Jim Bastien is the Chief Operating Officer of the Zen Peacemakers and the PathMakers Partnership.
Jim grew up in North Adams, Massachusetts where he graduated from North
Adams State College in 1974 with a degree in Psychology and went on to
win a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan in
1979.
After completing his graduate studies, Jim worked for 17 years at
Father Flanagan's Girls and Boys Town, in Boys Town, Nebraska where he
was trained in the Teaching-Family Model of residential services. In
1990, Jim founded Girls and Boys Town of New England. During his tenure
at Boys Town, Jim also received a second Masters Degree in Human
Development from the University of Kansas.
Jim's particular expertise is in the area of bearing witness to the
struggles of societies least fortunate members and starting up new
human service agencies and turning around failing human service
organizations. In addition to his work at Father Flanagan's Girls and
Boys Town, Jim has served as the Director of Child and Adolescent
Residential Services for McLean Hospital, Director of Family-Based
Services for the Northeast Center for Youth and Families, Executive
Director of the Kolbourne School, Senior Administrator for Alternative
Behavioral Services and Vice President of Residential Services at
Brightside for Families and Children, a corporation of the Sisters of
Providence Health System and Catholic Health East, the largest
faith-based health system in the country.
Jim has 30 years of experience designing, training, implementing,
administrating and evaluating quality human service organizations. He
has published numerous research articles and papers in professional
journals and has presented at national, regional and local human
service conferences on pertinent topics related to organizational
change and quality human services.
Jim began his studies as a Zen student 1985 at the Nebraska Zen Center
under the auspices of Rev. Teijo Munich a senior monastic student of
Dainin Katagiri Roshi, Abbot of the Minnesota Zen Center. In 1990, Jim
moved to Rhode Island where he practiced with Zen Master Soeng Hyang in
the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Jim also did residency training at
the Cambridge Zen Center in Cambridge Massachusetts where he studied
with Zen Master Bon Yeon. Jim is currently studying with Roshi Bernie
Glassman.
Board Service and Professional Affiliations
Zen Peacemakers - Board President
Massachusetts Association of Chapter 766 Approved Private Schools - Board Member
National Association of Private Special Education Centers
Children's League of Massachusetts - Board Member
Massachusetts Adolescent Sex Offender Coalition
Western Massachusetts Service Providers
Child Welfare League of America
Berkshire Behavior Analysis and Therapy Association
International Association for Behavior Analysis
Human Service Forum