Board of Directors

Bill Anderson, Treasurer. Bill started meditating with IMCC at Common Grounds in 2016 shortly after discovering Thich Nhat Hanh. He has found his practice to be a compassionate way of finding and practicing goodness and beauty and to be a way to wisdom, freedom and peace. He first came to Charlottesville in 1976 to earn his MBA and met his wife. They returned in 2003 after his career in finance in NYC, Miami, Richmond and Ithaca. Living on a farm with his Corgi Roughouse, he has developed an interest in gardening. His daughter lives in NC and his son and grandsons are in Santa Barbara. 

Sharon Beckman-Brindley (she/her), 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 48 years.

Laura DeVault (she/her) 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 a 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, Vice President, 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 and Ad-hoc Care Committee Chair.  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. 

Matt Fritts first met the Dharma as a UVA undergrad through a class on Buddhist meditation taught by Jeffrey Hopkins. He has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1996, when he completed his first Integral Yoga teacher training program at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville. Matt has been an IMCC Sangha member since he moved back to Charlottesville in 2018 to work in UVA’s employee well-being program, and he finds that IMCC complements well his primary practice in the Himalayan Buddhist tradition. In his free time he loves hiking with friends and his dog, and hosting a classical piano radio show on WTJU.

Susan Kaufman, President is a psychologist in private practice who draws on mindfulness practices in her work. She is on the teaching team for the Blue Ridge Prison Project. She participates in the Mindful of Race training and has a strong interest in the sangha's work in bridging separation. Susan and her husband Peter have two adult children and love to travel, hike, and bike.

Marylouise Kelley

Marylouise Kelley (she/her) felt welcomed into her new spiritual community at IMCC when she moved to Charlottesville in 2017 after retiring from a career devoted to advocacy for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child maltreatment at the local and national levels.

Marylouise began her practice at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington With the support of IMCC’s Aspiring Teachers Program, she became an IMCC teacher in 2020. She also serves on the IMCC Guiding Teachers Council, participates in Racial Affinity Groups, and co- facilitates the Sangha Leader Cohort.

Marylouise earned her doctorate in Social Work from Catholic University in 2003. In her spare time, she loves to hang out with her grandsons and children, and hike with friends, husband Dan and their dog. She also enjoys kayaking, pickleball, yoga, reading, and dabbling with the mandolin.

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.

Benita Mayo (she/her) began meditating in 2015 during her first yoga teacher training. She has taken the MBSR course,  trained with Cyndi Lee, Tibetan Buddhist and Lay Buddhist Chaplain earning a level 2 Mindfulness Meditation certification and enrolled in the Socially Engaged Buddhist program at Upaya Zen Center.  Benita was introduced to IMCC upon her return to Charlottesville in 2017. She currently serves on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice committee.

She is native of Virginia and holds an undergraduate degree in Rhetoric & Communications from UVA.  Upon graduating from UVA, she began her career with State Farm Insurance. She is active in the community as a yoga & meditation teacher at UVA, board member at Common Ground, birth doula with Birth Sisters of Charlottesville and renting artist at McGuffey Art Center.

Phyllis Savides (she/her) was introduced to meditation through an organization called Women’s Way in the early 1990’s.   Years later, she joined Sharon Beckman-Brindley’s Interpersonal Presence Supervision Group and it was then that she returned to the practice.   Over the last 15 years,  she has participated in several Insight Dialogue meditation retreats with Sharon and Phyllis Hicks.  A social worker by profession, Phyllis retired from the Albemarle County Department of Social Services in 2021 after having worked there for 23 years, most recently as Director. Phyllis is married and is quite bonded to her 4-legged companions. Currently, she and her husband, John have 2 cats and 1 dog.  She loves to garden and sing and play guitar and piano.

Ann Marie Smith (she/her) 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 graduated with a Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond in May 2018 and completed the Chaplaincy Residency at the UVA Medical Center in August 2020.  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!

Shannon McNett Williams (she/her) began meditating in 2010 after a friend invited her to join what would become part of the Innerwork Center in Richmond, Virginia. Over the past ten years meditation has become something that she craves instead of something she “should” do. This shift has been life-changing. Since joining IMCC, Shannon has been grateful for opportunities to gain wisdom and fellowship by becoming part of a racial affinity group and a young adult group.  Shannon cares for two young children and works part-time as a psychotherapist. She loves being outside—pulling weeds, watching things grow, and walking by the Rivanna River.