Karen G. Williams, Ph.D. has practiced vipassana meditation since 2008. She is on New York Insight’s Teachers Council and the board of Insight Meditation Society. She also chairs the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee at New York Insight. In 2016 she graduated from the joint Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Training Program; and since then she has taught around the NYC metropolitan area, primarily in communities of color and in the LGBTQI community. Her mindfulness and meditative practices are rooted in cultivating a spirit of whole heartedness and building compassionate engagement that recognizes the interconnectedness of all things. Dr. Williams is also an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Guttman Community College (CUNY). Her scholarship examines strategies implemented inside correctional facilities to help incarcerated people return home to their communities.