Board of Directors
- Kerry Kelley, President
- Maggie Bailey, Treasurer
- Hector Ramos, Secretary
- Matthew Breuer, Director
- Brian Powell, Director
Kerry Kelley is Chairman and a founding member of Agni Institute, where she helps guide the organization’s development, research interests, educational programs, and engagement with the broader scientific and humanitarian communities.
Kerry brings a professional background in biological research and laboratory operations to Agni Institute. She earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with graduate work in the plant and biological sciences. She joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2008, where her research career included work in Professor Mary-Lou Pardue's laboratory on Drosophila telomere biology. She coauthored peer-reviewed research published in Genetics and later worked in laboratories studying cellular and molecular biology before serving as a research laboratory operations manager at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Now retired from her MIT career, Kerry applies her experience in science, research operations, organizational leadership, and communication to the continued development of Agni Institute. She is particularly interested in creating thoughtful dialogue between scientific inquiry, human experience, and questions that have historically fallen outside conventional areas of research. She believes that unconventional questions deserve neither automatic acceptance nor automatic dismissal, but careful investigation using appropriate methods, clear standards of evidence, and intellectual openness.
As Chairman, Kerry Kelley is working to strengthen Agni Institute’s institutional partnerships, educational and research programs, public presence, and capacity to support collaborative inquiry. She is committed to expanding the Institute’s engagement with individuals and organizations working toward scientific understanding, human development, environmental responsibility, and society's broader well-being.
Professional and institutional affiliations described above are provided as biographical background and do not imply endorsement of Agni Institute or its programs by those institutions.
Maggie Bailey, Treasurer, is one of the founding members of the Agni Institute, serving as its first President, and later as Secretary; she currently serves as the Treasurer.
Maggie is the Executive Director of We Plant it Forward. Founded as a program of the Agni Institute, We Plant it Forward has spun off as a stand-alone nonprofit organization. We Plant it Forward, under Maggie’s leadership, continues to preserve and restore the natural environment for the benefit of future generations through hands-on activities, community engagement, and environmental education bringing harmony to all life.
Hector Ramos, Secretary, joined the board of the Agni Institute in 2020. He has served as the webmaster for Agni Institute and all of its associated projects since 2017.
Hector holds a Bachelor's degree in computer science and a Masters' degree in computational biology. He has worked for over a decade in biotech and biomedical research supporting proteomics and cancer research. Hector currently works in the travel industry as a lead software engineer.
Hector continues to be fascinated by all aspects of life and brings his inquisitiveness to the Agni Institute to help broaden our understanding of human consciousness.
Matthew Breuer, Director, recently joined the board of Agni Institute after Quantal Research and AI merged in late 2022. Matthew is a co-founder and has been a long-term member of the Board of Advisers for the Agni Institute. He has an MS in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and has been engaged in the research, design and development of particle detectors used in scientific instrumentation for nearly 20 years. He was a co-founder of Quantal Research, a Western Massachusetts-based environmentally conscious research group investigating ways to improve electrical power generation.
He was a co-founder of the original Center for Peace through Culture based in New York City and served in various capacities including board member for seven years, three of those as president, and also was manager of the science group. He holds a BA in art from Lehman College (1979). Matthew has pursued studies of Agni Yoga and practical application of eastern philosophy for most of his life. He brings to the Agni Institute a long-standing interest in building bridges between esoteric philosophies and rigorous science such that both are enhanced.
Brian Powell, Director, joined the board of the Agni Institute in 2020. Brian has a background in commercial and biomedical photography. He has a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Social Work from Smith College. Brian is a certified EMDR Trauma Therapist working with individuals with Complex PTSD.
He will be pursuing research into the imaging characterization and use of ultra-weak photon emissions in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum radiated by metabolically active systems in humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. He is interested in exploring the identification of indicators of health or disease based on the characteristics of ultraviolet photon radiations.
Kerry Kelley is Chairman and a founding member of Agni Institute, where she helps guide the organization’s development, research interests, educational programs, and engagement with the broader scientific and humanitarian communities.
Kerry brings a professional background in biological research and laboratory operations to Agni Institute. She earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with graduate work in the plant and biological sciences. She joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2008, where her research career included work in Professor Mary-Lou Pardue's laboratory on Drosophila telomere biology. She coauthored peer-reviewed research published in Genetics and later worked in laboratories studying cellular and molecular biology before serving as a research laboratory operations manager at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Now retired from her MIT career, Kerry applies her experience in science, research operations, organizational leadership, and communication to the continued development of Agni Institute. She is particularly interested in creating thoughtful dialogue between scientific inquiry, human experience, and questions that have historically fallen outside conventional areas of research. She believes that unconventional questions deserve neither automatic acceptance nor automatic dismissal, but careful investigation using appropriate methods, clear standards of evidence, and intellectual openness.
As Chairman, Kerry Kelley is working to strengthen Agni Institute’s institutional partnerships, educational and research programs, public presence, and capacity to support collaborative inquiry. She is committed to expanding the Institute’s engagement with individuals and organizations working toward scientific understanding, human development, environmental responsibility, and society's broader well-being.
Professional and institutional affiliations described above are provided as biographical background and do not imply endorsement of Agni Institute or its programs by those institutions.
Maggie Bailey, Treasurer, is one of the founding members of the Agni Institute, serving as its first President, and later as Secretary; she currently serves as the Treasurer.
Maggie is the Executive Director of We Plant it Forward. Founded as a program of the Agni Institute, We Plant it Forward has spun off as a stand-alone nonprofit organization. We Plant it Forward, under Maggie’s leadership, continues to preserve and restore the natural environment for the benefit of future generations through hands-on activities, community engagement, and environmental education bringing harmony to all life.
Hector Ramos, Secretary, joined the board of the Agni Institute in 2020. He has served as the webmaster for Agni Institute and all of its associated projects since 2017.
Hector holds a Bachelor's degree in computer science and a Masters' degree in computational biology. He has worked for over a decade in biotech and biomedical research supporting proteomics and cancer research. Hector currently works in the travel industry as a lead software engineer.
Hector continues to be fascinated by all aspects of life and brings his inquisitiveness to the Agni Institute to help broaden our understanding of human consciousness.
Matthew Breuer, Director, recently joined the board of Agni Institute after Quantal Research and AI merged in late 2022. Matthew is a co-founder and has been a long-term member of the Board of Advisers for the Agni Institute. He has an MS in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and has been engaged in the research, design and development of particle detectors used in scientific instrumentation for nearly 20 years. He was a co-founder of Quantal Research, a Western Massachusetts-based environmentally conscious research group investigating ways to improve electrical power generation.
He was a co-founder of the original Center for Peace through Culture based in New York City and served in various capacities including board member for seven years, three of those as president, and also was manager of the science group. He holds a BA in art from Lehman College (1979). Matthew has pursued studies of Agni Yoga and practical application of eastern philosophy for most of his life. He brings to the Agni Institute a long-standing interest in building bridges between esoteric philosophies and rigorous science such that both are enhanced.
Brian Powell, Director, joined the board of the Agni Institute in 2020. Brian has a background in commercial and biomedical photography. He has a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Social Work from Smith College. Brian is a certified EMDR Trauma Therapist working with individuals with Complex PTSD.
He will be pursuing research into the imaging characterization and use of ultra-weak photon emissions in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum radiated by metabolically active systems in humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. He is interested in exploring the identification of indicators of health or disease based on the characteristics of ultraviolet photon radiations.