Wendy Egyoku Nakao is currently the abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles

Zen Center of Los Angeles

The Zen Center of Los Angeles , temple name Buddha Essence Temple, is a Zen center founded by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi in 1967 that practices in the White Plum lineage.ZCLA observes a daily schedule of zazen, Buddhist services, and work practice...

, having moved into the center in 1978 and later receiving Dharma transmission

Dharma transmission

Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...

 and inka

Inka

, is a term used in Zen Buddhism to denote a high-level of certification, and literally means "the legitimate seal of clearly furnished proof." In ancient times inka usually came in the form of an actual document, but this practice is no longer commonplace...

 from Bernard Glassman. She assumed her abbotship in 1999. According to James Ishmael Ford

James Ishmael Ford

James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...

, "Under her leadership, the center has expanded its mission to be more family-friendly and socially active, creating an important experiment in the development of Western Zen." Nakao has also conferred Dharma transmission to the first ever African-American woman, Merle Kodo Boyd

Merle Kodo Boyd

Merle Kodo Boyd is the first ever African-American woman to have received Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism, a Dharma heir of Wendy Egyoku Nakao in the White Plum Asanga...

. Nakao is a member of the American Zen Teachers Association

American Zen Teachers Association

The American Zen Teachers Association was founded in the late 1980s as the Second Generation Zen Teachers Group. It is a peer-group organization of ordained and lay Zen Buddhist teachers, all of whom have received either teaching authorization or dharma transmission from the mostly Asian Zen...

.http://www.americanzenteachers.org/list.html