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Meet Our Team

Hoshina Seki - President

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Hoshina Seki is the president of the American Buddhist Study Center. She retired from a successful media and marketing career in 2013. She was the Creative Director for the Gannett Newspapers division and later was their Production Director. Hoshina was part of the team that launched USA Today. She later became Gannett’s corporate Creative Director. She also worked as the US Marketing and Sales Director for Real View Technologies in Australia. She sold RV digital publishing technology to National Geographic magazine, The New Yorker, MIT Technology Review, and others.

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Hoshina was the first Treasurer for the Buddhist Churches of America’s Center for Buddhist Education, BCA’s Outreach Committee Chairperson, and former Board of Trustees for IBS (Institute of Buddhist Studies) in Berkeley. She is currently a committee member of the JSIO Jodo Shinshu International Office.

Ken Horii - Executive Director

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Ken Horii is a professor emeritus and former Programs Head of Spatial Dynamics for the Division in the Experimental and Foundation Studies Division at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island (1993-2020). Horii was a visiting artist teaching special projects at the Samsung Art and Design Institute in Seoul, South Korea, a visiting lecturer at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and Shanghai, University Studio PhD program, and a visiting professor in the International Master of Fine Arts Program at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China.

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Ken has also maintained an artistic practice for over forty years in a number of mediums and formats including drawings, folded paper, furniture design and spatial installations. Horii's work has been exhibited nationally- in New England, New York, Chicago and in special exhibitions in South Korea and with Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai, China. His work is in corporate, museum, and private collections in Chicago, Boston, and New York.

Rajnesh Avtar - Advisor & Director of Technology

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Rajnesh Avtar has over 30 years of Software and IT Services technical and management experience. He has worked in several multi-national IT organizations. He has led engineering and IT teams across several countries. As part of the leadership team in HCLSoftware he led the transformation program and has been part of several M&A transactions. 

 

Rajnesh has been actively involved with ABSC since 2020.

Edythe Anne Vassall - Chief Editor

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Edythe Vassall is a member of the Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin Board of Spiritual Affairs in Hilo, Hawaii and a longtime member of the Berkeley Buddhist Temple and the Buddhist Church of Oakland Buddhist Women’s Association. She worked for ten years as the Administrative Assistant for the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Center for Buddhist Education. She was a Contributing Editor of Wheel of Dharma, the official monthly newsletter of the BCA from 2010-2018 and Managing Editor of Ka Leo Kahea, the official quarterly newsletter of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii from September 2022 – June 2023. She edited books published by the American Buddhist Study Center, including Friday Night Talks with D. T. Suzuki: On Shin Buddhism, Shinran, and Saichi (2022); Dharma Is Everywhere: Reflections Shared at the California State Assembly by Reverends Bob and Patti Oshita (2022); and Leaves of My Heart and Selected Works from The Tinkling of the Golden Bell Collection by Lady Takeko Kujo (2018).

Mamiko Shimura - Digital Content Director

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Mamiko Shimura has been working at the American Buddhist Study Center for the past four years, handling its social media accounts, including the ABSC online school and YouTube. She has extensive experience in video shooting and editing.

Mikuko Shimura - Digital Content Manager

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Mikuko Shimura graduated from State University of New York at New Paltz with a Psychology B.A. Before joining American Buddhist Study Center, she worked at a few Japanese companies including CUEINTL NY INC and the Nippon Club. She joined ABSC in 2020 and has been helping with the website, email marketing, and other social media platforms. In her spare time, Mikuko loves to run, travel, and trying new restaurants and cuisines.

Akiko Konishi-Health and Wellness Director 

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Akiko Konishi graduated from Mercy College, New York, B.A. in Business. She is a trained message therapist.

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Akiko has been working at American Buddhist Study center for 2 years, handling its events set up and also interpretation for Japanese guests and visitors. 

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