General Information: Overview: Who We Are: Sensei Francisco "Paco" Genkoji Lugoviña

Francisco "Paco" Genkoji Lugoviña is an ordained Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen lineage and in the Zen Peacemaker Order; is a member of the Zen Peacemaker Circles and Peacemaker International; and is the founder of the Hudson River Peacemaker Center-House of One People in Yonkers, New York where he has a fledgling sangha.. He works with gang members and other youth groups in Council Circle format and meditation practice. Francisco has participated in pilgrimages to Tibet, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and in the streets of New York City. He has an admirable history as a community organizer and civil rights activist spanning his college and professional careers. Additionally, Paco has been active in community and political affairs in New York City for most of his adult life.

He has been highly effective in raising capital funds and in other fund raising endeavors for political campaigns, arts institutions, religious and secular organizations and for special causes.

An entrepreneur, Paco, as he is best known, has launched several successful businesses since 1968. As Chief Operating Officer of LRF Developers, Inc., one of these such enterprises, he combined entrepreneurship with solid managerial ability to successfully develop 161 housing units with a total construction cost of $9 million and a $39 million Battery Park City Residential tower. Paco served as Chairman of the State of the New York Mortgage Agency; was Bank Regulator on the New York State Banking Board for nine years; and was Chairman of the National Hispanic Housing Coalition.

Paco is also the founder and CEO of Principle Centered Associates, a full-service training and development company. He commands a wide-range of experiences as a human resources trainer and facilitator, which has taken him from the sidewalks of the South Bronx to the boardrooms of the corporate investment community where he has conducted organizational development and training. He is a strong advocate of self-development and, as such, has actively lent his talents to help young people obtain a better life through career development. He is certified in various programs, including Vitality Alliance-Praxis, in their Path of Dialogue Training and Corporate Pulse Surveys: and by the Covey Leadership Center in their Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Quadrant II Time Management programs, and in NewLine Consulting’s Leonardo Process.

He is a founder of the Bronx Museum of the Arts and served on that board for 20 years. He served on the Executive Committee of the Phelps-Stokes Fund Board for 15 yeas; was on the Business Development Committee of the National Hispanic Business Group; and is a member of the Greyston Foundation Board, where he sits on the Housing Development Committee. He is currently the Chairperson of the Family Life Academy Charter School in the Bronx, NY; and is the Chairperson of the United Bronx Parents-La Casita, also in the Bronx.

Paco received New York City’s highest Mayoral award for arts contribution and an award from the Jewish Community Relations Council for his socio-civic work.

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Finance from Iona College.