Patton Sarley (Dinabandhu), Chief Executive Officer
Patton Sarley (also known by his Sanskrit name, Dinabandhu) has been a leader in the field of spirituality and human development for more than 30 years. Kripalu’s Chief Executive Officer, he previously spent nine years as president of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. His passion is applying the principles of integrated functioning—the foundation of yoga—toward organizational growth and vitality.
Patton is an active teacher and workshop leader in the areas of communication, spirituality in the workplace, organizational development, and leadership, and is the cofounder with his wife, Ila, of the Natural Yoga system of self-development and the Essential Communications method. He has devoted his life to the intensive practice of a wide variety of Eastern and Western disciplines for spiritual growth, personal transformation, and organizational leadership. Patton is coauthor with Ila of Walking Yoga and The Essentials of Yoga.
Ila Sarley, President
Ila Sarley was a founding member of Kripalu, and she currently serves as Kripalu’s President. Previously, she was director of marketing and communications at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies for nine years. Ila’s passion lies in integrating the curriculum and communications strategy of an institution with its mission and culture. She combines marketing strategy, program development, staff training, and brand coherency into a seamless whole so that both internal and external participants in the life of the institution know what the institution stands for and can participate accordingly.
For the past 30 years, Ila has dedicated her life to the intensive study and practice of the science of yoga, communications, and personal and organizational development. She has led yoga, meditation, and communications workshops throughout the United States, Costa Rica, and Canada for more than 25 years. Ila is the cofounder with her husband, Garrett, of the Natural Yoga system of self-development and the Essential Communications method, and is also the coauthor of Walking Yoga and The Essentials of Yoga.
Executive Team
Denise Barack, Director of Program Development
Denise Barack has been involved with Kripalu since 1985. She holds a degree in communications and was the advertising director at East West Journal in Boston before moving to the Berkshires to be part of the Kripalu community. She was Kripalu’s photographer and Group Events Manager for several years before joining the Curriculum Team. As Kripalu’s Director of Program Development, she uses her gift for networking people and ideas in overseeing the planning and development of all of Kripalu’s guest-faculty programs. Denise is the mother of two teenagers, and is a 200-hour certified yoga teacher.
Stephen Cope, Director, Institute for Extraordinary Living
Stephen Cope, MSW, is a psychotherapist, a national best-selling author, and a senior instructor of Kripalu Yoga with more than 15 years of experience as a yoga teacher. During the summer of 2005, he launched a pioneering music and consciousness program in conjunction with the Tanglewood Institute to study the effects of yoga and meditation on performance anxiety, physical health, and states of optimal performance. The senior Scholar-in-Residence at Kripalu Center, Stephen is the author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, Will Yoga and Meditation Really Change My Life?, and The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker’s Guide to Extraordinary Living. Stephen was named by Yoga Journal as one of the top 25 innovators in yoga in America in the last quarter of a century.
Deb Morgan, Executive Chef and Director of Food Services
Deb Morgan opened her first natural foods cafe in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the age of 21. In 1987, Deb discovered the Kripalu ashram, became a resident a year later, and spent the next four years working in the kitchen, practicing yoga, and living the Kripalu lifestyle. In the early 1990s, Deb and her husband Dan opened an organic cafe, The Love Dog, in Lenox, Massachusetts, which became well known as the place to go for delicious whole-foods cuisine. In the fall of 2005, Deb returned to Kripalu as Executive Chef and Director of Food Services, where she has been instrumental in creating a well-trained team of cooks and support staff and has created a new Kripalu cuisine that is receiving rave reviews from staff and guests alike.
John O’Neill, Director of Finance
John O’Neill was a long-term resident of the Kripalu ashram until 1994, during which time he worked at all levels of the finance and accounting departments. He then held financial controller positions in several retailing businesses in New Mexico before returning to Kripalu in 2001. As Director of Finance, John oversees all aspects of the organization’s financial areas, manages the Finance Department’s staff, and has developed substantial improvements in Kripalu’s budget system as well as in the quality and timeliness of accounting reports and financial statements. John has a deep respect for the work that Kripalu performs in the world and is deeply committed to the success of its mission.
Tom Rocco, Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Tom Rocco has been with Kripalu Center since July 2004, and oversees marketing strategy and operations, including the Kripalu catalog and website and the Registration Department. Prior to Kripalu, he spent more than four years at the Millard Group, Inc., a leader in list and marketing services, overseeing the Internet division, marketing services, and new ventures. From 1988 to 2000 Tom directed all list, analytics, and database marketing for Rodale Press, the leading publisher of magazines and books about health and wellness, including Prevention and Men’s Health. Tom began his direct marketing career at Publishers Clearing House in 1981 and Guideposts Associates from 1985 to 1988 in marketing analysis and research positions. He received his Masters of Business Administration in Marketing in 1985 and has been a yoga practitioner for more than 15 years.
Jennifer Webster, Director of Operations and Staff Development
Jennifer came to Kripalu in late 2004 as a volunteer in Kripalu’s Spiritual Lifestyle Program. She then joined Kripalu’s staff as the Production Manager, a position that she held until the fall of 2006, when she began her new role as Director of Operations. Prior to coming to Kripalu, Jennifer directed the residence life and housing program at a small university in Georgia. Jennifer has studied English literature and writing, Spanish, and cultural and medical anthropology. She holds a master’s degree in anthropology, with a focus on cultural understandings of health and communicable disease. A primary theme in her work has been pulling seemingly disparate experiences, studies, work, skills, and systems together to create new understandings.
Jennifer Young, Director of Retreat and Renewal and Healthy Living, and Codirector of the Institute for Integrated Healing
Before coming to Kripalu, Jennifer worked in marketing and new business development in the active travel and hospitality industry for 10 years. As the vice president of marketing for Overseas Adventure Travel, her work took her all over the world, including Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Nepal, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Egypt, and Europe. As the vice president of marketing for VBT Bicycling Vacations, she developed a new market of women’s tours. Jennifer was also the president of her own marketing and communication consulting business for two years. She has her bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy from Boston College and is also an actress, yogini, artist, and mother of two. She lives with her husband and children in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
