In May, 2025, we began our new, more sustainable, flattened leadership model. Our three directors (Guiding Teacher, Communications & Marketing Director, and Fund Development & Finance Director) all report to the board of directors and work as a team. Meet our leadership team below:
Staff
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Sosan Theresa Flynn (she/her)
Sosan@cloudsinwater.org
Guiding Teacher
She has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 36 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.
For more information, see Sosan’s website.
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Jinzu Minna Jain (they/them)
Communications and Marketing Director
Jinzu previously served on staff at Clouds in the roles of Executive Director and Administrative Assistant, and they are an ordained Sōtō Zen novice priest. Jinzu brings their ministerial training, institutional knowledge of Clouds, and extensive previous experience in marketing and communications, as well as systemic equity organization development to this role. Jinzu is an artist, writer, and racial equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and nonbinary.
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Eisho Felicia Sy
eisho@cloudsinwater.org
Fund Development and Finance Director
Dr. Felicia Washington Sy is a licensed independent clinical social worker, traumatologist, and educator with over 20 years of experience providing mindfulness based, trauma-informed client care to her clients. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work.
An integrative healer and organizational well-being consultant, Dr. Sy combines mindfulness-based practice, intercultural theory, and social justice frameworks to support individuals, families, and institutions in creating conditions for deep healing and systemic change. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice in South Minneapolis, leads healing circles, and consults with organizations across the Twin Cities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and collective wellness.
Dr. Sy has taught in area colleges and universities for over a decade and currently co-teaches an advanced practice therapy cohort at Anam Cara Therapies. Her publications focus on bullying in schools and the professional use of self in trauma-informed care. She holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.
A practicing Buddhist for over 14 years, Dr. Sy is a priest in candidacy at Clouds in Water Zen Center, where she co-facilitates the BIPOC sitting group with a dedicated team and brings her contemplative practice into every dimension of her personal and professional life.