TEAM
Our global library team is as rich and varied as our content.
The Asian Legacy Library enjoys a mix of experienced executives, managers, employees, and volunteers who support its mission in over 40 countries around the world.
US HEADQUARTERS STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
JOHN C. BRADY
Consultant for Technology & Fundraising
JEFF WALLMAN
Financial Consultant
BEN GHALMI
DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS
VIMALA SPERBER
EXECUTIVE MANAGER
CHRISTINA KASICA
Creative Director
Osiris Luciano
DIRECTOR OF TIBETAN OPERATIONS
NICHOLAS LASHAW
Data Design Manager
Phil Baker
Director of Development and Outreach
Emma Grace Lewis
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
JOHN C. BRADY
John serves the Asian Legacy Library as the executive director in charge of global operations. Prior to ALL, John was an executive director for the Lillian Vernon Corporation, heading a “Business to Business” division serving clients such as Estee Lauder Cosmetics, American Express Credit Card Services, Victoria’s Secret, Anheuser-Busch, Kraft Foods, and other Fortune 500 companies. For over a decade, John studied and practiced meditation with Eido Shimano Roshi, an authentic master and lineage holder in the Rinzai tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. John was on the board of directors of The Zen Studies Society from 1985 to 1995. In 1996 John met Tibetan Buddhist master teachers Geshe Lobsang Tarchin and Geshe Michael Roach. He began the rigorous 36 course study program, which culminated in him entering a 3-year, 3-month, 3-day silent meditation retreat on December 26th of 2011 as director. John is a senior instructor for Asian Classics Institute, Diamond Cutter Institute Global, and Sedona College of International Management. He currently resides with his wife in Sedona, Arizona. They travel and teach together throughout Asia, Europe, and Latin America.Consultant for Technology & Fundraising
JEFF WALLMAN
Jeff is a consultant for digital library technology development and fundraising for the Asian Legacy Library.
He brings 20 years of experience in digital cultural preservation to the Asian Legacy Library. With a background in technology, he has conceptualized, implemented, and managed historic preservation projects. As founder and co-architect of Buddhist Digital Archives (library.bdrc.io) and founder of the Sanskrit and Chinese Buddhist Library Network, he brought together cutting-edge technology to facilitate the connection of disparate collections into a central hub.
He is the founder of the program Digitizing, Archiving and Making Accessible the National Library of Mongolia; founder of the Fragile Palm Leaves Preservation program; founder and architect of the Harvard Digital Repository Service program for Long-Term Preservation of Tibetan Texts; and was lead mission evangelist, fundraiser, strategist, architect, and executive director of the Buddhist Digital Resource Center for 17 years.
He would like to see wisdom cultures flourish in current and future generations.
Financial Consultant
BEN GHALMI
Ben’s primary responsibility is for the financial management of the Asian Legacy Library.
He is passionate about the global transformation that is taking place and the effect that it’s having on organizations. Prior to joining ALL, Ben’s responsibilities took him to Beijing and Hangzhou with Jumore E-Commerce, a business-to-business digital platform, as a vice president for overseas markets. He also gathered more than 20 years of international investment banking experience in major financial centers (Bahrain, Paris, Frankfurt, and New York) with leading financial institutions (Credit Lyonnais, Deutsche Bank, and AllianceBernstein). His career began as a deputy trade commissioner at the French Embassy in Bahrain, assisting French exporters and local importers in the Arabian Gulf area.
Ben currently shares his time between the United States, France, and Morocco.
DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS
VIMALA SPERBER
Vimala’s contribution to the Asian Legacy Library in special projects is primarily focused on donor relations.
Vimala has been working with ALL since its inception, first researching important yogic and Buddhist manuscripts for its Sanskrit program, and then in 2018, she helped organize ALL’s first input center in Kathmandu, Nepal, in collaboration with the Nagarjuna Institute of Buddhist Studies (NIBS).
She currently focuses on content development and donor management for ALL.
