Who We Are | Our Team
Our Board
Delfarib Fanaie
Founder & CEO
Delfarib Fanaie
Founder & CEO
A compassionate humanitarian and an advocate of children all over the world. Fulfilling her life-long vision to extend a helping hand to the neediest children in the most deprived countries of the world, Delfarib co-founded Moms Against Poverty in 2008. With over 35 years of experience in the real estate market, Delfarib currently works as an asset manager for a well-known real estate investor in the Bay Area.
Yasamin Shamshiri
Director, CFCO
Yasamin Shamshiri
Director, CFCO
Yasamin holds an MA in Linguistics. She joined MAP in 2011 and has been devoting her time fully to the advancement of MAP’s mission of breaking the cycle of childhood poverty across the globe. She acts as the Chief Financial & Compliance Officer of the organization. She is passionate about helping orphans and underprivileged children, regardless of geography, ethnicity, and race. She had earlier worked as the Marketing Manager of a European office of a leading international law firm.
Samann Alavi-Irvine
Director
Samann Alavi-Irvine
Director
Sam is currently the Director of Strategic Programs & Initiatives for University Development at UC Davis and has her Masters degree in higher education leadership and nonprofit management from Stanford University. Her work usually focuses on organizational development and diversity/equity strategic planning. She has been involved in MAP for a number of years and prior to MAP was on the board of a national organization working towards racial and gender justice for almost ten years. She is currently also on the board of Empower Yolo, and nonprofit organization supporting women and children impacted by domestic and sexual violence. In her free time, Sam is involved in political advocacy in order to impact social change at a local, state, and federal policy level.
Bobak Cyrus Bakhtiari
Director
Bobak Cyrus Bakhtiari
Director
Bobak is honored to be heading PR and Digital Media for MAP. He has been producing MAPs digital media and annual recap narratives since 2008 and is also a Philanthropy Partner. In addition, he is a regional theater actor and entrepreneur, with a past history of work in Mental Health and with court dependent kids. He’s been a Court Appointed Special Advocate since 2003, defending the interests of court dependent foster youth. Bakhtiari can also be seen on TV in a variety of network shows or possibly chasing someone in an Indie film. Bakhtiari owns an offbeat philanthropic car wash with a dinosaur exhibit near SFO: touchfreewash.com. Bakhtiari is also the founder of FuelForChange.org, a CSR, and VRWash.com, (developing immersive content for car wash tunnels). He fervently endorses spontaneous dancing, works to expand his movement vocabulary regularly, and seeks to cultivate and inspire the ever-proliferating treasures of generosity, community, and gratefulness everywhere.
Nooshin Hakimi
Director
Nooshin Hakimi
Director
Nooshin has been dedicated to charitable giving for many years both in her personal and professional life. She co-founded Moms Against Poverty in 2008. She continues her passion for helping people in her professional life, by working in an organization which strives to provide affordable housing for those in need. Nooshin holds a BS from Cal Poly State University, she has worked for Affordable Housing Associates for the last ten years and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Michael F. Whipple
Director
Michael F. Whipple
Director
Mike Whipple has worked as a civil engineer, municipal financing consultant and investment banker. Since 1995 he has dedicated much of his time to community and charitable activities. In 1999 he was selected as Laguna Niguel Citizen of the Year. Mike was elected to the Laguna Niguel City Council in 2000 and 2004 and served as Mayor in 2003. An Afghan American friend introduced Mike to International Orphan Care (IOC), which had projects to help orphans in Afghanistan. Mike made his first trip to Afghanistan in 2003. Mike served as President and Board Chairman of IOC from 2004 until June 2021 when another board member was appointed President and Mike’s appointment as Board Chairman was approved. He is currently the President of a municipal financial advisory firm. The firm’s clients include municipal governments, real estate developers and homebuilders, He also serves on the Board of Directors of CHILD International. Mike received his BS Degree in Engineering from California State University, Long Beach and MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Fatemeh Winans
Secretary, Director
Fatemeh Winans
Secretary, Director
Fatemeh holds a B.S. degree in Business Management and is currently working as a manager for a private company. Her responsibilities include helping low-income families and seniors to find affordable housing. Passionate about helping needy children and families, Fatemeh works with a number of non-profit organizations such as Court Appointed Special Advocate and the Child Foundation.
Fatemeh Winans
Secretary, Director
Fatemeh Winans
Secretary, Director
Fatemeh holds a B.S. degree in Business Management and is currently working as a manager for a private company. Her responsibilities include helping low-income families and seniors to find affordable housing. Passionate about helping needy children and families, Fatemeh works with a number of non-profit organizations such as Court Appointed Special Advocate and the Child Foundation.
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Sam is currently the Director of Strategic Programs & Initiatives for University Development at UC Davis and has her Masters degree in higher education leadership and nonprofit management from Stanford University. Her work usually focuses on organizational development and diversity/equity strategic planning. She has been involved in MAP for a number of years and prior to MAP was on the board of a national organization working towards racial and gender justice for almost ten years. She is currently also on the board of Empower Yolo, and nonprofit organization supporting women and children impacted by domestic and sexual violence. In her free time, Sam is involved in political advocacy in order to impact social change at a local, state, and federal policy level.
