Board of Directors

Jeffrey Fracher, a long time member of IMCC, is the President of the Board of Directors and chief cat herder, a position that he has held since 2012. He has been a meditator since 1972. Jeff is a retired Clinical and Forensic Psychologist who lives with his wife, Kay, and their rescued Golden Retriever and 15 year old cat. He has two grown sons. Jeff is also a teacher at IMCC. In his spare time, Jeff pursues his interests in music, spending time in nature, and community affairs.

Pat Coffey began his meditation practice over 30 years ago and has taught meditation since 1996. He studied with numerous Asian and Western teachers in the Theravada, Tibetan, and Zen traditions. Pat is founder of IMCC, co-founder of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute, and co-founder of the Blue Ridge Prison Project. Pat was selected and trained as a meditation teacher in the joint teacher training program of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center under the tutelage of Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Down-to- earth, real-world, practical dharma is the hallmark of his teaching. The father of two children, owner of several businesses, and holder of several patents, he draws on his varied and rich life experience to articulate the dharma.

John Conover has been meditating with the IMCC since 2005 and is all the better for it.  He has lived with wife, Virginia Daugherty, in the same house in Downtown Charlottesville for the past forty years, so they find it necessary to travel to look for the change needed to avoid a stagnant mind.  John has been involved in local politics and, most recently, was an attorney at the Legal Aid Justice Center. 

Bill Detmer has been a member of IMCC since 2010 and joined the Board of Directors in 2016. He has a lifelong interest in Buddhism and healing practices, which began as a student in Southeast Asia, carried into training and practice of internal medicine in San Francisco, and continues here in Charlottesville with programs that teach mindfulness for health, well-being, and workplace harmony.  Bill and his wife Angeline Lillard are the parents of two daughters who are currently exploring big city living in New York and Boston.  Bill’s hobbies include sculling, photography, piano, and tending rural lands.

Laura DeVault has been a long-time member of IMCC, with an extended hiatus for a 3-year stint living in glorious Monterey, CA. In addition to being a Board Member, she is an at large member of the Executive Committee. She's been meditating since 2006, and finds the benefits accruing at a gratifying pace. She's the Retreat Manager for IMCC and a member of several KM groups. You'll find her teaching a bit for IMCC at Common Ground and Monday evenings at Fluvanna Women's Correctional Center. She is currently participating in a mindfulness teacher training with the Mindfulness Training Institute in San Francisco. 

Phil Dupont began meditating in September, 2010 – both mediating and the fellowship of IMCC have felt familiar and comfortable for him.  He became a member of the IMCC Board in 2013.  Since then he has served as the Volunteer Coordinator, Ad-hoc Care Committee Chair, and now serves as the Board Secretary.  His volunteer and board experiences contribute to a sense of community, and being a part of the growth process at IMCC has been rewarding.  Phil also enjoys talking with newcomers and sharing his experience with meditation and the sangha, and hearing other’s stories about how they learned about, or were drawn to IMCC.  When not meditating, he works full-time as a child and family psychologist, does as much cycling as the weather and his body allows, and spends time on the dance floor, dancing consciously.   

Sharon Beckman-Brindley, a clinical psychologist and a long time meditator, joined Pat Coffey as an IMCC teacher in 2000, blending deep inquiry into the Dhamma with practical insights from modern western psychology.  She is also a senior teacher of the relational meditation practice of Insight Dialogue which she teaches worldwide. She writes a blog (sharonbb.org) whose aim is to integrate western psychological understandings with the wisdom teachings of Buddhist psychology. Sharon is a stepmother and a grandmother and, when not teaching, she is traveling or out in the garden with Hal, her husband of 43 years.

Barbara Maille first discovered meditation while living and working as a volunteer in India in 1987. She’s been a member of IMCC since 2007 and currently serves as the Volunteer Coordinator. Barbara teaches Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training, and is one of IMCC’s Noon Meditation Instructors at Common Ground Healing Arts.  

Mindfulness is central to her work as a psychotherapist, and she regularly attends residential retreats to support and strengthen her practice. Barb enjoys music, being in nature, creating things with clay, and spending time with her husband David and their two fairly mindful adult children.

Tom Raney - Bio and photo to come.

Philip Schrodt has been treasurer of IMCC since 2016. He has been a meditator since 1990 and a member of IMCC since moving to Charlottesville in 2014. Phil is an introverted (of course) software developer specializing in data analytics, whose wife, Cecilia, insures that he periodically engages in at least limited social interactions. He enjoys music, travel and not owning a television.

Ann Marie Smith began meditating in 2008 when she took a MBSR course with IMCC teacher Susan Stone.  Meditation re-oriented her life and sangha enriches it. She joined the IMCC Board in January 2018 overseeing the Care Committee.  Ann Marie graduates with a Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond in May 2018 and begins the Chaplaincy Residency at the UVA Medical Center in September 2018.  She is also a formal student at the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, which specializes in end-of-life and bereavement care.  Locally, she serves as an advisor to Congregate. She lives in Charlottesville with her husband, two daughters, son, dog and cat!

Bev Wann has been active with Insight Meditation and Insight Dialogue through Tuesday evening sits and multiple day and weeklong retreats since 2007. Bev works as a leadership development coach and consultant and as a movement and meditation teacher. She offers her clients ways to access presence, renewal and wisdom by working with and through the body. Bev enjoys gardening, dancing, traveling the world and spending time with her daughter and friends.