Vimala’s accomplishments include a master’s degree in Geophysics from Stanford University; owner and director of Mimi Ferzt Gallery in New York City; followed by 10 years of study in yogic and Buddhist philosophy at Diamond Mountain University, Arizona; culminating in the completion of a 3-year, 3-month, 3-day silent meditation retreat, which she completed in 2014.
Vimala loves teaching yoga and meditation, inspiring others to work with their inner bodies to create their outer world with health, wealth, and especially love. Recently married, she and her husband share their time between Sedona, Arizona, with Machik (their dog) and Fort Myers Beach, Florida, with their mom Rose.
EXECUTIVE MANAGER
CHRISTINA KASICA
Christina is the executive manager of the Asian Legacy Library’s preservation efforts at the National Library of Mongolia, located in Ulaanbaatar.
Christina studied medieval Islamic intellectual history in a doctoral program at Harvard University, acquiring an M.A. in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She then entered the technology industry, holding positions such as vice president of marketing, where she helped to facilitate IPOs, and consulting in international technology market analysis.
Subsequently, she went to work for Robert Reich, serving as his campaign scheduler in his bid to become governor of Massachusetts. Post-campaign, she worked in the non-profit industry in social justice sectors, on issues such as the subprime mortgage crisis, the estate tax, and savings in underbanked communities. She also was a consultant at Harvard University on a recent $6 billion capital campaign.
Christina is a long-time student of Sanskrit, an advocate for the elderly, and a passionate political volunteer in Northern Arizona.
Creative Director
Osiris Luciano
Osiris Luciano is a committed artist and filmmaker.
His primary responsibility with the Asian Legacy Library is to bring to life, in the most exciting and resonant ways, the stories that make our mission so special. His unique relationship with our global supporters provides him with extraordinary insight into the storytelling that will resonate best with them.
His professional work embraces the concept of value-based entertainment. His early debut was at the prestigious International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, Germany, where his film was awarded best short film. His work has also subsequently been featured in many film festivals worldwide.
For over 20 years, Osiris has been directing and producing short films, documentaries, video-clips, experimental projects, and commercials. In recent years, he has been working primarily in Europe and Asia.
Osiris studied marketing at the Universidad de Monterrey, and then attended film school in Mexico City at the Associaćon Mexicana de Coneastas Indepenientes. Osiris believes that cinema is a powerful tool beyond its commercial reach, in that storytelling can awaken people’s minds and hearts in profound ways.
Osiris lives in Monterrey, Mexico, with his partner and two dogs, Skyla and Greta.
DIRECTOR OF TIBETAN OPERATIONS
NICHOLAS LASHAW
Nick’s primary role at the Asian Legacy Library is managing the programs being run in our preservation partner centers in South Asia.
After completing his B.E. in mechanical engineering, Nick undertook extensive studies in Buddhist and yogic philosophies. His business background includes managing a successful start-up landscaping design business and as a consultant to a start-up yoga apparel company, helping manage its growth into mainstream markets.
In addition to directing ALL’s input of timeless wisdom literature, he is the executive director of the Diamond Cutter Classics translation organization, which is responsible for translating the Asian Legacy Library’s preservation product into English and other modern languages. He also works as a professor at Sedona College of International Management and is a staff instructor for Diamond Cutter Institute, as well as its director of new content development.
Nick resides in Sedona, Arizona, with his wife and daughter.
Data Design Manager
Phil Baker
Phil’s primary responsibility for the Asian legacy Library has been the gathering and cataloging of transliterated Buddhist texts from our original input centers located in South India. More recently this has also involved adding the catalogue data from ALL’s current partner project located in the National Library of Mongolia, as well as completed projects which were in the Oriental Library of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Ladakh Gonpa Association located in Leh, Ladakh.
Phil has also developed and managed the full-text and cataloging information housed in a SQL database which feeds the entire ALL digital library.