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Fatemeh holds a B.S. degree in Business Management and is currently working as a manager for a private company. Her responsibilities include helping low-income families and seniors to find affordable housing. Passionate about helping needy children and families, Fatemeh works with a number of non-profit organizations such as Court Appointed Special Advocate and the Child Foundation.
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Maryam Refahi
Director
Maryam Refahi
Director
Traveling and living around the globe from Iran to Europe and now the United States has given Maryam a global perspective on issues relating to children and families. She has worked with Amnesty International and other non-profit organizations, was trained and worked as a nutritionist and is currently a graphic designer whose work with non profit and community organizations has won numerous national awards. Maryam is one of the co-founders of Moms Against Poverty, and brings her expertise in the fields of public relations and advertising to MAP.
Our Trustee Committee
Susan Akbarpour
As a serial entrepreneur, investor, board member, community advocate and fundraiser, Susan has over 30 years of hands-on experience in building innovative products and businesses in software, retail and media industries serving in leadership roles for cross-functional teams.
During the last 10 years after graduating from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with the Master of Science in Management (MSc), she has made it her mission to develop, invest in and leverage consumer-centric and tool-based technologies that can end the internet "consumer as-a-product model".
Some of these technologies include omnichannel marketplace as-a-service, universal shopping cart, Headless and API based commerce, cross-pollinated and contactless commerce (C-Commerce), blockchain-based influence marketing, tokenized content monetization, smart contract as a service, shop-able content publishing platform as-a-service and very recently micro-mobility and AI based face recognition.
Through her family office Monjeri Investment LLC which she started along with her serial entrepreneur husband, Faraj Aalaei (with 2 IPOs and multiple M&A under his belt) and and later on in Candou Ventures, Susan has invested in over 40 private and public companies and had multiple successful exits and unicorns in her portfolio such as NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NBY), Beceem (Acquired by Broadcom), Aduro Biotech ( ADRO ), Made In Space (Acquired by Redwire) among others. She is also a limited partner in other funds such as Practical VC and Venture University Venture Partners. Susan has received multiple media, community and business awards and spoken at various conferences. She is also a contributor writer to Forbes, IPR Journal, Disruptor daily and is frequently featured in mainstream media. She has recently established the Akbarpour Aalaei Fellowship Fund to provide financial support for MBA, MSx, or PhD students who are enrolled in Stanford Graduate School of Business.
During the last 10 years after graduating from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with the Master of Science in Management (MSc), she has made it her mission to develop, invest in and leverage consumer-centric and tool-based technologies that can end the internet "consumer as-a-product model".
Some of these technologies include omnichannel marketplace as-a-service, universal shopping cart, Headless and API based commerce, cross-pollinated and contactless commerce (C-Commerce), blockchain-based influence marketing, tokenized content monetization, smart contract as a service, shop-able content publishing platform as-a-service and very recently micro-mobility and AI based face recognition.
Through her family office Monjeri Investment LLC which she started along with her serial entrepreneur husband, Faraj Aalaei (with 2 IPOs and multiple M&A under his belt) and and later on in Candou Ventures, Susan has invested in over 40 private and public companies and had multiple successful exits and unicorns in her portfolio such as NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NBY), Beceem (Acquired by Broadcom), Aduro Biotech ( ADRO ), Made In Space (Acquired by Redwire) among others. She is also a limited partner in other funds such as Practical VC and Venture University Venture Partners. Susan has received multiple media, community and business awards and spoken at various conferences. She is also a contributor writer to Forbes, IPR Journal, Disruptor daily and is frequently featured in mainstream media. She has recently established the Akbarpour Aalaei Fellowship Fund to provide financial support for MBA, MSx, or PhD students who are enrolled in Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Mehrdad Elie
Mr. Mehrdad Elie is the CEO and President of Elie Corp with a multi- million dollar commercial property portfolio through out the United States. He served as the CEO of Alliance BanCorp , one of the largest financial firms in Bay Area where he implemented a successful, creative approach to real estate lending and maintained steady growth and profitability.
Mr. Elie, retired at age 47 and continues to lead large portfolio of real estate investments and is dedicated to numerous philanthropic projects. Prior to Alliance Bancorp Mr. Elie served as the chairman of California Mortgage Bankers Association. He holds an MBA from The Golden Gate University and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from San Jose State University.
Mr. Elie, retired at age 47 and continues to lead large portfolio of real estate investments and is dedicated to numerous philanthropic projects. Prior to Alliance Bancorp Mr. Elie served as the chairman of California Mortgage Bankers Association. He holds an MBA from The Golden Gate University and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from San Jose State University.
Mariam Firouzi
Mariam is an inspirational leader with over 25 years of experience in biotechnology and high-tech industries.
She is currently the Director of Centralized Field Analytics at Genentech. Mariam holds an MBA in Finance and a B.Sc. in Accounting from Concordia University in Montreal Canada.
Mariam is passionate about helping needy families and especially enjoys working for an organization specializing in helping children. She joined MAP in 2008. She currently resides in Southern California.
Ali Foughi
Ali Foughi is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with many years of experience in semiconductors. Mr. Foughi was the CEO and co-Founder of NextInput, took the company from seed funding to leadership position and NextInput was ultimately acquired by a large technology company. Ali is passionate about supporting underprivileged children, through education, to help break the cycle of childhood poverty.
