Kell Julliard has practiced meditation in a variety of traditions since his early twenties. In 2009 he met Mingyur Rinpoche and has since studied intensively with Rinpoche and the Tergar Meditation Community. During this time he has served as a mentor for the Tergar New York City Meditation Center and Tergar Elmira. In addition to Kell’s role with Tergar, he previously served as director of clinical research at a large federally qualified health center in Brooklyn, where he also taught mindfulness meditation to faculty, students, and staff. 

Jess has devoted much of her adult life to practicing and studying Buddhism. After completing  both  Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Earth Systems at Stanford University, she moved to Zen Mountain Monastery, where she trained for over three years. During that time she completed over 40 week-long sesshins (silent retreats) and studied many Buddhist topics. She then decided to pursue Tibetan Buddhism, and was ordained as a monastic by Thrangu Rinpoche in 2015. She met Mingyur Rinpoche shortly afterwards at Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, India, and knew immediately he was her main teacher. Under Mingyur Rinpoche’s guidance, she completed two months-long solitary retreats in Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s cave in the Himalayas, including a five-month retreat over winter where she saw no one. After completing her solitary retreats, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin to participate in the Tergar community and the Center for Healthy Minds. In 2018, Jess chose to return to lay life and  her homeland in Alberta, Canada. Over the past few years, Jess has continued to study with Mingyur Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, while discovering both the joys and rich opportunities for practice that lay life offers. She serves as a Tergar Facilitator and host for online retreats, and supports a local practice group. Jess currently works as a website designer and meditation coach. In her downtime, she loves to backcountry ski, run, and bike in the mountains with her dog Pema.