SAKYADHITA AUSTRALIA
Committee Members
Dr Nadine Levy, President. Dr Nadine Levy is a feminist sociologist and the Head of Program in Health and Social Wellbeing, Applied Mindfulness and Mental health at Nan Tien Institute . She teaches and researches in mindfulness, compassion, and social emotions, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and psychotherapy. She has published on misogyny and is an Advisor on the Safe Buddhism Australia Initiative, a response to spiritual and sexual violence in Buddhist Communities. Nadine is also an Insight Meditation teacher and is a regular columnist for The Buddhist Door Global and The Guardian on the topic of contemporary Buddhism and spirituality. She is a mother to two terrific sons whose presence support her continually unfolding metta practice and thinking on an applied Buddhadharma for our times.
Emeritus Professor Suzanne Franzway, Vice President Suzanne Franzway is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Adelaide University. She is motivated by the puzzles and passions of activist politics of everyday life and social justice and is currently writing the history of the Working Women’s Centre SA.
She has also written on gendered violence, gender and engineering and the sexual politics of greedy institutions. She co-leads a weekly meditation group in Adelaide, and each month sits on SA Parliament House steps with a multifaith group for climate change. Her Dharma practice began with the Gelugpa tradition, moving towards a more secular approach over the last 15 years. She was president of Sakyadhita Australia 2016-2019.
Venerable Karma Choelha, Spiritual Advisor. She was initially ordained as Jampa Chodron and has been a Buddhist nun for more than thirty years. Her experience crosses the Tibetan, Chinese Mahayana, and other international Buddhist traditions. Although originally ordained in Australia in 1994 at Buddha House, she has also taken full Bhikṣuṇī vows in Taiwan in 1997 and subsequently lived and trained in nunneries and monasteries in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, India, Nepal, Bhutan and several other countries.
In 2007, at the request of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, she undertook a traditional three-year Karma Kagyu retreat in Sikkim, receiving the name Karma Choejung Lhamo (Choelha) upon its completion in 2010. Since then she has continued advanced studies in Mahamudra Meditation, Tibetan language and translation, and Abhidharma under the guidance of respected teachers including His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche at Palpung Sherab Ling, and other institutions such as Thrangu Monastery at Namo Buddha, Nepal, and Tibet House Delhi.
In 2025, she received full ordination again, in a historic ceremony, from His Holiness the Je Khenpo of Bhutan during the World Peace Programme. He gave her the name Jigme Nyingje Zangmo. She is a longstanding meditation teacher, dedicated to study, contemplation, and retreat practice. As Spiritual Advisor to Sakyadhita Australia, she is committed to supporting the growth, wisdom, and empowerment of Buddhist women and the wider community.
Kate Duncan, Treasurer. Kate has been practising and studying Buddhist meditation since 2007, beginning with a first retreat in India before practising extensively at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre in the United States. She returned to Australia in 2015, where she went on to train in the Western Insight lineage, and undertaking the Dharma Teacher Training through the Insight Meditation Institute.
A former firefighter and paramedic, Kate co-developed the Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery and Prevention program for frontline workers, and co-founded Sky Sangha, a weekly online sangha for emerging meditators around Australia. She now leads Insight meditation retreats in the Adelaide area and teaches mindfulness programs nationally.
Vikki Sarac, Membership Officer. Vikki first became interested in Buddhism through her study of Japanese Tea Ceremony. While studying at university, she attended the Sydney Zen Centre. A number of years later after returning to Australia from overseas, she visited Chenrezig Institute (CI). It was there that her interest in Buddhism was reignited Since then she has studied regularly at CI as well as with a number of Buddhist centres around the world. These days she is a volunteer in the Chenrezig Library.
In 2015 she joined Sakyadhita Australia and attended her first international conference. It is an honour for her to be on the Sakyadhita Australia Committee.
Dr Meg Adam, Secretary. Dr Meg Adam is a returning committee member of Sakyadhita Australia, having previously been the Secretary and Vice President. Meg took some time away from the committee to complete her second PhD, ‘The Enlightened Mother in Australian Tibetan Buddhism’. She is a long-time student of Tibetan Buddhism and was previously the Administration Officer volunteer at Dewachen Study Group in Mackay Qld and held a paid role as Administration Officer at the Australian Association of Buddhist Councillors and Pyschotherapist. Meg has recently lectured within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences team at Deakin University, teaching units Freedom, Harms and Religion and Religion and Social Change. Having moved multiple times, and with no centre in her current location, her recent studies are online at various centres and groups throughout Australia.
Lindel Greggery, Publicity Officer, has had a diverse and lengthy career in journalism, PR and corporate communication. As a long-term meditator with an interest in Buddhism, in 2014 she was called to teach mindfulness, joining Potential Project to bring greater awareness, wisdom and compassion to corporate environments. She now teaches and coaches mindfulness and the mindfulness-based therapy ACT to support people experiencing chronic pain, cancer and burnout. Lindel enjoys deepening her practice through daily meditation and regular retreats and workshops with esteemed Buddhist teachers and leading mindfulness practitioners.
Christine Jones, Legal and Governance Officer is an experienced lawyer and dispute resolution practitioner. She became a student of Tibetan Buddhism through her work as a practitioner of restorative and transformative justice promoting dialogue and healing in complex social conflict. She is a specialist advisor to institutions and government agencies on the design and implementation of restorative responses to institutional harm and the impacts of colonisation. She teaches dispute resolution and reflective practice in the QUT School of Social Work where she is a PhD candidate. Beyond her professional work, Christine holds directorships in community organisations focused on disability and mental health services, and palliative care. She is also a former commissioner of the National Mental Health Commission.