Neda Nobari
Ms. Neda Nobari has a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from San Francisco State University where she now serves on the University Foundation’s Board. Ms. Nobari was the Co-Founder and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at bebe stores inc. from 1984 until 2006. After transitioning away from the corporate sector, Ms. Nobari founded her private foundation and went on to attend Dartmouth College to receive her MA in Liberal Studies, focusing on the intersection of diaspora and cultural identity of Iranian-American women.
Lily Sarafan
Lily Sarafan is co-founder and Executive Chair of TheKey, where she served as chief executive through December 2020 and led the company from startup to industry leader with 15,000+ employees. She is also a board director with Instacart, Thumbtack, and Kyo.
Lily serves on the Stanford University Board of Trustees, Freeman Spogli Institute Council, Undergraduate Cabinet, and Life Sciences Council. She is Founding Partner of Project BIG: The Brain Immune Gut Initiative and an appointed member of the California Governor's Alzheimer's Task Force. Lily serves on the boards of Moms Against Poverty, Pars Equality Center and the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. She also serves in various leadership roles to advance precision health, economic development, and informed civic engagement .
Lily holds M.S. and B.S. degrees from Stanford University. She has been named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Women Health Care Executives Woman of the Year, and a 2020 Fortune 40 Under 40. Lily is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Lily serves on the Stanford University Board of Trustees, Freeman Spogli Institute Council, Undergraduate Cabinet, and Life Sciences Council. She is Founding Partner of Project BIG: The Brain Immune Gut Initiative and an appointed member of the California Governor's Alzheimer's Task Force. Lily serves on the boards of Moms Against Poverty, Pars Equality Center and the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. She also serves in various leadership roles to advance precision health, economic development, and informed civic engagement .
Lily holds M.S. and B.S. degrees from Stanford University. She has been named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Women Health Care Executives Woman of the Year, and a 2020 Fortune 40 Under 40. Lily is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Siavash Nazhand
Siavash Nazhand is an engineer by education, businessman and entrepreneur by practice and a generous donor to MAP for many years. Siavash deeply cares about supporting charitable causes that involve children and their education.
Siavash Nazhand
Siavash Nazhand is an engineer by education, businessman and entrepreneur by practice and a generous donor to MAP for many years. Siavash deeply cares about supporting charitable causes that involve children and their education.
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Our Advisory Committee
Mina Almassi
Mina is an attorney with over 23 years of employment, corporate and business law experience including counseling and litigation in the U.S. and many European, Asian and Latin American countries.
During her career, she has represented and opposed numerous multi-national and Fortune 500 companies as well as foreign governmental entities including Nokia, Cubic Defense Systems, Westinghouse, AT&T, Facebook, eBay, Sun Microsystems, NetSuite, Bridgestone, Access, Mektec International, Liberty Mutual in California State and District Courts, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the International Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland obtaining multi-million dollar awards.
In employment law, she has extensive experience in litigating claims of wrongful discharge, defamation, invasion of privacy, misappropriation and breach of contract. She also counsels corporations on internal audits, investigations, risk management, pre-dispute conflicts, benefits and other employment related issues. In corporate and transactional law, she has negotiated many complex international commercial transactions including joint ventures, licensing, transfer of technology, service agreements, NDAs and other related business agreements.
She currently acts as Senior Corporate Counsel for a global software company, overseeing worldwide labor and employment compliance for global jurisdictions. Mina has served as a panelist and lecturer for many employment law training programs and seminars on a variety of legal topics.
Mina lives in Northern California with her husband and their three daughters where she is also actively involved in the community.
During her career, she has represented and opposed numerous multi-national and Fortune 500 companies as well as foreign governmental entities including Nokia, Cubic Defense Systems, Westinghouse, AT&T, Facebook, eBay, Sun Microsystems, NetSuite, Bridgestone, Access, Mektec International, Liberty Mutual in California State and District Courts, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the International Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland obtaining multi-million dollar awards.
In employment law, she has extensive experience in litigating claims of wrongful discharge, defamation, invasion of privacy, misappropriation and breach of contract. She also counsels corporations on internal audits, investigations, risk management, pre-dispute conflicts, benefits and other employment related issues. In corporate and transactional law, she has negotiated many complex international commercial transactions including joint ventures, licensing, transfer of technology, service agreements, NDAs and other related business agreements.
She currently acts as Senior Corporate Counsel for a global software company, overseeing worldwide labor and employment compliance for global jurisdictions. Mina has served as a panelist and lecturer for many employment law training programs and seminars on a variety of legal topics.
Mina lives in Northern California with her husband and their three daughters where she is also actively involved in the community.
Nina Bakhtiari
Nina holds a BS and is a part time registered dental hygienist. She is an entrepreneur and runs a successful business. She serves hundreds of the homeless, low income families and juvenile hall Thanksgiving meals on Thanksgiving Day in her business location. She is also a mentor for low income troubled teenagers in her community through her business internship program for local high schools. She is passionate to help poor families and kids and she has worked with MAP and sponsored MAP for many years.
