Board of Directors
The Board consists of Kubose family members, led by Reverend Koyo's eldest son. They oversee the organization's strategic direction and ensure the continuation of the dharma legacy began by Reverend Gyomay.
The Leadership Council
The Council is the heart of all programs at Bright Dawn and consists of BD Lay Ministry members who have dedicated themselves to giving back to the BD community. They can be reached by using the form on the Contact Us page or by writing to [email protected].
--- Council Members Listed By Alphabetical Order ---
Gary Konyo Clemons
Gary is a Harlem, NY-based lay minister (LM17) who spends significant time in California throughout the year. A practitioner of Zen and Engaged Buddhism since 2006, Gary credits Bright Dawn’s teachings and Rev. Kubose’s philosophy and koans with helping decolonize his mind and realize non-dualism. His approach is deeply shaped by his upbringing in Reeveytown, NJ, and 1980s/90s Inglewood, CA.
His current practice consists of working to be present in all things—wall meditation, showing gratitude to illuminate the way forward. He feels deeply rooted in the hood and believes community is not a place to leave behind for practice. Personal liberation is bound to the block’s liberation because we are all interconnected. He also believes Buddhism must be intertwined with the culture you identify with for mushin (no-mind) to be real. Hip Hop (not just the music) and Black American culture are birthed through creative ways of dealing with change, so embodying that is oneness.
For work, Gary has been in the nonprofit space since 2000, helping organizations that support marginalized communities scale. He loves staying active and has an endless love for dogs, art, and design.
Ben Genyo Crenshaw
Ben joined Bright Dawn's LM 16 cohort, looking for an approach to Buddhist practice that belonged in ordinary, daily life. Rev. Gyomay Kubose’s vision of a practical "life-way" rooted in simplicity, non-duality, and everyday action offered exactly that foundation. Ben's background spans decades across technology and education, from the operational front lines of enterprise systems and cybersecurity to curriculum design and instructional leadership. In every setting, Ben's focus centers on the same core principle: translating complex concepts into practical, grounded tools that serve real people.
Ben's practice is enriched by a variety of teaching frameworks and sanghas. He draws inspiration from Mind Muar and the "Playful Path" model, where meditation is approached as an engaging, iterative investigation. He stays actively connected with The Mindful Collective, exploring contemporary applications of insight and community practice, and maintains long-standing leadership involvement with Toastmasters International, where mindful communication, active listening, and public speaking meet. Together, these spaces are a reminder to him that practice is communal and lived out through service.
As an author, Ben writes across the intersections of technology, ethics, and human awareness, including Teaching Cyber and They Hack Minds. His current book, Thus Have I Heard: Stories Along the Eight-fold Path, focuses directly on early Buddhist parables and the living Dharma. Through work and leadership with Bright Dawn, he is committed to supporting fellow students as we explore the path with warmth, curiosity, and Everyday Suchness.
Jason Neyo Hong
Buddhism’s unfamiliar teaching changed Jason’s perspective, yet felt like home. Studying and striving to apply Buddhist teachings, especially the concepts of interdependence and impermanence, helped Jason develop more patience with others and himself. Jason was first introduced to Buddhism during a college class, but seriously studied it 20 years later. The spark to explore Buddhism came as his paradigms and identities were challenged; letting go of these attachments diminished suffering for him. Jason was part of the Bright Dawn Lay Minister 15 cohort. Bright Dawn encouraged him to apply daily Buddhist concepts such as gratitude, compassion, and reduce suffering.
Jason is a research microbiologist and studies the soil microbiome. Learning about interdependence and impermanence changed how he conducts his research by taking a multidisciplinary approach and temporal perspective on how altering the soil microbiome affects soil and plant health. Jason lives in Florida with his wife and four children and enjoys nature, the outdoors, and hiking.
Josh Ichiyo Lovejoy
Josh grew-up in Buffalo, NY. In high school, he developed an interest Buddhism in connection with the Beat generation poets but it never moved beyond the superficial. Later, as an adult suffering from severe anxiety attacks and chronic migraine issues, Josh stumbled upon an interview with Tara Brach and decided to try meditation. After beginning a meditation practice he saw a remarkable improvement in his migraine and anxiety issues and became fascinated to learn as much as possible about the Buddhist teachings behind Tara Brach's work. He began reading and learning everything he could about the Dharma from various author's and traditions. The practice had a positive transforming impact on all aspects of his life. Josh realized that he wanted to learn how to best help others develop the practice that was so helpful to himself - so he enrolled in the 2-year Lay Ministry program at Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. After completing the program, Josh decided to start Daybreak Oneness as a way to help those that are suffering and are interested in learning about the Dharma and Buddhist practice. What seemed to be lacking in Western countries was a starting point for those that are interested. Therefore, just as the Sun represents the Dharma in "Bright Dawn", Josh felt that "Daybreak" could help serve as the first glimpse for those that are looking. Josh lives with his wife (Kelli Yuyo), two children, dog and two cats. He works in the live events industry and enjoys hockey and video games.
Rob Kanyo Mican
Rob was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in a family that identified as Christian but never practiced at home, only going to church for the occasional wedding or funeral. During his high school years, while he was bouncing back and forth between atheism and agnosticism, Rob felt like there was something spiritual missing in his life. His search continued through his college years, when he began learning about Buddhism and Taoism in a class on Asian religions. One day, the instructor came to class and wrote on the blackboard: "BUDDHISM + TAOISM = ZEN," and Rob has never quite been the same since. After stumbling across a Zen temple that was the Buddhist equivalent of a storefront church, led by a teacher who considered himself as much of a Taoist as he was a Buddhist, Rob realized he had been a Buddhist all of his life -- it just took him twenty years to figure that out.
