Alison Laichter is a meditation teacher, urban planner, community organizer and founding director of the Jewish Meditation Center. She’s a recipient of the Joshua Venture Group $100k fellowship and one of the Jewish Week’s Visionary 36 Under 36. She studied engineering at The Cooper Union and urban planning at Columbia University. She’s been meditating since she was 15, including in the Himalayan, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel mountains, and teaches classes and retreats throughout the world.