Haleh Boroumand Darabnia
Haleh joined MAP in 2010. She is a compassionate humanitarian, a business woman and a community leader who has dedicated her life to charitable giving from a very young age. She has studied International Studies with Foreign Languages. Haleh believes that we are all part of a larger family called humanity. Her skills, as a business woman for over twenty years, have helped her organize numerous fundraising events for several nonprofit organizations, mostly in support of under privileged children around the world. She encourages NGO’s to work together where possible. Haleh strongly believes in the mission of Moms Against Poverty and has been working with us tirelessly for the past six years
Negar Chitsaz
Negar Chitsaz was born in Tehran, raised in Ottawa Canada and has been living in the bay area since 2007. She studied Computer Systems Engineering and has 20 years of experience in Business Intelligence & Analytics, Program and Product Management. Currently, she runs Data Operations and Logistics for Augmented Reality (AR) at Google.
She is passionate about MAP’s mission of breaking the cycle of childhood poverty and enabling underprivileged children to eventually lead change within their own communities. She has been volunteering with MAP since 2016 and is committed to MAPS humanitarian efforts.
Frank E. Clohan
Frank holds an economic degree from Stanford and an LLM in Tax Law from New York University.
He has practiced law in the bay area since 1967 and currently practices as a sole practitioner with primary focus on tax planning, estate planning and post death trust administration and commercial real estate. He currently assists MAP as a compliance advisor and in addition generates corporate documents as needed by the Board of Directors. He has recently worked with MAP to provide a charter school in the Puna area of the big island Hawaii where over ninety percent of the population falls into the poverty and at risk category with a modest grant to upgrade a classroom. The classroom for a group of autistic special needs students was in an old quanset hut originally used to store tractors and farm equipment – the classroom at the end of the building had no end wall and was totally open to the wind and rain, and did not have adequate lighting or any fans or air cooling equipment to make it an adequate learning environment.
He has practiced law in the bay area since 1967 and currently practices as a sole practitioner with primary focus on tax planning, estate planning and post death trust administration and commercial real estate. He currently assists MAP as a compliance advisor and in addition generates corporate documents as needed by the Board of Directors. He has recently worked with MAP to provide a charter school in the Puna area of the big island Hawaii where over ninety percent of the population falls into the poverty and at risk category with a modest grant to upgrade a classroom. The classroom for a group of autistic special needs students was in an old quanset hut originally used to store tractors and farm equipment – the classroom at the end of the building had no end wall and was totally open to the wind and rain, and did not have adequate lighting or any fans or air cooling equipment to make it an adequate learning environment.
Sue Fanai
Sue was born in Warwickshire, England and studied English and French Literature at college, where she met her future husband, Kami Fanai. After their marriage in 1977, they moved to Tehran, Iran, where she worked in administration at the Tehran Hilton. After they returned to England, Sue resumed her studies and gained her Bilingual Secretaries’ Diploma in French and English.
Recently retired after 45 years of working in administrative roles and office management, including as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Pacific Stock Exchange and to the CEOs of several large, high-tech Silicon Valley companies, Sue now relaxes by pursuing her hobbies of interior design, photography and cooking while consulting for friends and former colleagues.
Having watched MAP grow since its inception to the successful organization it is today, Sue has always been impressed at what the founders and their army of volunteers have achieved. She is excited to be joining the Team, and looks forward to making a positive contribution.
Recently retired after 45 years of working in administrative roles and office management, including as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Pacific Stock Exchange and to the CEOs of several large, high-tech Silicon Valley companies, Sue now relaxes by pursuing her hobbies of interior design, photography and cooking while consulting for friends and former colleagues.
Having watched MAP grow since its inception to the successful organization it is today, Sue has always been impressed at what the founders and their army of volunteers have achieved. She is excited to be joining the Team, and looks forward to making a positive contribution.
Venous Farsad
Venous is an Associate Director of Strategy and currently serves as a consultant for Google’s Partner & Retail Marketing team on large scale product marketing campaigns for consumers. She has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications in the tech and health care industries. Prior to being in tech, she worked in digital marketing and strategy at several of the nation's leading pediatric and adult medical centers including Stanford Health Care, Mayo Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Her interest in serving others stems from watching her mom make a difference for others while growing up. Since middle school, Venous has been passionate about children's causes, research, and volunteer work. She also is a board member for AchieveKids schools in the Bay area, which offer a multi-disciplinary approach and blend best practices from the fields of special education, mental health, behavior analysis, speech and language, and vocational education. Venous has been a digital marketing and campaign volunteer for MAP since 2018, and MAP's mission holds a special place in her heart. She has a Master's degree in Corporate Communications and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology.
Her interest in serving others stems from watching her mom make a difference for others while growing up. Since middle school, Venous has been passionate about children's causes, research, and volunteer work. She also is a board member for AchieveKids schools in the Bay area, which offer a multi-disciplinary approach and blend best practices from the fields of special education, mental health, behavior analysis, speech and language, and vocational education. Venous has been a digital marketing and campaign volunteer for MAP since 2018, and MAP's mission holds a special place in her heart. She has a Master's degree in Corporate Communications and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology.
Mojdeh Froozandeh
Mojdeh is a compassionate individual who has always helped children in need. As a successful business owner Mojdeh helps MAP expand its reach through community outreach, advocacy and fundraising events. Mojdeh has always helped in her community and has coordinated countless charitable events at her salon, helping cancer patients shed their daily stress getting pampered free of charge. She currently owns and operates a successful hair salon in the Bay Area.