He received a B.A. in music from Occidental College and completed graduate studies at Stanford University in educational psychology and computer science. While there, he worked on an in-depth project focused on sharing the catalogue data from multiple research libraries, hence developing his interest in cataloging—both the intellectual and technical aspects. Most of Phil’s professional career has been in computer system design and programming.
From 1998 through 2004, Phil attended a Buddhist master’s program at the Instituto Lama Tzong Khapa located in Pisa, Italy. He has been a fully ordained monk for 21 years.
Phil continues to teach a group of dedicated students in Germany, as he has for the last 15 years.
Director of Development and Outreach
Emma Grace Lewis
Emma’s role at the Asian Legacy Library focuses on development and outreach programming.
Before joining ALL, Emma worked from 2015 to 2018 with the Buddhist Digital Resource Center managing fundraising and communications projects. In 2021, she received a master’s degree from Harvard University in Critical Conservation, where she studied the links between cultural preservation and ecological protection efforts in Ladakh, India, and coastal Louisiana. Emma’s work and research has been funded by the U.S. Fulbright Program, the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation, the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University, and others. Outside of her work with ALL, Emma is passionate about mediation and serving as a grief counselor for young people.
A dual citizen of the U.S. and the U.K., Emma is currently based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
ASIAN LEGACY LIBRARY
BOARD
Michael Roach
Michael Roach serves on the board of the Asian legacy Library as founder of the Asian Classics Input Project. ACIP was created in 1987 in order to preserve and digitize the timeless wisdom texts of Asia, primarily in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a graduate of Princeton University and as a high school senior, the recipient of the Presidential Scholars Medallion.
Michael was the first American to complete the Buddhist geshe degree, or Masters of Buddhism, from Sera Mey Monastery in South India.
As a director and founding member of the Andin International Diamond Corporation, Michael helped grow the company from three employees to eventually being sold in 2009 to Richline Group, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, after achieving over $250 million USD in sales.
In addition to authoring numerous books, including the New York Times bestseller The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your Life, he is the founder of multiple global teaching organizations based on the principles found in the ancient and timeless wisdom traditions of Asia.
In 2019, the Asian Classics Input Project ceased operations, and donated its significant corpus of preservation work to the Asian Legacy Library.
John Brady
John serves the Asian Legacy Library as the executive director in charge of global operations.
Prior to ALL, John was an executive director for the Lillian Vernon Corporation, heading a “Business to Business” division serving clients such as Estee Lauder Cosmetics, American Express Credit Card Services, Victoria’s Secret, Anheuser-Busch, Kraft Foods, and other Fortune 500 companies.
For over a decade, John studied and practiced meditation with Eido Shimano Roshi, an authentic master and lineage holder in the Rinzai tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. John was on the board of directors of The Zen Studies Society from 1985 to 1995.
In 1996 John met Tibetan Buddhist master teachers Geshe Lobsang Tarchin and Geshe Michael Roach. He began the rigorous 36 course study program, which culminated in him entering a 3-year, 3-month, 3-day silent meditation retreat on December 26th of 2011 as director. John is a senior instructor for Asian Classics Institute, Diamond Cutter Institute Global, and Sedona College of International Management.
He currently resides with his wife in Sedona, Arizona. They travel and teach together throughout Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Stanley Chen
Stanley Chen is a certified professor and the director of innovation for Diamond Cutter Institute Global. He has been studying, practicing, and teaching the timeless Diamond Cutter Wisdom since 2011, and he has often served as the main Mandarin translator for Michael Roach since 2014.
Stanley is also an ancient wisdom text translator for the Diamond Cutter Classics Translation Project in the US. He and his partner Xiaoping Zhou launched the Pure Gold Translation Project in order to train and support Chinese translators in ancient wisdom translations. In 2017, they founded both the Future Diamond Academy and Silk Road Renaissance, each of which conduct China Soft Power’s Global Executive Training for elite business executives to help them expand their international businesses through the power of applying timeless wisdom.
In addition to serving on the board of the Asian Legacy Library, Stanley is also a board member of the Diamond Mountain Retreat Center, one of the largest retreat centers in the world.