| Board of Directors (2009/2010) |
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| Past
Board Members |
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Mehdi Anooshahr |
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Jamshid Ansari |
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Shervin Assassi |
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Parvin Bagherpour |
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Ebrahim Delpassand |
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Behnam Hashemi |
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Reza Ladjevardi |
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Amir Mireskandari |
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Alireza Taghdisi |
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| Board of Directors:
Biographies |
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| Shoa Abedi |
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Shoa Abedi moved to the
UK at the age of 10. He was awarded his BA in international
relations/international law from University of Keele in UK and the
University of British Columbia in Canada. He continued his education at
Manchester University/Keele University for his Maters in Diplomatic law,
where he also taught Middle East politics. He has also been researching
part time for a book titled “The quest for a civil society, the social,
economical and political development of Iran in the 21century."
Professionally, he has
worked as the CEO of a telecom company in the Middle East and Africa
with a turnover of $450 million annually. He has recently settled in
Houston, establishing his own company. In 1997, he served as the
President of the college student union. He established the first UK's
Harvard Model United Nations delegations, having won the best delegate
in 1997/1998. He has also been active in Iranian organizations in UK.
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Ghasem Bayat |
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Ghasem
Bayat is a partner and VP for Exploration and Engineering at AmeriCo
Energy Resources in Houston. He earned his B.S. in Petroleum Engineering
from Abadan Institute of Technology in 1972. Following two years of
service at the oil and gas industry in Iran,he left for UK and received
his Master’s, Doctoral and Post Doctoral education in Petroleum
Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in 1977. He served as a Lecturer
in Petroleum Technology at Heriot-Watt University until 1978.
Dr.
Bayat has over thirty years of experience as a scientist, educator, and
engineer in exploration, production, and refining of oil and gas, while
serving in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. As an
educator, Dr. Bayat has given many seminars around the world in
scientific, environmental, social, and cultural fields and has extensive
publications. He is equally passionate about the need for establishing
inter-cultural understanding through dialogue and fellowship.
Dr.
Bayat, his wife Dr. Sateh Bayat, and two sons Vafa and Ehsan, have lived
in Houston since 1991. |
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Roya Esfandi |
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Roya Esfandi is the director of
Information Resources at the University of St. Thomas. As a member
of Institutional Advancement team she is responsible for management
of database, development research and stewardship as well as being
responsible for donor relations and donor cultivation. She received
her B.A. degree from Franklin University in Business Administration
and M.S. in Management from University of Notre Dame, Indiana and
Master’s in MIS from University of St. Thomas. She is currently the
president of the Association of Professional Researchers in
Advancement for Greater Houston. She has served on the product
advisory and product council board of Oracle, two years as the
president of the Board. As a proud Iranian-American, she is very
pleased to see an organized effort in bringing the Iranian community
together through cultural and educational activities and introducing
our rich heritage and culture to the Houston community. Her 17 years
of experience in fundraising and donor management will help her to
be an effective Board member for ICF.
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E-Mail: Esfandi@ICFHouston.org |
| ICF
Member Since: 9/2008 |
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Notes: |
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Alireza Jameossanaie |
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Alireza is a chiropractor and Founder of
Infinite Wellness Chiropractic Center and the Chief Operations
Officer of Wellicity - a Professional Wellness Organization. He
received his B.S. in Biochemistry from The University of Texas at
Austin in 1999 and his D.C. from Texas Chiropractic College in 2005.
Alireza is on the board of the Association of Iranian-American
Professionals (AIAP) and is a member of the Public Affairs Alliance
of Iranian-Americans (PAAIA). He is also a charter member and
committee chairman for the Houston Wellness Association and a board
member for the Texas Chiropractic College Alumni Association.
Alireza has the desire and the organizational experience to help
take the ICF into the next decade, and he is particularly dedicated
to establishing a physical plant, increasing the scope and variety
of programming, increasing membership to 1000 members by 2012, and
establishing the ICF as a positive model of the local
Iranian-American community.