Shokoufeh Hanjani
Shokoufeh Hanjani earned a master’s degree in computer information systems and worked for a large telecom company as a project manager for several years. An active participant in several charities, Shokoufeh engaged with MAP in 2012 when she relocated to Davis, CA. Today, she manages a network of over 160 volunteers, as well as her women’s apparel boutique in Downtown Davis. Shokoufeh and her family reside in Northern California.
Guadalupe Hinojosa
Guadalupe “Lupe” was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and has lived in the United States for over 25 years. He has worked in the construction business for about the same time. He is currently working for an investment company as The Building Engineer.
He has been a part of MAP since its inception managing the personnel during the San Francisco Fundraising Event and the Holiday Helping Hand Program. He is grateful for being part of the MAP team.
He has been a part of MAP since its inception managing the personnel during the San Francisco Fundraising Event and the Holiday Helping Hand Program. He is grateful for being part of the MAP team.
Marjan Javaherian
Marjan has volunteered for MAP since its inception and is moved and inspired by the passion, hard work and determination of everyone involved. She is grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children in need all over the world. Marjan holds an MBA in Marketing and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Iman Jeddi
Iman Jeddi is Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Single Port business unit at Intuitive. Iman has been with Intuitive since 2013 and has held multiple leadership roles in Engineering, Operations, and Quality during her tenure. She has 20 years of experience in the medical device industry, including five years at Abbott Laboratories, where she held multiple engineering and operations roles. Iman holds a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, M.S. in Medical Engineering from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California Davis.
Dr. Niaz Kasravi
Dr. Niaz Kasravi is the Deputy Director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC). Prior to joining ARC, she served as the Director for the Criminal Justice Program at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)—the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. She has also served as the Lead Researcher and Associate for the Domestic Human Rights Program of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), helping build this new program for the organization and focusing on racial profiling, prison conditions, juveniles in the criminal justice system, civil rights and the “war on terror”, as well as other domestic human rights issues. Additionally, has worked as Director of Community Relations for the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian-Americans (PAAIA), Policy Associate for Stop Prison Rape (SPR), as well as researcher and advocate at a number of organizations working on human rights issues in the United States and Iran. Dr. Kasravi holds a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine. In her academic career, she focused on sociology of law and law and inequality. A National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, allowed her to travel to Iran to work with Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient of 2003, on human rights in Iran and the role of Iranian women in the reform movement.
Galorah Keshavarz
Galorah Keshavarz is a licensed CA attorney who has focused her career on serving disenfranchised communities. From civil rights litigation to immigration law, she has worked with CA prisoners, refugees, asylees, unaccompanied minors, inner city youth, victims of crimes, and has helped countless citizens navigate the legal system.
After moving to the Bay Area, she helped establish The Women's Initiative in East Oakland through the nonprofit Refugee and Immigrant Transitions in 2017. This Initiative serves as a center for Refugee and Immigrant Women and their preschool-aged children to receive basic English skills, computer literacy, life skills and an abundance of support.
Galorah is currently working on issues concerning discrimination, harassment, equal pay and other workplace issues with major technology companies in the Bay Area. Galorah and her husband are raising their two little girls, Imana (3.5) and Alaia (1) in San Francisco, CA.
After moving to the Bay Area, she helped establish The Women's Initiative in East Oakland through the nonprofit Refugee and Immigrant Transitions in 2017. This Initiative serves as a center for Refugee and Immigrant Women and their preschool-aged children to receive basic English skills, computer literacy, life skills and an abundance of support.
Galorah is currently working on issues concerning discrimination, harassment, equal pay and other workplace issues with major technology companies in the Bay Area. Galorah and her husband are raising their two little girls, Imana (3.5) and Alaia (1) in San Francisco, CA.
Shiva Kordestani
Shiva Ebrahimi Kordestani was raised in an educated family in Iran. Her mother was a school teacher and her father was a general in the pre-revolution Iranian army. Shiva received her chemical engineering degree in Tehran and then began employment with a pharmaceutical manufacturer while teaching chemistry for three years. In 1997, she married and moved to the U.S. where she started her new journey. She has raised two socially-responsible children and has taught them about their Iranian and Kurdish heritage. While raising her family, she has managed to help her husband with his construction company. As a board or committee member for the past ten years, she has been volunteering her time and resources as well as sponsoring several foundations and charities such as Moms Against Poverty, IAWF (Iranian American Women Foundation), Diaspora Art, NICA and Roya foundation. She is delighted and proud to have the opportunity to give back to her community.
Haleh Merat
Haleh is a general dentist and resides in San Francisco Bay Area. She promotes health and wellness among the needy by providing dental care to children of selected low-income families through the local dental society. Haleh joined MAP to have a bigger impact to help more children around the globe.
Kamron Motamedi
Kamron Motamedi is the president of American Printing, a Menlo Park-based printing company serving Sand Hill venture capitalists, numerous leading technology companies and 100+ Stanford University departments.
When he is not at American Printing, Kamron enjoys spending time with his family and playing Tennis. Kamron and his wife Cindy have four children and live in Fremont, California.
Maryam Refahi
Traveling and living around the globe from Iran to Europe and now the United States has given Maryam a global perspective on issues relating to children and families. She has worked with Amnesty International and other non-profit organizations, was trained and worked as a nutritionist and is currently a graphic designer whose work with non profit and community organizations has won numerous national awards. Maryam is one of the co-founders of Moms Against Poverty, and brings her expertise in the fields of public relations and advertising to MAP.