Rob's journey eventually led him to enroll in the two year Lay Ministry program at Bright Dawn, which he completed as part of the LM9 cohort in 2017. Rob followed that by completing a certification in methods of Japanese psychology (which grew out of Jodo Shinshu and Zen teachings) at the ToDo Institute in Monkton, VT, and a certification in Spiritual Literacy and Transformative Practices from the Center For Spirituality & Practice in Claremont, CA. For the last few years, Rob has been diving into the Japanese esoteric practices of Shingon Buddhism and Shugendo. He also serves as a Sangha Director alongside Josh Ichiyo Lovejoy at Daybreak Oneness. In his spare time, Rob is a musician playing a style of Japanese bamboo flute called the shakuhachi, and he practices a form of Buddhist sacred calligraphy called bonji.
Tyler Inyo Mortensen-Hayes
Tyler grew up in a suburb of Salt Lake City. He became interested in Eastern spiritual traditions as a teenager, when his older brother gave him a copy of the Tao Te Ching. A poet from the time he was able to write, Tyler was drawn to the Tao’s verses and to the way they shifted his perspective—at once surprising and affirming his sense of the nature of life.
Through reading about Eastern religions, Tyler eventually found his way to Zen, practicing at a local Rinzai temple. From there, he discovered the Salt Lake Buddhist Fellowship, led by Christopher Kakuyo Sensei, a Bright Dawn lay minister. He was drawn to Christopher’s inclusive, Jodo Shinshu-inspired, “come as you are” approach, and began studying and practicing Jodo Shinshu himself. After completing an MFA in poetry, he applied to the Bright Dawn lay ministry program, joining the LM 17 cohort.
Tyler works in academia while continuing to write and share poetry, Dharma teachings, and writing workshops online. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and their cats. He strives to ground his practice, creativity, and teaching in deep listening and unconditional compassion.
Jason Kyoyo Pajski
Jason was a member of LM 12C and was inducted as a Bright Dawn Lay Minister by Reverend Koyo Kubose in 2020. From an early age, he was interested in the big questions, such as life and death, consciousness, and reality. This led to a professional career in science, obtaining BS in Chemistry from Lebanon Valley College and then a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He now works as a chemistry professor. In parallel, he studied philosophy and religion, finding Buddhism to be the best description of consciousness and reality. His interest in dream and sleep yogas, gTummo, phowa, and Dzögchen drew him to Tibetan Buddhism. He joined Bright Dawn to learn more about Pure Land and Zen Buddhism and because he strongly believes in Bright Dawn’s vision for American Buddhism.
Elena Hanyo Perez
Elena was a member of LM 12b and was inducted as a Bright Dawn Lay Minister by Reverend Koyo Kubose in 2020. When she met Rev Koyo in 2017 at the Fresno UU church for a talk on American Buddhism, the connection felt fated. Her mother, Carla Jo Dakin, was searching for equanimity as she faced a breast cancer diagnosis, and mother and daughter explored Buddhism together which led them to multiple retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County in the early 2000s. After her mother’s passing in 2006 she worked at funeral homes and crematories in Oakland and Fresno, sitting with the reality of impermanence. Over a decade later, she was establishing herself as an acupuncturist in Fresno, and met Koyo Sensei at her mother’s church. As she had been looking to deepen her Buddhist practice, she found the LM program to be exactly what she had been hoping to find, and was pleased to find common threads of experience with the Kubose family in connections to UC Berkeley, Oakland, the Central California hills, horticultural therapy, and beautiful Kyoto. She signed up right away and never looked back.
Since her induction she has been leading morning meditation practice online three mornings a week with the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, and in 2022 embarked on ongoing studies with the Parting Clouds Quanzhen Longmen Daoist group, (which shares a common historical threads with Mahayana Buddhism). Her educational background is a BA in Anthropology from Cal (2002), as well as a Masters (2016-ACCHS, Oakland) and two Doctorate Degrees (2022 ACTCM/CIIS, San Francisco & 2024 ACCHS) in East Asian Medicine.
Elena Hanyo practices as an acupuncturist and herbalist in Fresno, California, and is delighted to have been called into service with a leadership role in Bright Dawn, serving on the leadership council since 2022. Her work with Bright Dawn has been focused around coordinating the 15th to 18th LM cohorts, spearheading the Jizo Garden initiative, and forming the Education Committee. In 2026 she entered emeritus status, making space for newer LMs to contribute their gifts and time to Bright Dawn’s expanding ministry. She has lived at the Bright Dawn Center since 2023, with her son Miles and cats Felipe and Earl Gui.
Morris Sekiyo (Doshin) Sullivan
Morris (LM3) chairs the Bright Dawn Leadership Council. He is a Soto Zen monk, the spiritual head of Volusia Buddhist Fellowship in DeLand, Florida, and leads a practice group at a UU church in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Before moving to Massachusetts, Morris lectured frequently at White Sands Buddhist Center, a Vietnamese monastery on the Space Coast. He received dharma transmission (in Lam Te Chuc Thanh, Vietnamese Rinzai) from the abbot, Ven. Khai Thien.
Morris received an MBA in the 1980s, working in business and nonprofit management. In the late 1990s, he became a freelance writer and then staff journalist for the Daytona Beach News Journal. By 2010, he focused more on religious activities, including serving as the chaplain for Stetson University. He also led Buddhist services at a state correctional institution and spoke regularly to several Unitarian Universalist Congregations in Central Florida.
Levi Shinyo Walbert
Levi joined the Bright Dawn with LM9, and has since continued working with the organization. Along with his education in the Bright Dawn Program, he has since graduated with his BA in Philosophy, as well as a Masters in Theology from Moravian Theological Seminary.
His education and studies have focused on Interfaith work and comparative religious studies. He currently works in the field of disability advocacy along side his ministerial career.