Melanie DeMore

Melanie DeMore’s career is a multi-faceted one. She is a solo performer, facilitates vocal workshops for professional and community-based choral groups, and has taught her “Sound Awareness” program in schools, prisons, and youth organizations in the US, Canada, Cuba, and New Zealand. DeMore was a director of the Oakland Youth Chorus for 10 years and is a founding member of the critically-acclaimed vocal ensemble “Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir” and is also a long-standing member of “The Threshold Choir.” She is faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and at UC Berkeley.

Shelly Graf  

Shelly Graf has been practicing at Common Ground since 2003. They are currently being trained by Insight Meditation Society as part of the four-year teacher training program. They are a staff dharma teacher, like Mark Nunberg, the Guiding Teacher. Currently they teach a variety of programs at the center including co-leading residential retreats with Mark Nunberg and Wynn Fricke. Shelly’s administrative role includes partnering with the Guiding Teacher to develop and clarify the center’s vision, policies, and priorities. Professionally, Shelly has been a clinician and administrator in the Social Work and mental health fields since 2005. They have a special interest in waking up to whiteness as part of this total path of awakening. Whatever Shelly’s role may be, they will always be a grateful student of Buddhist Practice first.

Sunil Joseph

Sunil has been a student of empathy-based approaches, including Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Mindfulness, etc., since 2004. He’s been sharing NVC with the community since completing BayNVC’s year-long NVC Leadership Program in 2008. In 2021, he completed the 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program offered by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach to become a certified Mindfulness teacher. At present, Sunil is a trainee facilitator with GRIP Training Institute which offers a 1-year healing and accountability program to incarcerated populations

Kat Renee 

Kat is a yoga & meditation teacher, poet, architect, and co-creator of community. Through her embodied teaching style, Kat invites her students to witness their genuine connected presence that regenerates life and love. She believes that your personal power is activated by coming home to yourself and what works for you. Kat has a consulting business helping professionals on the verge of burnout bring soul health to work. Kat lives with her husband and 4-year-old twins in Denver, Colorado.

Brian Smith

Brian began his meditation practice in 1979 at the age of 19. After spending years of study and practice in the Vedanta tradition, he developed a great interest in Buddhism. Brian is ordained as a lay member in the Tiep Hien Order of Interbeing– a Thich Nhat Hanh Plum Village tradition. He serves as a facilitator for the Columbia Stillwater Sangha and is a recent graduate of the 2-year MMTCP Meditation Teacher Certification Program through Insight Meditation Society. Pre-pandemic Brian was part of the Prison Mindfulness Meditation Outreach Program. He is a retired High School teacher and lives in Derwood, Maryland with his wife. He enjoys playing the jazz piano and being in nature. He has a 24-year-old son.

Judith Escobar

Judith Escobar is a Mexican mindfulness practitioner and meditation teacher. Once led by achievements and external goals, she turned inward, discovering a more whole and present way of living as a mother, wife, and professional. Trained with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield and mentored by Amma Thanasanti, she grounds her practice in compassion and presence. Today, she shares this path with others, inviting them to reconnect with awareness. 

Truett Davis

Truett Davis is a Spanish bilingual meditation and yoga practitioner based in Brooklyn, NY. He completed the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program under Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield in 2023 and was fortunate to receive mentorship and instruction from Amma Thanasanti of Awakening Truth over the course of the two-year training. His practice focuses on moving slowly and cultivating compassion. 

Liz Brent-Maldonado

Liz (she/they) is an educator based in San Francisco, CA, excited to share holistic wellness tools and techniques. A lifelong learner who has both studied and taught in a wide range of environments, they bring strong group guidance and public speaking skills to their work. Liz teaches from the foundation of her own practice: 30 years of yoga, 12 years of meditation, and training as an athlete, performer, artist, and writer. As of 2025, they have completed their 500 hours of Yoga Teacher Training and are a graduate of the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. Liz’s work can be seen at www.sparkle.vision