About Us
Our Story
Our journey began in 2005, selling cookies at a bake sale to fund scholarships for students seeking transformative educational and cultural immersion experiences in South India.
Since those humble beginnings, our initiative has grown into a robust educational program: the Overseas Study Program. OSP trains aspiring translators from around the world to master the Tibetan language, enabling them to translate classical Buddhist texts and make ancient wisdom accessible in many native languages.
Dakini Goods is a vital fundraising arm for the Overseas Study Program. We offer ethically sourced, authentic Tibetan Buddhist artifacts and handicrafts, with every purchase directly supporting OSP's mission. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the United States.
Our Mission
All the profits from our sales go towards supporting the pursuit of knowledge of practitioners worldwide. We give donations to Sera Mey Monastery, to support the monks' food, education, housing, and medicine needs.
We also support a rural dog rescue in South India, as well as an elementary school for children from marginalized South Asian communities.
Our Core Values
We PICK Fun and Excellence!
Potential: Helping our employees, volunteers, and participants to reach their highest potential.
Integrity: Operating with transparency and responsibility (especially with "Dharma money").
Community: Fostering a supportive, collaborative, and engaged learning environment.
Kindness: Going out of our way to treat our staff, participants, and donors with kindness and respect (do the right thing)
Fun: Creating fun programs and opportunities
Excellence: Upholding high standards in teaching, program delivery, and student support.
Fund Translation Projects
We directly fund critical translation initiatives, training a new generation of translators to make ancient Buddhist wisdom and texts accessible to all.
Support monasteries
Your purchases provide direct funding to sustain monastic centers in India, as well as their communities- especially young children from marginalized communities whose parents are not able to care for them.
Empower Artisans
By ethically sourcing, we provide fair livelihoods and help preserve the traditional craftsmanship of skilled artisans, with a focus on hiring women struggling to support their families.
Meet the Team
Jack Langdale, Director of Operations
Jack joined The Overseas Study Program as a student in 2022, and has since helped grow the program exponentially. He has an entrepreneurial background and has helped start multiple businesses. Jack is studying Tibetan translation and Buddhist philosophy, and helps to organize our education programs and cultural immersion trips in India and Nepal. His dream is to connect students with all the different Dharma traditions through translation and travel, and to help people find a well rounded comprehensive understanding of Buddhism.
Rebecca Vinacour, Executive Director
Rebecca started studying Buddhism when she was still an undergraduate at New York University. She started the Overseas Study Program all the way back in 2005 and has since sent more than 60 students to study Tibetan language and Buddhism in South India. When she's not busy fundraising for OSP or traveling throughout India and Nepal to find the best products for Dakini Goods, you can find her teaching dharma, making friends with local street dogs around the world, and developing projects for television and film in Hollywood.
SOME OF OUR PARTNERS
www.overseasprogram.org
www.asianclassicsinstitute.org
www.blueskyfriends.org
www.diamondcutterclassics.org
www.dolmadogrescue.org/our-needs
Our partners all have one thing in a common- a drive to make the world a better place. The Asian Classics Institute makes the foundational, profound, and transformational teachings of the Buddha available to the world in an accurate, accessible and relevant way.
Blue Sky Friends is an international collective of compassionate individuals dedicated to supporting those who are aging, nearing the end of life, and grieving the loss of a loved one, as well as the grief associated with other life situations.
Diamond Cutter Classics is devoted to the translation, preservation and dissemination of ancient wisdom into the modern world in a way that is relevant, accessible, and accurate.
Dolma Dog Rescue rescues stray dogs in need of medical treatment and care in Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement in South India.DDR is now a safe haven for more than 100 dogs and also provides care for dogs from local residents’ homes of Bylakuppe area.