Shahab Sadat-Tehrani
Shahab Sadat-Tehrani was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He attended Razi School, a French elementary, middle and high school in Tehran. After high school, he pursued his education in Paris, France where he attended Ecole Nationale Superior des Beaux-Arts. He received a Master of Arts in Architecture in 1980. After spending time in Paris, Shahab moved to the United States in 1981 and was apart of several entrepreneurship opportunities involving various chain businesses including a small chain of French coffee shops and dry cleaning, a restaurant and real estate developments. His main belief and words of encouragement are to stay motivated and never give up. Sadat-Tehrani currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Nazila and has two children Tara (24) and Hannah (21).
Bita Safari
Bita was born in Tehran -Iran and has studied Chemical Engineering. Currently she lives in Orange County and is the Chief Administrative Officer at Nationwide Legal . Her daughter has inspired her to serve impoverished children and she has been volunteering from MAP since 2008, managing MAP’s events in OC since 2015.
Anahita Safavi
Anahita has always been passionate about children’s well being. She was a court appointed advocate with CASA for a decade, advocating for children that had been neglected and abused here in US. Now her time is dedicated to MAP helping children here and around the globe. A trip to Iran with board members in 2014 to see all the great projects was so exciting.Her degree in marketing and as a restaurant owner has enabled her to feed hundreds of children and families.
Farshid Samsami
Farshid Samsami is a father to three beautiful children. His education included a focus in Architecture with an M.S. in Project Management. He has been working in the construction industry throughout the Bay Area since 1985 when he moved to California from North Carolina. Currently, he is working as the Senior Project Manager for Kitchell CEM. Farshid's passions are art, architecture, music, and volunteering for MAP. He first joined MAP in 2007 when his wife Delfarib Fanaie, planted the seed of its inception.
Roya Soleimani Winner
Roya Soleimani Winner is the Communications Manager for Social Good at Facebook, overseeing the company’s charitable giving products and initiatives. She has 7+ years of experience working in technology and communications, with a focus on philanthropy and social impact. In her time at Google, Roya most recently focused on the company’s social impact and philanthropic efforts with Google.org, and served in various product and corporate communications roles since July 2012, including serving as a lead Google Trends analyst, highlighting trending topics across Google on radio and media across the country.
She holds a Masters degree in Middle Eastern studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and her Bachelors in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. Roya is involved with several community organizations, including iBridges, the Iranian American Women’s Foundation, and also sits on the Board of the OMID Foundation. As a new mom to her son, Cyrus, she is honored to help further MAP’s mission to help children around the world.
She holds a Masters degree in Middle Eastern studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and her Bachelors in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. Roya is involved with several community organizations, including iBridges, the Iranian American Women’s Foundation, and also sits on the Board of the OMID Foundation. As a new mom to her son, Cyrus, she is honored to help further MAP’s mission to help children around the world.
Sima Talai
Sima Talai has lived in San Francisco for 40 years. With a background in design, she has managed a successful boutique, furniture showroom, and real estate business. All along, she knew taking care of under privileged kids is her passion. After raising two successful sons and volunteering for many years, 5 years ago she decided to dedicate her life to kids specifically to orphans in Iran.
Shahrzad Zarkoob
Shahrzad Zarkoob is Senior Director of Global Instrument Engineering at
Beckton Dickinson Biosciences. Shahrzad spent first 10 years of her career at GE
where she held positions in R&D, Service, Marketing and as Director of Research
at NBC-Universal (a GE holding). She then took a three-year sabbatical during
which she made wine in France and Sonoma CA, received her winemaking
certificate from University California Davis and she started her own award-
winning label. Additionally, she has 11 years of experience in the medical
device industry, with Abbott Laboratories, J&J and BDB. Shahrzad holds a B.S. in
Physics, M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering degrees from University of
Washington, and a Ph.D. in Polymer Science from University of Akron. Shahrzad
supports several charitable organizations with focus on education of girls in
underdeveloped countries.
Marjan Yazdanian
Marjan has been involved in philanthropy all her life ( or has been volunteering for non-profit organization all her life) Her parents were both generous philanthropists who instilled in her the love of volunteerism and giving back to the community. She is passionate about helping underprivileged and disadvantage children all around the world and has been actively working with Moms Against Poverty since 2017 in various volunteering capacity.
Shirin Birjandi
Chair of Advisory Committee
Shirin Birjandi
Chair of Advisory Committee
Shirin was born and raised in Esfahan, Iran and decided to further pursue her educational goals in the United States in 2001. Shirin moved to the Bay Area where her only extended family resided and attended UC Berkeley receiving a degree in Business and Psychology. Hard work and education have been important pillars to her; therefore, she took on various internships to gain experience while at school and setting herself up for a better future in a country where she had little familiarity.
After graduating UC Berkeley, Shirin has worked at Cisco Systems and Salesforce.com in customer and partner leadership roles. Shirin has a strong set of roots in Iran and has always wanted to help culturally and contribute and make an impact on the lives of children who may never have the opportunity for a good education or a chance to achieve their true potential. Shirin is excited and inspired to support such an amazing organization created by everyone on the Moms Against Poverty team who's worked hard to build a strong foundation that not only serves the children of Iran but also many parts of the world!