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Masood Jameossanaie |
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Masood Jameossanaie (Max Jameson) is the Environmental & Regulatory
Managare at Sabco Oil and Gas Corporation, the registered Agent and
President of the Society of Iranian Professionals of Texas (SIP),
Secretary of the Board of the Iranian Medical Relief Foundation (IMRF)
and the Coalition of Persian Charities (CPC), and the Executive
Officer of the Association of Iranian-American Professionals (AIAP).
He is a major contributor to the Houston Poetry Night. He received
his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Geology from Tehran University and
his Ph.D. Degree from Michigan State University. Among his
publications are a number of professional articles in technical
magazines, cultural essays in local Houston periodicals, a
collection of his poetry (an Armful of Roses), and an English
translation of Dalan-e Behesht (Passage to Paradise) published by
Tate Publishing Company.
He
has lived in the U.S. for 31 years and has been a resident of
Houston since 1989 where he currently lives with his wife, 2 sons, a
daughter-in-law, and 3 grandsons. |
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Borghan Nezami-Narajabad |
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Borghan Nezami Narajabad is currently an assistant professor of
economics at Rice University. Borghan was born in 1979 in Tehran
from Azeri parents. He won the gold medal in the National
Mathematics Olympiad in his last year of high school. After
obtaining his B.Sc. in industrial engineering from Sharif University
(2001), he continued his graduate studies in economics at the
University of Texas at Austin where he received his Ph.D. (2007).
Borghan is interested in economical and social development of Iran
and Iranian communities abroad. In college, he was elected by the
majority of Sharif University students to the board of Student
Association (2000-01) which was actively involved in the
sociopolitical student movement. During his graduate years in
Austin, he co-funded a cultural study group holding biweekly
meetings on Iranian and World history. He is impressed by the
potentials of the Iranian community of Houston and hopes his
expertise and ideas can add to the strength of the Iranian Cultural
Foundation |
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Fereshteh Pahlavan |
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Fereshteh Pahlavan
graduated from Tarbiyateh Moalem University in Tehran, Iran, with
Bachelor’s of Arts in Persian Literature and minor in English
Language. She served as the principle of Parvin Etesami High School
in Tehran for over five years. Upon her move to the states, she
began teaching as a pre-kindergarten teacher for Le Petit Academy.
Her role was to plan, structure, and implement educational
activities for the children, and provide an overall classroom
environment that is reflective of the multi-ethnic population and
conducive to enjoyment.
She served as the
Director of Education for about 10 years at the Iranian Islamic
Cultural Center, Bonyad. For the past three years she has been the
Administrative Director of Persian Sunday School for Persian, art,
and Iranian dance classes. She has been married to her beloved
husband for over 30 years. She has two daughters, who are physicians
and a son who is finishing high school. She is also blessed with
three beautiful grandchildren. |
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Abdi Rasekh |
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Abdi Rasekh is an interventional cardiologist and
electrophysiologist. He received his doctor of medicine degree from
the University of Paris XIII where his thesis won the Bronze Medical
Award for Clinical Research. He completed his internship and
residency in internal medicine at the Graduate Hospital of
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia . He did a fellowship in
cardiovascular diseases at Baylor College of Medicine and served as
the chief interventional cardiology fellow at the Texas Heart
Institute. He also completed a clinical electrophysiology fellowship
at the Texas Heart Institute in 1999. Dr. Rasekh is a Clinical
Instructor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a fellow
of American College of Cardiology, and a member of Heart Rhythm
Society. He has been the author and co-author of several articles in
peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.
He
has been a Houston resident since 1994. He is married to Dr. Azita
Madjidi, a plastic surgeon at Texas Children’s and St. Luke’s
hospitals. They have two children, Shahrzad, 8 and Shervin, 7. |
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Ali Saberioon |
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Ali
Saberioon is president and CEO of Sabco Oil and Gas Corporation,
with more than 25 years of experience and track record in the
industry. He holds B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Petroleum Engineering.
