Buddhist Peace Fellowship
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersBerkeley, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
Buddhist Peace Fellowship firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Buddhist Peace Fellowship
- Legal name
- Buddhist Peace Fellowship
- Website
- https://buddhistpeacefellowship.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Buddhist Peace Fellowship industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Engaged Buddhist Community Programs
- NAICS
- Religious Organizations (8131), Religious Organizations (81311), Religious Organizations (813110)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Guided Meditation Instruction (1:1 & Group) (HSADAJAA)
Keywords
Where Buddhist Peace Fellowship is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berkeley
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Buddhist Peace Fellowship business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and charitable contributions: BPF operates as a nonprofit organization (Tax ID/EIN 94-3011277) supported primarily through donations. The website prominently features a donate button and the organization explicitly states 'BPF is a nonprofit and we welcome your support.'
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid | Pay-as-you-go | Sliding scale from $108–$800 for residential retreat |
| Hybrid | Pay-as-you-go | Sliding scale from $275–$1,100 for non-residential retreat |
| Subscription | Monthly | Sliding scale $5–$25 for monthly conversations |
| Hybrid | Pay-as-you-go | $40–$120 for online Dharma arts retreat |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Offered by donation for weekly Refuge Circle |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Buddhist Peace Fellowship product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a nonprofit organization that delivers engaged Buddhist programs combining contemplative practice (meditation, song, somatics, art-making) with political education and social justice movement organizing. Core offerings include the weekly Refuge Circle meditation and action sessions, in-person Grow Our Souls Dharma Arts retreats, monthly What Now?! political education conversations, a five-month Trans Spiritual Mentorship program, and self-paced online courses hosted on Teachable. Programs are designed for individual practitioners and activists at the intersection of Dharma and justice work.
Product overview
Buddhist Peace Fellowship offers a portfolio of engaged Buddhist programs connecting spiritual practice with social, environmental, economic, and healing justice movements. The core offerings include: Refuge Circle (weekly online meditation and action sessions), Grow Our Souls Retreat (in-person and residential dharma arts retreats), What Now?! Conversations (monthly online political education series), Trans Spiritual Mentorship: Holding Each Other Close (five-month mentorship program for trans leaders), and Self-Paced Courses (online courses via Teachable including grief care packages). BPF is BIPOC, queer and trans-led, serving practitioners who forward social and environmental justice as components of spiritual practice.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Refuge Circle Weekly 45-minute engaged Buddhist practice spaces featuring meditation, chanting, and somatic movement guided by teachers from the BPF network, concluding with call-to-action for justice initiatives. Offered by donation and open to all practitioners, Buddhist and beyond.
- Grow Our Souls Retreat In-person and residential Buddhist meditation and art-making retreats combining contemplative and creative practice, play, and collective inquiry for spiritual renewal and relationship building among justice-oriented practitioners. Includes the June 2026 Residential Dharma Arts Retreat for Earth Workers held in Western Massachusetts on a sliding scale of $108-$800 with scholarships available.
- What Now?! Conversations Monthly online political education series bringing together spirit-led teachers, organizers, strategists, and creatives for practice and conversation to build skills and analysis around urgent political issues. Priced at sliding scale $5-$25 per session.
- Trans Spiritual Mentorship: Holding Each Other Close Five-month spiritual friendship and mentorship (kalyana mitta) program pairing trans, two-spirit, non-binary, and gender-expansive Buddhist mentors with community organizers and leaders advancing liberation.
- Self-Paced Courses Online self-paced courses including 'Let it Move You: a care package for grieving times,' a six-week contemplative journey through winter solstice offering teachings, resources, and practices for grief processing. Hosted on the Teachable platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- BPF has served as the primary hub for socially engaged Buddhism in the West for over 40 years, connecting practitioners across lineages, geographies, and justice movements
Companies that use Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Buddhist Peace Fellowship technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Buddhist Peace Fellowship partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- University of IdahocoreBPF partnered with the University of Idaho to digitize and make available online the Turning Wheel magazine archive — a significant historical resource for engaged Buddhism spanning decades of publication from the 1990s through 2007.
- Kripalu CenterminorKripalu Center partially funds and supports the June 2026 Grow Our Souls Residential Dharma Arts Retreat for Earth Workers, contributing to the retreat's operational capacity and participant support.
