HZC Teachers, Practice Leadership & Board of Directors

Gaelyn Godwin Roshi, Abbot

Gaelyn has been practicing Zen full time since 1985, when she began practicing at San Francisco Zen Center, where she was in monastic and residential training for more than 18 years. She visited the Houston Zen Community at First Unitarian Church for the first time in the mid-90’s, and moved to Houston in 2003 to help establish Houston Zen Center on Heights Boulevard. More on the Abbot’s biography can be found here.

Glen Duval, Dharma name Kogen

One of the founders of HZC, Glen is one of the early group who established the sitting group at First Unitarian Church in the mid-90’s, Glen has served on the Board of Directors and the Practice Committee, and has served as Tanto, Head of Practice. He has undertaken many projects on behalf of HZC.
Glen received Lay Entrustment from Abbot Godwin and is authorized to conduct interviews and practice discussions with all members and seekers who come to HZC.

Cathy Crouch

One of the founders of HZC, Cathy is one of the early group who established the sitting group at First Unitarian Church in the mid-90’s. Cathy has served on the Board of Directors, and was the long-time chair of the Finance Committee until stepping down in 2018.
Cathy received Lay Entrustment from Abbot Godwin and is authorized to conduct interviews and practice discussions with all members and seekers who come to HZC.

Mary Carol Edwards

Mary Carol began her practice with HZC when it was meeting at the First Unitarian Church. Since then she has served in many capacities, especially in the design and maintenance of the landscapes around the temple grounds. She also serves on the Practice Committee.
Mary Carol received Lay Entrustment from Abbot Godwin and is authorized to conduct interviews and practice discussions with all members and seekers who come to HZC.

Vicki Glenn

Vicki is the co-Tanto, co-Head of Practice of Houston Zen Center and is authorized to meet in informal practice discussions with members and visitors to HZC. She is a fully ordained Zen priest. She received Dharma Transmission in 2024. She also serves as the head sewing teacher, assisting everyone who is preparing to receive the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts.

Gayle Klaybor

Gayle is the co-Tanto, co-Head of Practice of Houston Zen Center and is authorized to meet in informal practice discussions with members and visitors to HZC. She is also on the Board of Directors; a full biographical statement appears below with the other members of the Board of Directors.Gayle Klaybor

Board of Directors

Gyōzan Royce Johnson, President

Royce Johnson is an ordained Zen priest, and the resident assistant priest of Houston Zen Center. He is a senior member of HZC, teaches classes, leads meditation, and oversees the thriving temple grounds of HZC and Auspicious Cloud West.

Zack Becker, Vice President and Chair of the Safety Committee

Zack grew up in the Boston area before attending Wesleyan University, where he graduated with a B.A. in English. In 1999 he moved to Houston to join the Houston Police Department as a police officer; he is now a Lieutenant in the department’s Homicide Division. Zack began practicing at HZC in 2008 after taking the Introduction to Zen Meditation class, and later received the Bodhisattva precepts (jukai) from Setsuan Gaelyn Godwin Roshi in 2014, receiving the dharma name Hōdō Onkai (Dharma Way, Ocean of Kindness). In 2018 he published his first book, a private-eye thriller titled Gun Shy. Along with writing, he enjoys the outdoors, running (he ran his first and so far only Houston marathon in 2010) and CrossFit (where he gets his butt kicked on a regular basis). In 2017, he worked up the nerve to do his first 5-day retreat and is happy to report that he survived. In joining the HZC board, he is pleased to support and serve the sangha and looks at it as a way to deepen and extend his practice.

Parmita Derden, Secretary

Parmita has had a meditation practice for many years. When she moved back to Houston in the early 1990’s she would occasionally meditate with the Houston Zen Center founders at the Unitarian Church but she did not become a full-time member of HZC until 2006. She received the Bodhisattva precepts in 2008. Parmita has served as HZC Board Secretary since 2011. She is also a member of the Finance and Personnel Committees. Since receiving her MBA degree from UT Austin in 1986, Parmita has been working in Information Technology for various Corporate America companies. Her work takes her all over the world and she has had the pleasure of visiting Zen and Buddhist temples in Asia, India, and Europe.

