Rumi Peace Foundation
Our Team
Fran Faraz
Fran Faraz is the Peace Studies Program Coordinator at Golden West College and a mentor to people of all age groups. She lectures on peace studies, conflict resolution, and leadership with a focus on teaching peace through understanding of human rights, ecological and economic wellbeing, equity, nonviolence and transformation. Fran hosts the annual Peace Conference at Golden West College.
Jila and Touraj Hakimi
Jila is an art consultant and conceptual artist whose primary interest is in telling compelling stories. She works with different media with emphasis on warm glass fusing. She devotes her time to introducing people to the art world and creativity by conducting interactive, purposeful and creative workshops. She enjoys upscaling and utilizing all gifts of life. To her, everything is about enjoying the process while reaching our destiny.
Touraj is a management consultant with the love to work as a glass mosaic artist and advocate of diversity who has served as president of the Iranian Cultural Center of Orange County and board member of Orange County Fine Arts, as well as the Persian Council at the Bowers Museum. He was inspired to begin this book by the 2011 annual Peace Conference at Golden West College.
Hamid Kashani
Hamid graduated from California State University Long Beach (CSULB) in 1989 with a degree in Computer Science. He has spent the past 34 years in Information Technology services developing projects building and managing large data centers, deploying global applications within large entities including Automotive, health organizations and entertainment. Hamid has also contributed to Persian culture activities in LA area and Orange County from calligraphy to making animations.
Jared Millar
is a designer and artist whose work can be seen at his website
contact info: 714.52.7158 JMillarDesign@gmail.com
Chip Royston III, M.A.
a Professor of Human Services and Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton, is profoundly interested in the human condition; past, present, and future. He has an integral partnership with the Center for Living Peace and has twice been a keynote speaker at the Golden West College Peace conference. He authored an empowering children’s book endorsed by Dr. Jane Goodall. He was a founding member of Bundle of Twigs, a Long Beach-based community activism leadership organization. Mr. Royston’s interest in creating Peace has been nurtured by a life-long dedication to service and has created this purpose statement to guide his life: We Are One Global Family Where Each and Every Human Being can See Themselves in the Eyes of Another, Regardless of Different Backgrounds, Experiences or Beliefs.
Jasmine Shodja
Jasmine Shodja has spent over 20 years in the financial services industry and is a highly experienced wealth management professional at Wells Fargo, The Private Bank. Jasmine is and advocate of Diversity on many levels and very involved in the Community through her philanthropic activities. She is a Charter and Visionary member of the Merage School of Business Dean’s Leadership Circle. She is an active Committee member since 2008 with Human Options Center for benefit of battered women in Orange County. Jasmine is also is a representative for the United Way’s Women’s Philanthropy Fund of Orange County. Jasmine has been a long term advocate and supporter of Omid Foundation, Nooroz Foundation, and ARZU Inc. for cause of global support for disadvantaged and refugee women and children.
Alireza Sohrabi
Ali helped research Rumi’s stories, was born in Kermanshah, Iran, and studied telecommunications engineering.
Paul Kareem Tayyar, Ph.D.
He was born in Los Angeles in 1977 and raised in Orange County, California, the son of an Iranian father and an Irish Catholic mother.
Learn more at kareemtayyar.net.
Soodabeh Weaver
Soodabeh Weaver (Nee Malekzadeh) is a historian, linguist, and author. She received a doctoral degree in the history of Late Antique Iran from the University of California, Irvine in 2018. She holds a masters in Ancient Iranian Languages and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Shiraz University.
She was a lecturer of ESL for a decade and taught courses on history, classics, and religious studies during her PhD candidacy. She has numerous publications on the history and culture of Iran and is currently working on the role of Siavash in Iranian mythology and culture. Moreover, she worked as a Development Officer at UCI Irvine from 2019-2022. Currently, she is the Director of Business Development for an IT firm in Orange County.
Support:
Aziz Golkarzadeh
He created the artwork for Rumi On Peace, is an international painter/calligrapher who has had exhibitions in Iran and other countries from Afghanistan to Germany to the United Kingdom, UAE and the United States. A master of Iranian calligraphy, his work can be viewed at golkarzadeh.com. He has been teaching painting and calligraphy about 25 years.
James Clark
James is an attorney and real estate consultant. He has been involved with cross-cultural exchange between the U.S. and Persian communities in the United States.
Morvarid Azizian & Omid Esmaili
Assisted with research.