Healthy Buddhist Communities
In 2018 - 2019 Hemera staff conducted a series of interviews and focus groups designed to illuminate a view of the emerging needs in North American Buddhist communities. We interviewed female Dharma teachers and younger Dharma teachers from many lineages and backgrounds. Several themes emerged that became important priorities for Hemera’s philanthropy. One of these was a focus on teacher ethics. Hemera seeks to promote organizational and cultural changes that protect communities from misconduct.
To help achieve this goal, Hemera launched its Healthy Buddhist Communities grant program in 2019 to partner with retreat centers and sanghas to strengthen ethical policies and practices, improve supervision and support for teachers, or develop strategies to reduce the potential for abuse in Buddhist communities. Further, we partnered with leading organizations in the field to create new trainings and resources, promoting conversations within and between lineages. To that end, Hemera has awarded almost $500,000 in grants to fund initiatives developed by organizations to strengthen ethical policies and practices.
Grantees are working to advance the following aims, which we believe are critical for preventing abuse in Buddhist communities.
Strengthening the education and training of those in teaching and leadership roles around professional ethics, ethical use of power, and pastoral roles and responsibilities.
Strengthening community education around religious abuse, healthy boundaries, and the limits of the teacher-student relationship.
Creating and implementing effective “model” policies and procedures supporting organizational transparency, whistleblower and abuse reporting, and grievance resolution and remediation.
Creating effective education and training for administrative leaders, board members, and others charged with maintaining accountable leadership and governance.
Strengthening teacher supervision and support, including peer supervision / peer accountability processes, to address all important areas of personal and professional conduct.
Promoting discussions between teachers and leaders from different communities about right conduct for clergy aimed at cultivating a greater awareness of and reflection upon norms within lineages and in the wider context of Buddhism in North America.
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