Carter White, Treasurer

Choan Carter White is a senior member of HZC. He has been instrumental in the initial development of the Center’s campus, both in fundraising and preparing the land for its present use. Carter is an attorney and holds a PhD in Chemistry. Woodworking, metalworking, working on and racing cars, and supporting his partner Terese training Shelties in canine agility provide practice opportunities cooperatively with his HZC activities. His Dharma name means Morning Hut referencing the Buddha’s glimpse of the morning star. Gary Grubitz, Treasurer

Judson Dunn, Member-at-large

Judson has been a practitioner at Houston Zen Center since 2011, and was given the Dharma Name Heido. Born in Memphis, TN, he moved to Houston in childhood. Judson holds a BS in Microbiology and Cytogenetics from UT Austin and MD Anderson Cancer Center. He worked in genetics labs at Labcorp and MD Anderson before moving into information technology roles supporting various lab workflows, applications and software. He is certified as a LEAN/Six Sigma Green Belt process for organizational workflow and efficiency improvement. Judson volunteers as HZC’s Membership Coordinator and IT Coordinator, managing various applications that are in use. Outside of HZC, he is also an active volunteer with ACLU Texas the Houston GLBT Political Caucus.

Anna Mastantuono Gonzalez, Member-at-large

Anna, Kyoshin / Bridge of Truth, has co-led the Entering the Path of Practice Program and has also led several advanced classes at HZC. She is currently a Mortgage Loan Officer at Liberty Home Equity Solutions. Anna Mastantuono Gonzalez brings experience from previous roles at Intercontinental Capital Group, Inc., Lane Bryant and Dillard's Inc.

Joy Tober, Member-at-large

Tenshō Joy Tober has been a member of Houston Zen Center for nine years. After receiving her master’s degree in Historic Preservation in 2008, Joy worked as a planner for the City of Houston in the Historic Preservation Office and then as a preservation consultant. In 2017, Joy joined HZC as Administrative Assistant where she enjoyed using her skills to help the center continue to grow. Joy has recently moved into the position of Administrator of Auspicious Cloud Retreat Center where she looks forward to continuing to help assist members and newcomers. Joy is also a proud alumnus of University of Houston having earned her BA in Art in 2006. Go Coogs! In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading and writing. Joy and her husband of 17 years are proud parents to an 11-year-old who challenges and amazes them every day.

Clayton Garrett, Member-at-large

Clayton is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and farmer at the intersection of plants + people + place. Before co-founding Meristem (Meristem Communities, a Houston-based real estate development firm committed to creating Places for People™ with mindful, small batch developments), Clayton worked alongside developers, landscape architects, residential architects, and engineers to create unique and exceptional agricultural amenities (agrihoods) within master-planned communities through his co-founding and leading Agmenity. Prior to that, he spent several years serving as an attorney in Texas. He also started, grew, and led multiple businesses. layton is a member of several community organizations including the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he was selected as a national Product Council member through Residential Neighborhood Development Council. Clayton is a licensed Texas attorney with a doctorate in law from St. Mary’s University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin. .

Mary Carol Edwards, Member-at-large

She is the founder of Green Star Wetland Plant Farm. She previously worked as the stormwater wetland specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Texas Community Watershed Partners, as well as TCWP’s freshwater wetland restoration program. She is a Houston native, raised on Galveston Bay. She has a BS in Biology and an MA in Architecture from the University of Houston.

Andrew Chaney, Member-at-large

Andrew was transferred to Houston in July 2016 after having lived and worked overseas for almost 20 years. He began attending the Houston Zen Center shortly thereafter. Andrew grew up in the Detroit area and graduated with a B.S. of Accounting from the University of Kentucky. By day he works for a major oil & gas company as the Business Planning Supervisor for one of their largest business units. In his free time he enjoys theatre, music, and the arts, and has taken up pottery since coming to Houston. Andrew received the precepts in the Jukai Ceremony in September 2019 along with five of his Dharma buddy’s. Besides working on deepening his practice and study of Buddhism, he assists with the bookkeeping, sewing, and prison correspondence program at the Houston Zen Center, and co-leads the Queer Dharma group that commenced in January 2020.