Scale indicators3 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Buddhist Peace Fellowship competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Spirit Rock Meditation Center: Spirit Rock is a major Insight Meditation center offering residential retreats, teacher training, and community programs. BPF's Director Kate Johnson serves on its Stewarding Teachers Council, indicating direct organizational overlap and a broader incumbent in the same category.
- Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health: Kripalu is a large retreat center offering yoga, meditation, and wellness programs that partially funds BPF's 2026 Grow Our Souls retreat. It represents a broader incumbent with overlapping retreat/programming offerings at greater scale.
- Insight Meditation Society: IMS is one of the largest Western Insight Meditation centers offering residential retreats and teacher training. It represents a broad incumbent in the same Buddhist category as BPF, with significantly larger scale and geographic reach.
- Plum Village: Plum Village is Thich Nhat Hanh's global engaged Buddhist community offering retreats, meditation, and teacher training; BPF has historical ties to Thich Nhat Hanh (co-sponsoring his first Western retreat in 1983), and Plum Village operates overlapping programming at much larger scale.
Regional players
- San Francisco Zen Center: SFZC is one of the oldest Western Zen centers in the US, co-organizing Thich Nhat Hanh's first Western retreat with BPF in 1983. It serves the same broader engaged Buddhism constituency in the Bay Area but at much larger scale and a more traditional Soto Zen orientation.
Direct peers
- New York Insight Meditation Center: NYIMC is an Insight Meditation center offering programs on Dharma and social engagement in NYC, overlapping BPF's mission of integrating practice with justice issues and serving a similar activist-practitioner constituency on the East Coast.
- East Bay Meditation Center: East Bay Meditation Center is a BIPOC-led, justice-focused Buddhist sangha based in Oakland offering drop-in meditation and programs bridging Dharma and social justice, directly overlapping BPF's Berkeley-rooted, BIPOC-centered engaged Buddhism model.
- Prison Mindfulness Institute: Prison Mindfulness Institute provides mindfulness and dharma programs inside correctional facilities, paralleling BPF's historical Prison Dharma work and its broader mission of bringing Buddhist practice to justice-impacted communities.
- Zen Peacemakers: Zen Peacemakers is an engaged Buddhist network that directly parallels BPF's mission of integrating contemplative practice with social action, bearing witness, and peace work in marginalized communities. It is one of the closest direct peers in the socially engaged Buddhism niche.
Others
- Auburn Seminary: Auburn Seminary is a multifaith leadership and social justice organization that awarded BPF teacher Leslie Booker the Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellowship in 2020. It is an ecosystem peer operating in the same progressive faith + justice space as a fellowship partner.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Buddhist Peace Fellowship social profiles
Digital presenceBuddhist Peace Fellowship financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Buddhist Peace Fellowship leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Buddhist Peace Fellowship funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Buddhist Peace Fellowship M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Buddhist Peace Fellowship
What does Buddhist Peace Fellowship do?
Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a nonprofit organization that delivers engaged Buddhist programs combining contemplative practice (meditation, song, somatics, art-making) with political education and social justice movement organizing. Core offerings include the weekly Refuge Circle meditation and action sessions, in-person Grow Our Souls Dharma Arts retreats, monthly What Now?! political education conversations, a five-month Trans Spiritual Mentorship program, and self-paced online courses hosted on Teachable. Programs are designed for individual practitioners and activists at the intersection of Dharma and justice work.
Is Buddhist Peace Fellowship a public or private company?
Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Buddhist Peace Fellowship founded?
Buddhist Peace Fellowship was founded in 1978. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Buddhist Peace Fellowship based?
Buddhist Peace Fellowship is headquartered in Berkeley, United States, in the North America region.
How does Buddhist Peace Fellowship make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and charitable contributions.
Who are Buddhist Peace Fellowship's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Insight Meditation Society and Plum Village. San Francisco Zen Center is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are New York Insight Meditation Center, East Bay Meditation Center, Prison Mindfulness Institute and Zen Peacemakers. Auburn Seminary is listed as an others.
Does Buddhist Peace Fellowship have an API?
No public API is recorded for Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
What industry is Buddhist Peace Fellowship in?
Buddhist Peace Fellowship's product category is Engaged Buddhist Community Programs. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAJAG, Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling), with a secondary code of HSADAJAA, Guided Meditation Instruction (1:1 & Group). Its NAICS code is 8131 and its SIC code is 8300.