Who We Are | Our Team
Delfarib Fanaie
Principal Founder & CEO
Delfarib Fanaie
Principal Founder & CEO
- Email:[email protected]
Yasamin Shamshiri
Director & CFCO
Yasamin Shamshiri
Director & CFCO
- Email:[email protected]
Samann Alavi-Irvine
Director
Samann Alavi-Irvine
Director
- Email:[email protected]
Bobak Cyrus Bakhtiari
Director
Bobak Cyrus Bakhtiari
Director
- Email:[email protected]
Nooshin Hakimi
Director
Nooshin Hakimi
Director
- Email:[email protected]
Michael F. Whipple
Director
Michael F. Whipple
Director
Fatemeh Winans
Director & Secretary
Fatemeh Winans
Director & Secretary
- Email:[email protected]
Trustee Committee
Susan Akbarpour
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. 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
Ali Foughi
Maryam Hosseini
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Maryam is a strong advocate for social responsibility. Recognizing our duty as members of society, she advocates for actively contributing to the well-being of others. Engaging in charity work is one of the avenues she embraces, as it reflects her commitment to making the world a better place and addressing pressing social issues. Maryam firmly believes that charity work fosters empathy and compassion towards others, thereby fortifying the fabric of our communities.
Siavash Nazhand
Lily Sarafan
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.
Advisory Committee
Shirin Birjandi
Chair
Shirin Birjandi
Chair
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!
Mina Almassi
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
Haleh Boroumand Darabnia
Negar Chitsaz
Frank E. Clohan
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
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
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
Luigi Di Giamberardino
Since 2001, with his beloved wife Elena Malagodi (Rome1936-Dakar 2021) and the Associations NATANGUE SENEGAL (French) and FAI in SENEGAL (Italian) created by them, they were actives in Senegal building public building schools (also thanks to Moms Against Poverty support), medical facilities, and helping disabled students. He is continuing Elena’s engagements in Senegal.
Shokoufeh Hanjani
Guadalupe Hinojosa
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
Iman Jeddi
Dr. Niaz Kasravi
Galorah Keshavarz
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
Haleh Merat
Kamron Motamedi
Maryam Refahi
Shahab Sadat-Tehrani
Bita Safari
Anahita Safavi
Farshid Samsami
Roya Soleimani Winner
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
Marjan Yazdanian
Shahrzad Zarkoob
Operations Team
Jasmine Samsami
Development & Events Manager
Jasmine Samsami
Development & Events Manager
- Email:[email protected]
Soheila Hekmati
Administrative Assistant
Soheila Hekmati
Administrative Assistant
- Email:[email protected]
Marketing Team
Jasmine Samsami
Marketing Manager
Jasmine Samsami
Marketing Manager
- Email:[email protected]
Lily Navab
Social Media Specialist
Lily Navab
Social Media Specialist
- Email:[email protected]
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
United States Team
Dee Domingo
United States Program Director
Dee Domingo
United States Program Director
- Email:[email protected]
Rianne Malina
United States Program Assistant
Rianne Malina
United States Program Assistant
- Email:[email protected]
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Iran Team - Nikgaman Jamshid
Dr. Ashkan Taghipour
Iran CEO & Country Director
Dr. Ashkan Taghipour
Iran CEO & Country Director
Fatemeh Toghanian
Iran Deputy Country Director & Director of Finance
Fatemeh Toghanian
Iran Deputy Country Director & Director of Finance
Samira Safavi
Iran Program Director
Samira Safavi
Iran Program Director
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Cambodia Team
Sochetra Vartey
Cambodia Country Director
Sochetra Vartey
Cambodia Country Director
Timon Seibel
Cambodia Program Director
Timon Seibel
Cambodia Program Director
- Email:[email protected]
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Senegal Team
Larson Holt
Senegal Program Manager
Larson Holt
Senegal Program Manager
- Email:[email protected]
Omar Fall
Senegal Country Manager
Omar Fall
Senegal Country Manager
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
Name FPO
MAP Student Squad Team
Larson Holt
MAP Squad Manager
Larson Holt
MAP Squad Manager
- Email:[email protected]
Ariana Sheikhai
MAP Squad Leader
Ariana Sheikhai
MAP Squad Leader
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 Member
Shaleez Razavi
MAP Squad Member
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 Member
Ava Keshavarzi
MAP Squad Member