After graduating UC Berkeley, Shirin has worked at Cisco Systems and Salesforce.com in customer and partner leadership roles. Shirin has a strong set of roots in Iran and has always wanted to help culturally and contribute and make an impact on the lives of children who may never have the opportunity for a good education or a chance to achieve their true potential. Shirin is excited and inspired to support such an amazing organization created by everyone on the Moms Against Poverty team who's worked hard to build a strong foundation that not only serves the children of Iran but also many parts of the world!
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Our Event & Outreach Volunteer Team
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Heather is a single mom, a happiness coach, and a professional marketer with 15 years of experience in business and Marketing. She comes to us with a background in automotive, tech, and health & wellness industries working in the disciplines of legal, strategy, sponsorships, promotions, sales, and digital marketing. She brings with her a passion for helping everyone, especially those who are struggling, to live happier, healthier lives, empowering them to reach their fullest potential. Heather has obtained a BA in marketing from Cal State Fullerton and an MBA from Chapman University. While trying to make the world a happier place she stays active in fitness is an avid reader of murder mysteries and is constantly fighting to be the best mom she can be.
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Jasmine has been a part of MAP since its inception. She launched all of MAP’s social platforms in 2014 as a volunteer and has served as our Marketing & Social Media Manager since 2020. Jasmine has spoken at multiple MAP events to promote its programs and impact on the children around the world we support. She has a B.A. in Communication Studies and a Minor in Business from San Jose State University. She was extremely involved in her sorority, Delta Gamma, holding six positions to contribute to the chapter’s promising future. For years Jasmine has been a vital part of a multitude of organizations in efforts to be a part of their mission to give back, she has always had a passion for philanthropic work and loves working for Moms Against Poverty.
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Accounting & Legal Team
Management Team
Marketing Team
Jasmine Samsami
Senior Marketing & Communications Manager
Jasmine Samsami
Senior Marketing & Communications Manager
Jasmine has been a part of MAP since its inception. She launched all of MAP’s social platforms in 2014 as a volunteer and has served as our Marketing & Social Media Manager since 2020. Jasmine has spoken at multiple MAP events to promote its programs and impact on the children around the world we support. She has a B.A. in Communication Studies and a Minor in Business from San Jose State University. She was extremely involved in her sorority, Delta Gamma, holding six positions to contribute to the chapter’s promising future. For years Jasmine has been a vital part of a multitude of organizations in efforts to be a part of their mission to give back, she has always had a passion for philanthropic work and loves working for Moms Against Poverty.
Heather Vargas
Director of Marketing & Communications
Heather Vargas
Director of Marketing & Communications
Heather is a single mom, a happiness coach, and a professional marketer with 15 years of experience in business and Marketing. She comes to us with a background in automotive, tech, and health & wellness industries working in the disciplines of legal, strategy, sponsorships, promotions, sales, and digital marketing. She brings with her a passion for helping everyone, especially those who are struggling, to live happier, healthier lives, empowering them to reach their fullest potential. Heather has obtained a BA in marketing from Cal State Fullerton and an MBA from Chapman University. While trying to make the world a happier place she stays active in fitness is an avid reader of murder mysteries and is constantly fighting to be the best mom she can be.
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United States Team
Dee Domingo
United States Program Director
Dee Domingo
United States Program Director
Denise “Dee” Domingo was born and raised in Kapolei, Hawaii. She has 18+ years of working as an Assistant. She is currently working as an Executive Assistant for a real estate investment company. She has always had the passion to help those in need and she is blessed to be able to be a part of MAP’s Nutrition and Hygiene program. Other than work, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing billiards, and going to church.
Soheila Hekmati
Office Manager
Soheila Hekmati
Office Manager
Soheila Hekmati was born in Tehran, Iran but has lived most of her adult life abroad and in the United States. She has 35+ years of work experience as Office Manager, Executive Assistant in a wide range of organizations abroad and in U.S. She is passionate and always willing to help others when and where she can and has been actively involved in supporting her elderly community and various charities, hunger relief programs and organizations throughout her life. Since joining Moms Against Poverty in February 2023 she has been actively participating and contributing to our fundraising and outreach events and she is very happy to have been given the opportunity to engage with her Iranian friends and collaborators in helping impoverished children particularly in Iran and through all the other outreach programs Moms Against Poverty participates in. In her spare time, she enjoys walking, hiking and exploring new trails and helps her Lake Merritt community with preservation and cleanup efforts through the Lake Merritt Institute Programs.
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Iran Team - Nikgaman Jamshid
Dr. Ashkan Taghipour
Iran Country Director
Dr. Ashkan Taghipour
Iran Country Director
Dr. Ashkan Taghipour is the Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Nikgaman Jamshid Charity. He has 20 years of experience in child-centered services and projects in the area of education, health and basic provision for underprivileged children and adolescents throughout Iran. He holds a PhD in Management, an MA in Ancient Cultures and Languages of Iran as well as Plant Protection Engineering.
Fatemeh Toghanian
Iran Director of Finance
Fatemeh Toghanian
Iran Director of Finance
Fatemeh Toghanian is Director of Operations at Nikgaman Jamshid Charity. She manages the financials and the administration of projects in Iran. She has 15 years of experience in the nonprofit industry. She holds a BA in Accounting and an MA in Organizational and Industrial Psychology.
