Drawing from a pool of eight highly qualified candidates, NAMA’s membership selected Heather Lynn Grzych, CAP; Jayarajan Kodikannath, BAMS AD; Dhanada Kulkarni, BAMS AD; and Alakananda Ma, MBBS AD, to fill four available seats on NAMA’s Board of Directors. Thank you to every member who voted. These four candidates will begin their term in November and serve through 2022. Also, to fill a recent board vacancy, the board has appointed Susan Weis-Bohlen to serve until the next board election as dictated by NAMA’s bylaws. We give our deepest appreciation to William Dean, Eric Grasser, and Monica Groover for their time on the board. Your service to NAMA has been greatly appreciated.
Heather Lynn Grzych, CAP
Heather believes that NAMA has laid the foundation for the Ayurvedic profession, but recognizes that Ayurvedic professional still face the challenge of establishing a successful career. She knows that once students finish school, many have no idea how to set up and run a business. She wants to help NAMA empower Ayurvedic professionals with business skills.
Jayarajan Kodikannath, BAMS AD
As a classically trained Ayurvedic doctor from India, Jayarajan is passionate about propagating Ayurveda globally. His life’s mission comprises goals ranging from developing high-quality Ayurvedic educational programs and creating confident and capable Ayurvedic practitioners to bringing legal credibility to the Ayurvedic profession and building public awareness of Ayurvedic medicine.
Dhanada Kulkarni, BAMS AD
Dhanada has been practicing and teaching Ayurveda in the United States for 19 years. She feels blessed by the gift of Vedic knowledge from her Brahmin family. She believes that new Board members like her can use their background in classical Ayurvedic wisdom as a rasayana that will help nourish, advance, and sustain the practice of Ayurveda by preserving its authenticity.
Alakananda Ma, MBBS AD
Alakananda wants to see Ayurvedic education and schools flourish. She has served three terms as a member of Board and the Accreditation Council. She wants to wrap up her work as chair of the Standards Committee and see the program developed by the Accreditation Council become fully operational as it heads toward U.S. Department of Education recognition.
Susan Weis-Bohlen (Board Appointed Member)
Susan’s love for Ayurveda runs deep. Finding NAMA ten years ago helped her establish a community, a thriving practice, and access to the top Ayurvedic speakers and teachers. She wants to bring innovative ideas to conference, ongoing member engagement, make NAMA accessible to all, to continuing education, and to increase the Ayurvedic awareness to the public and all health practitioners.