Natascha Bruckner lives with her partner, Rev. Zachiah Murray, and their cats in Santa Cruz County. She works as a full-time editor for a company that creates equitable education systems for English language learners, and also freelances to assist writers crafting book manuscripts. Her previous work includes fundraising and crisis response for a domestic violence shelter, managerial editing for a magazine on mindful living, and office management for acupuncturists. Natascha has served as a volunteer with a sexual assault hotline and several hospice organizations, and has volunteered as a Buddhist meditation program facilitator in a prison since 2009. She holds a BA degree in women’s studies and environmental studies from UC Santa Cruz and an MFA in creative writing from Naropa University. She completed a two-year chaplaincy training program at Upaya Zen Center in 2020, and was ordained as a Dharma teacher in the lineage of Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2021. She is honored to be a trainee facilitator for GRIP, deeply moved by the remarkable transformations that happen in the tribes, and inspired by GRIP students’ transparency, accountability, and authentic commitment to being compassionate peacemakers.