He is a member of numerous professional societies such as the
National Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Ali
Saberioon also dedicates his time and resources to many charitable
and communal causes. He is a trustee of Baylor College of Medicine,
Trustee of Rhodes College, serves on the Board of The Asia Society,
Vice Chair of M.D. Anderson Board of Visitors, the Encyclopedia
Iranica Foundation at Columbia University, and Coalition of Persian
Charitable Organizations, and many other academic and medical
organizations. He is also the founder and major contributor of the
Iranian Medical Relief Foundation.
He
is the recipient of the prestigious University of Houston Law Center
Arrival Awards which recognizes the successes and benefits that
immigrants bring to the nation, the 2007 Asian American Leadership
award as well the 2007 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. |
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Khatereh Soltani |
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Khatereh Soltani left Iran at the age of 14 and lived in Germany
with her parents for a few years before moving to Houston in 1985,
where she attended the University of Houston. There, she was
involved in the annual international festival and was the first
president of the local chapter of the German Honor Society from
1988-1989. She graduated from U of H in 1990 and subsequently
accepted a teaching position at the German Department. In 1992 she
established an early childhood learning center. Having this business
enabled her to be with her children from infancy through their first
few years of elementary schooling. From 1993-95, she volunteered
once a week for Child Protective Services.
Starting in 1998, as their two daughters were growing up, with her
husband Bahram, Khatereh volunteered at “Bonyad”, the only Iranian
cultural center in Houston, to make sure their children would learn
about the Persian culture and language. She closed her school after
12 years to make herself available to their two daughters who were
entering middle and high school. |
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| Reza Soltani |
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Reza
Soltani is a Hardware Project Manager at Hewlett-Packard. He manages
business and technical affairs between HP and several semiconductor
manufacturers. Previously, he worked at the HP San Jose office as a
Hardware Engineer. He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from
University of Houston in 2004.
Reza
left Iran when he was 16 years old and moved to Houston with his family.
He has been volunteering and involved with many cultural organizations
in Houston and Bay Area since 2000. He is also one of PAAIA's Houston
chapter leaders. |
| E-Mail:
RSoltani@ICFHouston.org
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| ICF
Member Since: 1/2007 |
| Notes:
Chair of the Public Relations and Membership Committee |
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| Nazak
Azimpour |
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Nazak
Azimpoor, a licensed Texas attorney, practices commercial law, business
law, insurance law, alternative dispute resolution, intellectual
property, and labor and employment law. She was also a founding member
of a four-attorney firm which specialized in international transactional
hmatters.
Ms.
Azimpoor’s pro-bono service includes SIAWE volunteer/publications
editor, Houston Bar Association past co-chair - Interprofessional Drug
Education Alliance (IDEA) Committee, current co-chair - Law and the
Media Committee, and 2007 panelist speaker - Law and the Media
Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar at South Texas College of Law.
After two years of practice, the Texas Bar Foundation nominated Nazak as
a Fellow (limited to fewer than 1% of all practicing Texas attorneys).
Nazak
Azimpoor is a native of New York, raised in Texas and is proud of her
Iranian-American heritage. She graduated from the University of Miami
School of Law, UT-Houston Health Science Center, UT-Austin, and The
Kinkaid School. |
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| Liz Jamea |
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Elizabeth Jamae is an attorney in the Houston area. She is the founder
of The Law Office of Elizabeth Jamae, a full service solo firm. At the
end of this year Elizabeth's firm will be merging with Rosas & Prieto to
become Rosas, Prieto, and Jamae. This will be a small boutique firm
handling Immigration, Family, Probate, and Transactional legal work.
Elizabeth graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree
in Middle Eastern Studies. Since college, she has maintained an
awareness of Iranian-American affairs in the U.S. and around the world.
Elizabeth recently joined the Public Affairs Alliance of
Iranian-Americans and hopes to become an active member helping to
establish and promote flexible immigration policies. Elizabeth would
also like a participating role in ICF. She feels she has the legal
knowledge to aid ICF and would love to contribute to the Houston Iranian
community. |
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