Jim Bastien is the Chief Operarting Officer of the Zen Peacemakers. Jim grew up in North Adams, Massachusetts where he graduated from North Adams State College in 1974 with a degree in Psychology and went on to win a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan in 1979. After completing his graduate studies, Jim worked for 17 years at Father Flanagan's Girls and Boys Town, in Boys Town, Nebraska where he was trained in the Teaching-Family Model of residential services. In 1990, Jim founded Girls and Boys Town of New England. During his tenure at Boys Town, Jim also received a second Masters Degree in Human Development from the University of Kansas. Jim’s particular expertise is in the area of bearing witness to the struggles of societies least fortunate members and starting up new human service agencies and turning around failing human service organizations. In addition to his work at Father Flanagan’s Girls and Boys Town, Jim has served as the Director of Child and Adolescent Residential Services for McLean Hospital, Director of Family-Based Services for the Northeast Center for Youth and Families, Executive Director of the Kolbourne School, Senior Administrator for Alternative Behavioral Services and Vice President of Residential Services at Brightside for Families and Children, a corporation of the Sisters of Providence Health System and Catholic Health East, the largest faith-based health system in the country. Jim has 30 years of experience designing, training, implementing, administrating and evaluating quality human service organizations. He has published numerous research articles and papers in professional journals and has presented at national, regional and local human service conferences on pertinent topics related to organizational change and quality human services. Jim began his studies as a Zen student 1985 at the Nebraska Zen Center under the auspices of Rev. Teijo Warner a senior monastic student of Dainin Katagiri Roshi, Abbot of the Minnesota Zen Center. In 1990, Jim moved to Rhode Island where he practiced with Zen Master Soeng Hyang in the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Jim also did residency training at the Cambridge Zen Center in Cambridge Massachusetts where he studied with Zen Master Bon Yeon. Jim is currently studying with Roshi Bernie Glassman. Board Service and Professional Affiliations Zen Peacemakers - Board President Massachusetts Association of Chapter 766 Approved Private Schools - Board Member National Association of Private Special Education Centers Children's League of Massachusetts - Board Member Massachusetts Adolescent Sex Offender Coalition Western Massachusetts Service Providers Child Welfare League of America Berkshire Behavior Analysis and Therapy Association International Association for Behavior Analysis Human Service Forum In May, 2005 he became a Founding Zen Entrepreneur in the Fellowhip of Entrepreneurs of the Zen Peacemakers.

Katlin graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Masters Degrees in Education Psychology focusing on Youth Development. May 5, 2011