In-Person and Online: Young Adult Town Hall Gathering
with Leslie Booker, Brian Simmons, and Kathy Rollo Ferrara
Sunday, June 14th, 2026 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm ET
In-Person Location: New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
For those ages 18–34, we warmly invite you to join us for an evening of conversation, connection, and shared reflection about contemplative practice, community, and the future of young adult Dharma at New York Insight Meditation Center. Whether you’ve been practicing for years, are newly exploring meditation, or simply curious about what an authentic spiritual community can look like in today’s world, we would love to hear from you.
This gathering is an opportunity for us to listen deeply to the experiences, needs, and hopes of young adults in our sangha and wider community. We’ll also share an emerging vision for new young adult programming and a possible grant-supported initiative focused on supporting the next generation of practitioners and leaders. Together, we hope to begin shaping a Young Adult Advisory Circle that can help guide this work forward with creativity, care, and collaboration.
Teachers leading this evening are Leslie Booker, Guiding Teacher; Brian Simmons, NYI Teacher Collective; and Kathy Rollo Ferrara, NYI Community Steward.
Refreshments will be served and there will be plenty of opportunities to connect with each other.
Registration is encouraged so we can prepare the evening thoughtfully.
Registration
If you are having trouble completing your RSVP, please CLICK HERE to open it in a new browser. All proceeds will support this sangha’s teacher(s) and NYIMC operations. Please contact [email protected] if you need assistance.
Teacher(s)
Leslie Booker
Booker is a heart – centered, spirit – driven activist and meditation teacher committed to creating a culture of belonging through her teaching and writing. She completed Spirit Rock’s 4 year Retreat Teacher Training in 2020, and shared the practices of yoga and mindfulness with New York City’s most vulnerable populations for over a decade. Booker has co – authored and contributed to several publications including the trauma – informed anthology Practicing Liberation and its accompanying workbook, for folks working towards social justice. She is a co-founder of the Yoga Service Council at Omega Institute and the Meditation Working Group of Occupy Wall Street. In 2020 she was invited to be a Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow through Auburn Seminary and was voted by her peers as one of the 12 Powerful Women in the Mindfulness Movement.
Booker moved to Philadelphia in August of 2020 to vote in a swing state, and currently serves as the Guiding Teacher of New York Insight.
W | LeslieBooker.com
IG | TheRealBookerProject
FB | LeslieBooker
Brian Simmons
Brian Simmons is a longtime teacher at New York Insight. He is a former award-winning Writer/Producer for Comedy Central and is currently a District Level administrator for a Westchester School District. Brian has pioneered the use of mindfulness in diverse educational environments, and published a chapter on Mindfulness in a college textbook on lowering school violence from Springer Publications in 2023. Brian has maintained an intensive daily practice since the 1990’s and completed teacher trainings at the Center for Mindfulness at UMASS Medical College as well as the Community Dharma Leaders program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. Brian’s mindfulness work in education has been featured in a documentary on Audible, a NY Times cover story and various other outlets.
Kathleen Rollo Ferrara
Kathy has been practicing Insight Meditation at NYIMC since 2010. She started volunteering early on and often speaks of how her volunteer work is what has made NYI her spiritual home and community. With 40 years of experience working in theater as well as 37 years as a Director of Recreation, Volunteers and Spiritual Care in Long Term Care Nursing Homes she brings a wide array of experience in planning and managing a variety of successful special events, theater/performance projects and fundraisers. Kathy’s practice at NYIMC has led her to be ordained as an Interfaith Minister as well as opened up the journey towards Chaplaincy work with the elder community.
“Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.”