Dawa Tarchin Phillips

Dawa Tarchin Phillips is a meditation teacher, author, researcher and entrepreneur based in the United States. He co-founded and previously served as the Director of Education at the Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, he is a founding board member and currently serves as President of the International Mindful Teachers Association, which supports training programs and professionals in the field of mindfulness. Phillips is also the founder and CEO of Empowerment Holdings, and a co-founder of the Mindful Leadership Online Training Conference. He has also established the Mindfulness Leadership Tribe, an online community.
==Background==
Phillips was born in New York City, New York. He grew up in a multicultural family in Europe. He is proficient in English, German, and French. Currently, he resides in Santa Barbara, California with his family.
Phillips pursued spiritual training at Dhagpo Kundreul Ling Hermitage in France, where he underwent intensive training as an ordained monk of Vajrayana Buddhism. He completed the traditional 3-year meditation retreat twice.
==Career==
Following his retreats, Phillips returned to the United States and settled in Santa Barbara, California where he assumed a leadership position at a local meditation center.
In 2016, Phillips collaborated with Dr. Jonathan Schooler and Dr. Michael Mrazek to establish the Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential (CMHP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The center's primary objective has been to advance research in neuroplasticity and metacognition, and create mindfulness training programs to help students develop better focused attention, emotional regulation, and academic performance. CMHP has been financially supported by organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Shao Family Charitable Trust. Phillips conducted research on the benefits of meditation for school children, youth and young adults during his time at CMHP.
Phillips is a Vajrayana lama and is authorized to teach in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism in both the United States and internationally. He presently serves as the resident teacher of the Santa Barbara Bodhi Path Buddhist Center.
Following his tenure at UC Santa Barbara, Phillips established the International Mindfulness Teachers Association (IMTA) with Diana Winston of UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center(MARC) and Philipp Moffitt of the Life Balance Institute. Currently, Phillips holds the position of Founding President of the IMTA.
Phillips founded Empowerment Holdings LLC in 2007, which aims to educate business professionals and organizations on mindful leadership. He also co-founded the Mindful Leadership Online Training Conference and established the Mindful Leadership Tribe, an online community of mindful leaders. 
==Research and Publications==
Phillips has authored several scientific papers on the clinical applications of mindfulness in various fields such as cognition and neuroplasticity, medicine and healthcare, as well as in educational, performance, and leadership settings. As of April 2023, Phillips's research has been cited 1,286 times, with 1,036 of those citations occurring since 2017.
Phillips has conducted research in collaboration with institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Yale, UCSB, UCLA, and the U.S. Office of Education. He is also a contributing author for Mindful Magazine, Tricycle Magazine, and Lion's Roar.
==Community Involvement==
Phillips serves as a board member of the World Business Academy, a nonprofit think tank that investigates the relationship between business and critical moral, environmental, and social issues of our time. Additionally, he served as a board member of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (IBme), a nonprofit organization that provides mindfulness and meditation retreats for young people in various locations across the United States and the world.
Category:People from New York City
Category:American people
Category:Teachers
Category:Author
Category:Researchers
Category:Entrepreneurs