MFD Board

Sumi Loundon Kim

Teacher EmerItus & MFD Founder

Sumi Loundon Kim was the founder of Mindful Families of Durham and primary teacher until May of 2018, as well as the Buddhist chaplain at Duke University. She recently published Sitting Together: A Family-Centered Curriculum on Mindfulness, Meditation & Buddhist Teachings (2017), and she has previously published two anthologies about young Buddhists: Blue Jean Buddha (2001) and The Buddha’s Apprentices (2005), among other articles and chapters. After receiving a master’s degree in Buddhist studies and Sanskrit from the Harvard Divinity School, she was the associate director for the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Originally brought up in a Soto Zen community in the 70s, she has been following the Theravada lineage since her teens. Sumi and her husband, a native of Korea and professor of Korean Buddhism and culture at Yale University, have two children. They live in New Haven Connecticut

Monica Wrobel

PresiDent and adult program coordinator

Monica Mann-Wrobel is a psychologist in private practice and a recent graduate of the Mindfulness Meditation Certification Program (MMTCP; 2025). Monica has held a personal meditation practice for 20 years, deepening in the last 10 years since she joined Mindful Families of Durham (MFD), began incorporating mindfulness principles into parenting, underwent teacher training, and began going on week-long retreats. She has meditated with the Triangle Insight Meditation Community (TIMC) since 2023. Monica has been incorporating mindfulness principles into her clinical work with therapy clients since 2009 when she became trained in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model, has worked within that model ever since, and has offered trainings to other therapy providers in this model as well. Currently, Monica is serving as the President of Mindful Families of Durham and meets regularly with her mentor, Sharon Shelton.

Brian Schneiderman

Vice President

Bio forthcoming

Amy Kumar

Treasurer

Amy is originally from Connecticut and currentlly works as a physician in the Emergency Department of the Durham VA Hospital. When she is not working, she is busy spending time with her three daughters - shuttling them around to activities, playing sports & games, dancing, and watching movies with them. She also enjoys traveling, hiking, biking, going to the gym, and trying out restaurants with her husband. Amy started meditating in 2019 and has been a member of the MFD community since 2020. She loves having a community of like minded parents to meditate and share her parenting experience with. Mindfulness has helped her bring empathy, kindness, and compassion to her family, her patients and herself.

Sarah Cottingham

Secretary

Sarah, a native of a rural town on the Virginia coast, has lived in Durham for 15 years with her partner. Although she still feels Durham is too far from the ocean, she enjoys raising her two sons here and holds deep gratitude for the community MFD offers. A nurse practitioner and educator by training, Sarah finds mindfulness practice essential professionally and personally and enjoys supporting MFD as the board secretary. In her spare time, she likes to do yoga, travel, read, and cheer her kids on at their various activities.