Board of Directors |
Serving on the AWMAI Board of Directors is a rewarding and fulfilling job.
- Meet and collaborate with your peers.
- Gain organizational skills at the national and even international level.
- Learn to think and plan nationally and globally.
- Provide a service not found anywhere else in the world.
Read the Board Position Descriptions and apply today!
Executive Director
Lisa Nakamura began studying Shaolin Kempo in 1982 and currently holds the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt. In addition to being recognized as a Senior Master in her system, she was also awarded the honorific title of Go Inkyo Sama for her decades of instruction and student leadership. She has trained and performed five times at the Shaolin Temple in Deng Feng, China. One of her proudest achievements was her 2025 induction into AWMAI's Hall of Fame for more than 40 years of training and teaching.
Lisa received certification as an Empowerment Self Defense (ESD) instructor from NWMAF, and served on the organization's Trainer Selection Committee in 2018-2019. She is the co-founder and a Lead Coach for the SETpoint ESD curricula and coaching programs. Lisa completed certification as a Sexual Assault Counselor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a critical element of offering trauma-informed coaching to survivors of violence.
Driven by a passion for empowering others, Lisa extends her dedication beyond martial arts into her professional work as a leadership coach and consultant for the construction and heavy manufacturing industries. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Chapter 276 in Maine. Lisa is also a certified Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) practitioner and a trained Mental Health First Aider. She values the opportunities she has had to work internationally to help build leaders and empower teams.
Lisa and her husband, Steve, owned and operated Shaolin Studios in Pittsburgh, PA from 2004 to 2023. Their succession vision came true when they transferred ownership in 2023 to their students, Chief Instructor Michele Montag and Senior Instructor Joe Cooper. Lisa and Steve continue in an advisory capacity, cherishing every opportunity to step onto the mats with the vibrant dojo community that continues to grow and flourish.
Lisa and Steve now live on the coast of Maine. Their daughter, Lauren, brings light and grace to all she does as a martial artist, yoga instructor, Reiki Master Teacher, and mental health therapist.
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Certification Director
Doctor, Sensei Amelia Jones is a scholar warrior healer.
She has actively practiced the martial arts for 35+ years starting in 1983 as a student of Shorin Ryu. Under the instruction of Katsuo Watanabe Sensei, 8th dan, she has earned the rank of yondan in Tomiki Aikido. Sensei Jones has taught self-defense for schools and community groups.
She is a graduate of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and board certified in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. She continues to study and practice Chinese medicine, Tomiki Aikido, meditation and painting.
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Administrative Director
Parnee Poet is Tagalog and Kapampangan, born in the arkipelago referred to as the Philippines and raised in the suburbs of Peoria, Anishinabewaki, Odawa, Mississauga and Sauk Territories (East Lansing, Michigan), where I had friends from all over the world. My dad, Anacleto Sawal Paras, Jr., is Kampampangan and graduated from Michigan State University with a PhD in Agricultural Engineering and my mom, Florita Enrile Paras, is Tagalog and worked as a nurse and celebrated mine and my siblings’ birthdays with memorable birthdays every year. I lived in the diverse MSU community at Spartan Village. Our food and languages were celebrated annually with “International Night” at Spartan Village Elementary School. I spent most of my adult years in the Anishinaabe Territory, where I studied English literature, photography, biology, conservation, nursing, massage therapy and martial arts, my love of nature was deeply cultivated by Gitche Gumee’s crashing waves, northern climate with trees and slopes. After building a structure modeled from traditional wiigwams, of the Anishinaabe of the Gitche Gumee region, I lived in the hybrid “wiigy” and off the grid for two years, further deepening my appreciation of sustainability and living with the earth’s rhythms. At the urging of a new friend, Meisha Lamb, I spent over two years living in the rainforest of the Tlingit, Métis and Dënéndeh Territories (Haines, Alaska), surrounded by over 3000 feet tall mountains and going for long walks with my dear friend, Sissy, a Husky mix.
I started studying Cuong Nhu Martial Arts in January 2003 in Ishpeming, Michigan at Northern Lights Dojo with Sensei Richard "Bud" Place, Sensei Shane Robertson, Sensei Tim DeMarte, Sensei Jeffrey Scott and Sensei Michael Holman. After passing my Cuong Nhu Black Belt test in May 2010, I opened the first Cuong Nhu Wisconsin school, Tara Dojo, in Oceti Sakowin, Myaami and Menominee Territories (Appleton, Wisconsin) in January 2011. I teach self defense and Cuong Nhu Martial Arts classes online and in person.
Besides studying martial arts/self defense, I offer massage therapy, breathing awareness and I create art in Miami, Menominee and Oceti Sakowin Territories (Northeastern Wisconsin). I can be found on instagram: instagram.com/TaraBreathe.
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Events Director
Sijeh Sarah Sponzo began training in martial arts in 1998, studying Tai Chi and Kung Fu. She is now a Senior Instructor at the Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy in Middletown, Connecticut, under the leadership of Sifu Daniel Ostrow. She also trained with Grandmaster Tat Mau Wong and holds a 2nd degree Black Belt in Choy Lay Fut.
In addition to her regular teaching schedule, she especially enjoys judging and coordinating tournaments, both in her own school, and with various organizations, including the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship (ICMAC), New England International Chinese Martial Arts Championships, Disney Martial Arts Festival, and AFACT Karate.
Sarah has an academic background in English and Education, and works as an Account Director for a medical communications company. In her free time, she loves to cook, read, spend time with her cats and dogs, and dream up her next travel adventure.
"I am always honored by the trust that my teachers have put in me and particularly humbled by the faith that parents and students put in me to guide and teach them and their children. I am especially privileged to follow so many great elder sisters and to help lead many wonderful younger sisters on the path of martial arts."
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Financial Director
Master Michele Montag began studying Shaolin Kempo and Kung Fu in 2010 at Shaolin Studios in Pittsburgh, PA under Senior Masters Lisa and Steve Nakamura. She has taught martial arts classes for over 14 years, and in 2023 she and her husband, Joe, formally took over ownership of the studio from their friends and teachers, the Nakamuras. Michele serves as the Chief Instructor at Shaolin Studios in Pittsburgh, and she holds the rank of godan, 5th Degree Black Belt.
Michele is also a certified Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) instructor through the NWMAF. In 2015, she and Senior Master Lisa Nakamura founded a non-profit called SETpoint to teach ESD to underserved and at-risk communities. Michele served as the founding Executive Director of SETpoint, managing the financial operations of the organization in addition to coaching. Following the pandemic, SETpoint training became a regular offering through Shaolin Studios, and the operations were subsumed under the school.
Prior to owning Shaolin Studios, Michele had a 20+ year career in higher education administration. Her responsibilities included oversight of staff operations, strategic planning, and implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in a major research university. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from SUNY-Binghamton.
Outside of the martial arts, Michele loves hiking and gardening with her husband, Joe. They live with a gaggle of animals including Allie the Dog and Tiger, King, and Kiku the Cats.
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