of Directors - Trent Cornell Trent Cornell, President
Trent Cornell is a practicing clinical psychologist and has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1980. His particular interest in the practice lies in the integration of spiritual practice and everyday psychological life, especially the relationship between authentic human connection and spiritual development. He lives in Carmel, California with his physician wife and twin eight-year old boys.

Board of Directors - Steven Smith Steven Smith
Steven co-founded Vipassana Hawai'i in 1984 and in 1995 founded the MettaDana Project for educational and medical projects in Burma. Also in 1995 Steven helped establish the Kyaswa Valley Retreat Center in Burma, headed by Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Abbot of Kyaswa Monastery. His long term vision for preserving the Dhamma is culminating in the beginnings of the Hawai'i Insight Meditation Center (HIMC) on the Big Island of Hawai'i's remote North Kohala coast.

Board of Directors - Michele McDonald Michele McDonald
Michele co-founded Vipassana Hawai'i in 1984 with Steven Smith. She has taught Insight meditation for over twenty-five years. Beyond her commitment to the Vipassana Hawai'i Sangha, she teaches extensively throughout the United States, in Canada, Burma, and various locations around the world. Michele has been a quiet pioneer having being the first woman to teach a formal retreat in Burma, side-by-side with a senior monastic figure, Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Abbot of Kyaswa Monastery.