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All Karuna Trustees are members of the Triratna Buddhist Order
Vajramudita
Vajramudita works as an accredited Executive Coach and facilitator. She has had 28 years’ experience as a leader herself, working as a director, manager and engineer in AstraZeneca, the NHS and the third sector. She has direct experience of creating and leading teams of over 100 people, and also has experience of leading global, virtual teams
She has worked as an executive coach and facilitator since 2011 with leaders in global multinationals, from Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. She also works locally in the UK with leaders in SME’s, the public sector, particularly the NHS and 3rd sector.
On a personal note Vajramudita lives with her husband, Border-Collie Hester and from time to time her son and daughter who are both transitioning into their first work roles.
Vajramudita is inspired by affecting change by creating contexts for people to come together and talk about what they care about.
Saravantu
Zoe worked for DFID for around ten years as a Social Development Adviser. She led work on social exclusion, with a particular focus on disability and increasing the resources controlled by people with disabilities and organisations led by them. Working in DFID's Research Division she advised on evaluations and research to learn from major programmes in Africa and Asia focusing on women’s empowerment, the prevention of gender-based violence (including FGM), and social protection. She has also led work streams on inclusive growth, fragiles states, sector-wide approaches and other aid modalities. Her career at DFID included periods of time in Sierra Leone, Nepal and Pakistan as well as the London office.
Prior to joining DFID, Zoe worked on inequality and social exclusion in the UK, as part of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, supporting more joined up action between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Home Office, and local government.
She has also worked in the NGO sector, with Amnesty International, Save the Children, and TVE where she researched and produced TV programmes on environmental and developmental issues. She led the Asia programme at Interact Worldwide, a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights NGO, for three years, collaborating with NGO and academic partners in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand on programmes to empower women, young people, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
She is currently Chair of the Shrewsbury Triratna Buddhist Centre in the UK, and still passionately engaged with issues of diversity and inclusion at local and global levels. Her Buddhist name ‘Saravantu’ means she who knows what is of most value - it’s a good reminder for her to reflect on what she’s doing with her ‘one precious life’!
Akasarani
Originally trained as an educator, Lena’s long career in the international, charity and public sectors has given her a deep insight to educational and cultural opportunities all over the globe, particularly for the underprivileged.
With twenty years working with the British Council as Country Director, Lena took her strategic and leadership expertise around the world, from Argentina to Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mexico. Specialising in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, she has led large teams and worked alongside Governments around the world to deliver education and cultural programmes, such as supporting communications technology for young women in Kenya and Jordan and work experience programmes for people with disabilities in Mexico.
She has been a member of more than half a dozen boards and professional bodies throughout her career. In 2010, she became the first foreign national to receive the Medal of Honour for Services to Education from the Government of Kazakhstan and, in 2017, she was awarded an MBE for services to cultural relations.
Lena is currently Global Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Wellbeing at AVEVA, a FTSE 50 industrial software company.
Danayutta
SuYen worked at the peak of the finance sector for a decade, providing capital and risk assessments to some of Europe’s largest banks as Vice President of Merrill Lynch International, before moving to Lloyds Bank as Associate Director.
After completing her Masters from London School of Economics and Political Science in Public Administration in International Development, SuYen began working alongside the London Buddhist Center. She was instrumental in setting up their successful yoga project as both teacher and organiser, which has since spread to retreat centres nationwide. As well as continuing to lead and develop retreats and classes on yoga and meditation around the UK, she also founded several youth groups to raise engagement in these activities.
Currently, she works as the Finance Director for FutureDharma Fund. As well as holding responsibility for finance and systems, her work covers a range of projects, from supporter care to managing collaboration with other Trusts. She also sits on the Trustee Board of both Windhorse Trust and Abhayaratna Trust.
Aryarakshita
Sundeep has worked across the voluntary, public and co-operative sectors for many years. Trained as an Ecologist, her early career focused on enabling and encouraging people of colour, often under-represented in the environmental field, to come together and discover the mental, physical and social benefits of nature and green spaces.
She has experience of working alongside many charities and not-for-profit organisations, developing and assessing grant applications for the Big Lottery Fund. Working in the co-operative sector for over ten years, she headed up a project developing tools and resources for Directors and Trustees on good governance and democratic decision-making across third sector organisations. From there, she then went on to deliver a programme of organisational change on membership development, growing the visibility of co-operative businesses and promoting the benefits of effective and collaborative decision-making behaviours, systems and processes.
More recently she has dedicated her energy and time to working in Buddhist team-based livelihoods, beginning with Manchester Buddhist Centre as Programme Manager. She now works for the Triratna European Chairs’ Assembly’s Development Team, with a special emphasis on increasing racial diversity.
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Satyaghosha
Peter is an Independent Director with Chief Executive experience across multiple sectors, including media, finance, healthcare and technology.
Over two decades working with the BBC, Peter oversaw and directed operations of multiple large-scale, nationwide projects, including several in collaboration with the UK Government. He has built management teams, provided governance frameworks and financial strategies for budgets in the hundreds of millions and run outreach programmes involving thousands of statutory bodies, charities and community organisations.
His expertise has contributed to other Trustee boards and he has also worked with the NHS.
Currently, Peter is a Trustee Director of the Eaga Trust, which promotes employee well-being and ownership in the workplace.