Jess Brown (they/any)
Metadata Manager
Jess is a lifelong student and occasional teacher currently living in the Texas Hill Country with dear family members, including beloved dogs. They continue to explore and deepen their daily practice in the Plum Village tradition since first encountering Thích Nhất Hạnh’s teachings in 2020.
Katie Eberle (she/her)
Creative Director
A constant explorer, Katie brings her experience in radio, graphic design, publishing, and thoughtful living to her role as creative director at Parallax. She has a nose for good stories. She often likes to tell them. And she will always love books for being what they are: perfect portals with the capacity to see into others and ourselves. She also publishes titles with Mount Vision Press, based in Point Reyes Station, California.
Matthew Friberg (he/him)
Plum Village Senior Editor
Matt lives with his wife and son in the Central Catskills of New York. Each week, Matt practices mindful sitting, walking, breathing, and smiling with the Mountains and Rivers Sangha (Putney, Vermont). He received the Five Mindfulness Trainings in Brooklyn, NY (2017), and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings at Blue Cliff Monastery (2022). Before joining the Parallax Press team, Matt was a senior editor at Routledge, where he worked primarily in the field of social justice education. He studied political theory at Oberlin College (B.A., 2010) and UCLA (M.A., 2014).
Matt is profoundly grateful to Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village path of practice for illuminating the way of understanding, love, and freedom.
Tony Lulek (he/him)
Accounting Manager, Rights & Permissions
Tony Lulek has worked in the publishing industry for more than twenty-five years, previously with East Coast Buddhist publisher Wisdom Publications as the accounting manager and production manager. Prior to his entry into Dharma publishing, he co-owned Rum & Reggae Guidebooks, a publisher of travel guides about the Caribbean, Hawaii, Central America, and Brazil. Tony resides in Holliston, Massachusetts, with his two dogs and a cat. His passions are meditation, artwork, book design, and beekeeping. Tony has been a Buddhist since 2001, when he took his refuge vows with Geshe Tsulga at the Kurukulla Center in Medford, Massachusetts. A few years later he did his first ten-day silent Vipassana retreat in Shelburne, Massachusetts, in the tradition of S. N. Goenka, and he continues to practice Vipassana to this day. In 2024, he began practicing in the Plum Village tradition in the Boston area with Parallax author and Dharma teacher John Bell.
Hisae Matsuda (she/her)
Publisher and CEO
Born in Japan and raised in London, Hisae first encountered mindfulness practice at a retreat with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in England in 1993. She is honored to serve as publisher of the teachings of the Plum Village Engaged Buddhism tradition, which she finds a beautiful path for personal and community healing and transformation. Prior to joining Parallax in 2016, she was an editor at North Atlantic Books. Hisae is inspired by great writing that shows the connections between spirituality, sustainability, social change, and healing.
John Matsuoka (he/him)
Business and Operations Director
John has spent most of his working life helping others communicate and distribute their ideas through printing, publishing, marketing, and ecommerce. He has managed production processes for printing facilities, academic institutions, and a Fortune 500 cooperative. He joined Parallax after being moved by the clarity and depth of Thich Nhat Hanh and the other authors of Parallax Press. When not reading, John enjoys the challenge of working with his hands and learning new skills.
Jacopo Miceli (he/him)
Digital Media Manager
Profoundly inspired by the teachings of Satish Kumar and Thich Nhat Hanh, Jacopo’s journey has taken him from large-scale U.S. film productions and advertising to a life rooted in the soil, mindfulness, and ethical organizations. Since 2023, he has lived and practiced at Plum Village France, where he balances his role as Digital Media Manager at Parallax Press with growing food at the Happy Farm.
As a CNVC Candidate Trainer and advocate for Nonviolent Communication and Beloved Community, Jacopo brings his commitment to personal growth, community building and social change to his work. He also enjoys tea, dance, breadmaking and connecting with the tiny creatures he encounters along the path.
Elizabeth McKellar (she/her)
Director of Sales, Marketing, and New Media
Elizabeth McKellar is a Bay Area native, with brief stints in Kentucky, Montana, India, and Costa Rica. A lover of travel, animals, and books, Elizabeth worked in publishing at Lonely Planet and Berrett-Koehler prior to joining Parallax in 2020. A dedicated home baker with dreams of being on the Great British Baking show, when she isn’t reading, or daydreaming of reading, she enjoys practicing mindfulness and spending time with her cats, corgi, and family.
Miranda Perrone (she/her)
Editor
An avid reader since childhood and practitioner since her teenage years, Miranda is thrilled that her subsequent editorial work led her to Parallax—a place where her passions can come together in support of a more peaceful world. Her interests range from the philosophical (which she studied as an undergraduate) to the deeply embodied (she continues to work as an outdoor educator and yoga/meditation teacher). Though Miranda has dipped her toe into a number of Zen lineages, the social engagement, concrete applications, and joyfulness of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Engaged Buddhism have become her home. An Earth Holder Sangha and Wake Up member, Miranda lives between the Western US and the European Alps.
Leslie Schneider (she/her)
Accounting Manager & HR Liaison
Leslie has worked in the field of nonprofit accounting most of her professional life, keeping the books for organizations that support the welfare of others, including the San Francisco Zen Center, the Ali Akbar College of Music (founded by the renowned Indian classical master Ali Akbar Khan), the Gorilla Foundation, Urban Releaf, the Social Good Foundation, and Partners Asia. She joined Parallax in 2010, valuing Parallax’s commitment to publish the expression of many seekers and teachers, including the deeply resonant writings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Leslie has also been active in the field of Indian classical music for more than 20 years, both as a student and as a coordinator of concert tours of artists from India. One well-loved expression is “there is no great or small.”
Jeff Scott (he/him)
Inventory Manager
Jeff is a veteran of the Bay Area book business, with more than a decade as an indie press buyer at the legendary Bookpeople in Oakland, followed by fourteen years in distribution at Publishers Group West in Berkeley. At Parallax, Jeff takes care of the inventory and makes sure books get to where they are meant to go. He first heard of Thich Nhat Hanh back in 1986/87 while working at Shambhala Books on Telegraph Avenue. Outside work, Jeff enjoys film noir and books, good food, and Cleveland sports teams.
Katie Sheehan (she/her)
Director of Communications
Katie Sheehan is the Director of Communications for Parallax Press. She has worked in publishing for more than twenty years. Her previous positions include the Marketing and Publicity Director at the Crossing Press and the Associate Director of Communications at Berrett – Koehler Publishers. Before transitioning to publishing, she worked in radio and television, as well as at several high-tech startups. She was raised in Canada and now lives in Northern California.
Heather Weightman (she/they)
Managing Editor for The Mindfulness Bell
Heather became a mindfulness practitioner in 2005 after reading Peace Is Every Step by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. They joined the Mindfulness Bell staff in 2016. They hold a masters degree in public health and their diverse career has been grounded in food justice, from being a public health researcher at UCLA to working as a farm hand in rural Pennsylvania. A grey-watering, rain-collecting, food-foresting, avid organic cook and gardener, Heather strives to live sustainably in joy and peace on unceded Kumeyaay land (aka San Diego, California, US) with their spouse, three dogs, and six chickens.