After awarding numerous grants in the Women in Buddhism category since 2011, The Lenz Foundation made Women Leaders in Buddhism its grant theme for 2024-2025. With 60 grants funded, diverse groups (see examples below) led pioneering efforts to empower female-identified practitioners.
Based on outstanding reports, the Foundation has been hosting a series of follow-up meetings to continue the momentum and inspiration of Women Leaders in Buddhism. See videos from this ongoing series on our Events page.
Sample Reports
Shambhala USA
The “Women in Buddhism – Shaping the Shambhala Tradition” Archival Exhibit was both an anchor and highlight of the Women in Leadership Retreat at the Boulder Shambhala Center. The exhibit created a powerful experience of recognition and continuity, as many of the women whose photographs, writings, artwork, and stories appeared throughout the archives were themselves present in the room as speakers, teachers, organizers, artists, and participants.
Pastoral Care and Counseling Institute
Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
Lion's Roar Foundation
Over 20,000 people heard 18 visionary women speakers give candid and rousing talks. Each of the five days of the summit focused on a different theme that was either of concern to women practitioners or presented in a way that centered the experience of women. Listeners commented that they found the series “inspirational,” and Lion’s Roar intends to repeat it.
Soto Zen Buddhist Association
“Celebrating Women’s Voices in Buddhism: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” presented 22 highly regarded zen women teachers sharing their experiences as women on the path. Received broad attendance.
Tashi Gatsel Ling Buddhist Center
This initiative empowered Tibetan Buddhist female monastics, recent recipients of an educational degree previously denied to women. The visit of a Geshe Ma, “a feminist pioneer,” fostered intercultural learning and provided role models and examples of breakthroughs in women’s leadership.
New York University
The NYU Women in Mindfulness Fellowship was an 8-week co-curricular program that empowered 15 women and non-binary NYU students to develop a meditation practice while exploring the contributions of women to Buddhism. Future leaders emerged as confidence and life balance grew.
BE Meditation Group
Supported four cohorts of BIPOC women working in nonprofit and social justice organizations within the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Demand for the program has outpaced what was initially anticipated.
Bodhi Manda Zen Center
With presentations by zen women dharma leaders from varied Buddhist traditions, a five-day retreat empowered students to envision the future of women in Buddhism.
Rubin Museum of Art
A Mindfulness Meditation teaching regarding women’s leadership in Buddhism was held by three strong yet notably different teachers and leaders. Teachers collectively chose an image of Green Tara to inspire their discussion. Three author events were also held for and by women.
Dhammadharrini
Bhikkhunis are traditional female nuns, a lineage established by the Buddha. The Dhammadharini Sangha continued and refined its education of the public with teachings and writings in Bhikkhunī HerStory. New Bhikkhunis were trained and ordained in Buddhist monasticism.
Buddhist Prison Ministry
Created a course on the Divine Feminine; gave the course to over 2000 incarcerated women and some men. Launched Tara’s Sisters: A National Sangha of Belonging, which offers meditation and mindfulness training leading to a certificate of completion.
Dharma Bum Temple
After receiving a wide range of Buddhist teachings, women stepped into leadership roles within the temple and wider community, leading classes, facilitating meditation sessions, and engaging in community service programs, including an active Food Redistribution Program.
Garrison Institute
During a five-day retreat for BIPOC women, the demographic grouping was powerful. According to the participants, this was a diverse group but having a retreat solely for women of color was rare, formidable and greatly needed.
Hollow Bones Zen
A female-led retreat focused on building female leadership. With dedicated sangha community and female Buddhist leaders at the helm, women were guided to focus on their own leader within.
Prison Mindfulness Institute
PMI created a workbook, Navigating Conflict, combined with online courses for incarcerated people. The workbook uses the early Buddhist approach to conflict from the Pali Canon. While the book’s content is universal, the implementation strategy has been carefully designed to focus on women. Women students will have the opportunity to reflect on the teachings through written responses, which will be answered individually by women who are practicing Buddhists.
Tara Mandala
The grant helped propel Tara Mandala toward a future where women-centric initiatives can thrive, and where the spiritual and organizational development of women is celebrated and supported. Several major programs were sustained and expanded.
Upaya Zen Center
A medical profession retreat helped female physicians and health workers heal from burnout and professional frustration with the zen practices of meditation and mindfulness. The Lenz Foundation Grant supported 15 scholarships to BIPOC women clinicians who ordinarily would not have been able to participate.
Chozen-ji International Zen Dojo of Hawaii
The Zen & Boxing program included many women participants in a variety of high stress, high demand professional fields. The program of Zen meditation and boxing was a first of its kind. Teachers reported that many women who trained with them in boxing and in Zen and other martial arts, experienced a revolution of self that they never imagined could be possible.
Loyola Marymount University
The LMU Yoga Studies Department created a multi-episode podcast and hosted a spirited, day-long event on the topic of “What Would Green Tara Do: Confronting Systems of Oppression through Women’s Leadership.” The well-attended event included women Buddhist leaders of all ages and backgrounds with an overriding theme of ending gender barriers.
Zen Peacemakers
Continuing its long tradition of contemplative social activism, Zen Peacemakers created a series of twelve guest sessions with luminary women activists. Registrations for video and podcast formats doubled. Continuation of this series is planned.
Northwestern University
Renowned female scholars are conducting first-time English translations of portions of the Dakinis Great Dharma Treasury—ten volumes of the 53-volume set. Tibetan nuns from eastern Tibet initially published this largest-ever anthology of writings by and about Buddhist women. It is expected that Buddhist women role models will multiply when the volumes are published.
Sukhasiddhi Foundation
This grant served to focus on marketing and successfully raising the visibility of Sukhasiddi, a spiritual center that offers a guided path of embodied wisdom, compassion, and kindness through timeless practices rooted in the divine feminine.
The Healing Well
Based in San Francisco’s Tenderloin area, The Healing Well held Women’s Mindfulness classes to equip community members to lead healing and empowerment sessions, provided meditation and mindfulness classes for healing at a local women’s shelter, and continued an onsite Women’s Group.
Treasury of Lives
This online resource for Tibetan researchers expanded its detailed reference website with more content on Tibetan women’s lives. Prioritizing women’s biographies led to increased viewers.
Sati Center for Buddhist Studies
Trained 14 women as Buddhist chaplains and tracked work placement, created new tech platform to train others. The skills they are learning through the program are enabling them to work more deeply in the dharma as well as in the world of chaplaincy.
University of the West
University of the West formed a community of the Sacred Feminine with diverse in-person and online teachings including the divine feminine, feminine leadership structures, recognizing and overcoming internalized oppression, the denied feminine, and feminine power.
Pratt Institute
Using materials from Dr. Frederick Lenz’s talks and videos, created an Enlightened Women’s Leadership Training Reflection Journal and an Enlightened Women’s Leadership Training Meditation Cards as part of a comprehensive, Buddhist-inspired curriculum designed for leaders who are women of color.
TLC Transitional Life Care
The program addressed both esoteric and practical preparation for the end of life transition from communication and preparing documentation, to working with and overcoming fear.