FPMT Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The President and CEO is appointed by and reports to the Board.  The CEO’s main responsibilities are to:

• Ensure that the organization achieves its mission, set forth by our Founding Lamas and the Board as a long range strategy towards which it should make consistent progress
• Provide leadership in developing programs with the department heads and staff, assuring that the plans and policies authorized by the Board and Founding Lamas are carried out
• Develop, in conjunction with the staff, a budget which will be submitted to the Board for approval; see that the organization operates within the budget guidelines

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Reporting to the CEO, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) is responsible for supporting and managing the day-to-day activities and operations of International Office. Responsibilities include:

• Leading and being involved with scheduling and managing Executive Committee meetings, Staff meetings and other committee meetings as required to ensure all work is ongoing to accomplish agreed strategic plans.
• Directing and leading all the departments of FPMT International Office, by keeping the bigger picture firmly in view, and by working closely with and overseeing all departments.
• Being involved in the creation, implementation and tracking of the departmental and overall office strategy and priorities.
• Enhancing the internal organization processes and infrastructure that will allow FPMT International Office to continue to grow and fulfill its mission.
• Managing and supporting the staff of FPMT International Office in their work to accomplish the agreed strategic and departmental priority plans.

Executive Assistant to the CEO and Charitable Projects Coordinator

The Executive Assistant to the CEO is appointed by the CEO. The main objective of this position is to help with the workload of the CEO and to manage the FPMT charitable projects. This entails:

• Assisting with communications to and from the CEO and keeping track of Rinpoche’s Dharma advice, center-related advice and advice for the organization, working closely with the other departments of International Office and Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive to ensure it is archived, accessible and available whenever necessary.
• Managing all ongoing Rinpoche’s personal projects not managed by International Office.
• FPMT Charitable Project Coordinator – all aspects of project management – providing timely reports, creating and updating project web pages, coordinating and working with the project managers on the ground. Working with Development Department to fundraise for the FPMT Charitable projects. 

Center and Teacher Services Department

The Center and Teacher Services Department, with the support of regional and national coordinators, helps FPMT centers, projects and services and study groups establish and sustain good, robust governance structure to support their provision and preservation of the Mahayana tradition now and into the future. Specifically, the Center and Teacher Services Department:

• Helps develop and update FPMT policy and guidelines for affiliates, communicates new policy to affiliates, and keeps the Affiliates Area up to date.
• Appoints and supports FPMT regional and national coordinators.
• Assists study groups to move from probationary status to affiliate with FPMT Inc.
• Assists affiliate boards with, and facilitates provision of the FPMT Inc. board’s advice on, the appointment of affiliate directors;
• Co-appoints affiliate spiritual program coordinators with the affiliate directors;
• Facilitates the appointment of resident teachers at affiliates;
• Provides FPMT orientation and resources to these affiliate staff members;
• Keeps information flowing between centers, projects, services and the FPMT Inc. board, regional and national coordinators and team members at International Office;
• Informs centers, projects and services of new advice from the FPMT Inc. board;
• Archives advice from the Founding Lamas to affiliates;
• Coordinates the organization of CPMT meetings;
• Organizes and supports FPMT Service Seminars for FPMT staff and students.
• Facilitates the registration of new FPMT teachers and supports FPMT registered teachers.

FPMT Communications

The online, multimedia content that is published daily on FPMT.org represents the continuation of Mandala publications, which was the official publication of FPMT from 1987-2021. We keep readers connected with advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe as well as with updates and news from our charitable projects; from FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world; and from individuals within the FPMT organization. Our longer blog stories cover topics ranging from pilgrimage, to student milestones in their study and practice, from profiles of teachers to explanations of aspects of Buddhist practice. These longer stories can be read on our In-Depth Stories page. Find all of our latest blog posts on the FPMT News page.

Education Services Department

The Education Services Department manages the development and implementation of FPMT education program curriculum and study/practice materials.

• Creates new program curriculum as needed by centers in conjunction with senior teachers
• Supports existing curriculum with guidelines, translations, study materials, exams, readings, and completion certificates
• Creates certification criteria for all FPMT education programs
• Manages the translation of various texts recommended by the Founding Lamas
• Coordinates the FPMT Translation and Editorial team in English, and translation coordinators in other languages
• Creates practice texts which complement programs, support student needs, and disseminate the Founding Lamas’ advice
• Manages the production of prayer and practice materials for distribution via the Foundation Store
• Develops and maintains a library of all standard FPMT prayers and practice materials
• Tracks the status of education initiatives that have arisen from FPMT meetings and conferences

Development Department

The Development Department generates sustainable revenue for International Office operations, develops income-generating activities to support FPMT’s charitable projects, and aligns the revenue generation of International Office with its Dharma principles, vision and mission. To this end, promoting organizational accountability, providing careful stewardship of donors and funds, and creating timely, effective communication methods are components of their work to establish long-term financial stability.  The Development Department manages all fundraising campaigns and the Friends of FPMT program.

Finance & Administration Department

The Finance and Administration Department:

• Manages and co-ordinates all aspects of the financial and management accounting functions of  FPMT Inc, to ensure compliance with Federal & State regulations and accounting standards.
• Supervises the charge and custody of all funds of FPMT Inc and is responsible for keeping true and correct accounts of all financial transactions of the corporation including the Foundation restricted funds.
• Works on preparation and certification of FPMT Inc accounts.
• Assists the CEO and management team to develop and evaluate strategic business plans, prepare and manage budgets, monitor financial results, review and ensure the smooth functioning of the financial/operational procedures.
• Financial reporting for internal and external stakeholders including preparation of monthly financial reports for all project and fund directors and management of external audit and banking relationship interactions.
• Establishes financial practices and procedure and their associated business policies.
• Manages and supervises Administrative and Human Resource functions of International Office including insurances, corporate exemptions, regulations and employee benefits.

Foundation Store

The FPMT Foundation Store provides a vast selection of Buddhist study materials including Prayers & Practices, Homestudy Programs, Dharma Materials for Children, and other FPMT Education Services resources. The main motivation of the Foundation Store is to make the Dharma available in order to benefit sentient beings.

Proceeds from sales through the Foundation Store are carefully categorized and calculated to ensure that income from Dharma items is used to make more Dharma available and to further the charitable mission and projects of FPMT Inc. We carefully follow Buddhist principles for the use of Dharma income and any payments for salaries or food expenses are excluded when calculating the net Dharma proceeds from the Foundation Store.

Technology Department

The Technology Department coordinates all of the technology initiatives at International Office including internal technology infrastructure (network, hardware, desktop) as well as technologies used to support organizational communication, education and development (database, website, email communications, Friends of FPMT program, projects, and online education). The Technology Department works to ensure that the technology used in International Office is fundamentally aligned with the long term vision and mission of FPMT.

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