Samira Safavi
Iran Program Director
Samira Safavi
Iran Program Director
Samira Safavi manages the PR as well as the public participation and community engagement at Nikgaman Jamshid Charity. She also acts as the Deputy Director of the Charity. She has 15 years of experience in youth-related charity activities. She holds an MA in English Language.
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Cambodia Team
Sochetra Vartey
Cambodia Country Director
Sochetra Vartey
Cambodia Country Director
Sochetra Vartey is Moms Against Poverty’s country director in Cambodia and responsible for finances, compliance, and accounting. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Sochetra grew up under very modest circumstances in Cambodia. Before and after going to school she had to help her mother catch snails and harvest lotus in the lake. Thanks to Moms Against Poverty she can help support the impoverished families in her community. She personally knows how hard life can be and how difficult it is for many parents to keep their own children in education. Moms Against Poverty also opened the universe of music to her. Because she once learned music through Moms Against Poverty’s music workshops, she is also pursuing a music career as the front woman of Cambodian band Vartey Ganiv.
Timon Seibel
Cambodia Program Director
Timon Seibel
Cambodia Program Director
Timon Seibel is a Swiss and Austrian national who grew up in Germany and lives in Cambodia since 2011 when he started working as the program director for Moms Against Poverty Cambodia (MAPC). His experience in conflict management and transformation helped the oldest and most aggressive teenagers of MAPC learn how to channel their frustration, trauma, and anger into music. This led to the formation of the Khmer band DOCH CHKAE which made international headlines when they played one of the biggest festivals in the world, Wacken Open Air Festival 2019 in Germany. Since then, music is one of his most promoted tools for conflict transformation as it comes along with lyric writing, video and photography, sound recording, social media, design, and marketing; all of which are vocational skills and has led to the creation of MAPC Media Academy. He holds a master’s degree in Philosophy and French and Spanish literature, writes poetry and prose, paints, and composes music.
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Senegal Team
Larson Holt
Senegal Program Manager
Larson Holt
Senegal Program Manager
Larson Holt directs MAP’s growing program in Senegal and leads the volunteering program stateside. Larson came to MAP in 2020 from our partner organization Natangué-Sénégal, where he directed fundraising initiatives and special projects in the US since 2016. Larson has been managing volunteers to support Senegal ever since he first visited the country in 2013. Larson is a city planner and has worked with cities around the world to improve transportation systems, support sustainable urban development, and restructure government agencies. Larson holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Public Administration, both from Columbia University. He’s also a private pilot and can be frequently spotted flying a blue-and-white Piper Archer between the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Omar Fall
Senegal Country Manager
Omar Fall
Senegal Country Manager
Omar is an experienced project manager and has been facilitating development work in Senegal for over twenty years. Previously in the tourism business, Omar worked with MAP’s partner organization Natangué Senegal to facilitate the construction of schools, health clinics, and housing for the benefit of the community in Mbour. Omar is excited to bring his experience and commitment to the children and families of Senegal to MAP, where he manages our field office in Mbour.
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MAP Student Squad Team
Ariana Sheikhai
Head of MAP Squad
Ariana Sheikhai
Head of MAP Squad
Ariana Sheikhai is a law student at UC Davis who is passionate about helping those in need. She is excited and honored to be the Head of MAP Squad. She looks forward to getting future generations involved in philanthropy through Moms Against Poverty.
While an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Ariana was given opportunities to work with Moms Against Poverty, through which she experienced the amazing work that they do does. She wants to provide the same opportunities to other students through MAP Squad.
While an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Ariana was given opportunities to work with Moms Against Poverty, through which she experienced the amazing work that they do does. She wants to provide the same opportunities to other students through MAP Squad.
Shaleez Razavi
MAP Squad Leader
Shaleez Razavi
MAP Squad Leader
Shaleez Razavi is a senior at Marin Academy High School who hopes to study both middle eastern studies and political science in college. Being a leader of the MAP Squad has allowed her to further connect with her home country and make the differences she wants to see.
As Shaleez continues her academic journey, she hopes to continue connecting her communities to Moms Against Poverty and the MAP Squad and encouraging her peers to get involved.
As Shaleez continues her academic journey, she hopes to continue connecting her communities to Moms Against Poverty and the MAP Squad and encouraging her peers to get involved.
Ava Keshavarzi
MAP Squad Leader
Ava Keshavarzi
MAP Squad Leader
Ava Keshavarzi is a high school senior from Mountain View, California. She joined Moms Against Poverty during 2020 and currently serves as a leader of the MAP Squad. Ava first joined the team of youth leaders at Mons Against Poverty because she was inspired to impact the lives of impoverished Iranian children and contribute toward fundraising efforts on their behalf, especially in the area of education. Some of her favorite memories with Moms Against Poverty include working as a hostess for the Annual Fundraising Gala and leading a fundraiser through her school's Persian Culture Club. Ava is passionate about human rights activism, civic leadership in the Persian community, volunteering in the Bay Area, and politics. Outside of MAP Squad, she works with the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans to lobby for immigration policy reform and serves her local community through serving as her District's School Board Student Trustee.
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