Ramses
Rashidi,
Board of Directors, Executive Director
Ramses is an innovator, artist and educator who has been exploring innovative development models for a more balanced and sustainable future for the past 30 years. He has done extensive research on social & economic development trends worldwide and throughout history. He lived in China for more than 15 years where he studied the development trend in the 90's while contributing as an educator and consultant. Inspired by the Baha'i vision of "World Unity", Ramses has written numerous articles on “The framework for a balanced development model”, which have been published in various newspapers and websites in English, Chinese and Farsi. He founded the Center for Balanced Development in 2007 in California which was subsequently approved as a nonprofit organization in the United States. Since 2011, Ramses has been developing the "Innovation Club: Path of Success for Innovators of Tomorrow" program for empowering children and youth to innovate and build a better world. He currently lives in Irvine, California.
Randolph
Dobbs,
Board of Directors
Randolph Dobbs was born in Oakland, California,
and raised in Salinas near Monterey, where he attended Hartnell College.
He studied political science at King's College in London and is an
amateur historian. Mr. Dobbs served as the editor of the Los Angeles
Bahá’í Journal for over ten years and has been the secretary of the
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Los Angeles since 1996. He is very
active in the interfaith community, serving on the Advisory Board of the
Valley Interfaith Council, the Executive Board of the Inter-Religious
Council of Southern California and as Religious Director in the Office
of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. He and his
wife, Chris, with their two grown children live in Southern California.
Wei
Wu,
Board of Directors
Wei Wu is a Certified Public Accountant with over 20 years of experience
in financial accounting, consulting and international business field.
She was born and raised in China and has been living in the U.S. since
1992 where she received her master degree in Accountancy. She has worked
on many projects throughout her career such as IPO service, financial
audit, and financial reorganization for both U.S. fortune 500 companies
and Chinese companies. Previously, she worked for one of the big 5
public accounting firm-Arthur Andersen, LLP. She was also the controller
and senior management member for US public trade company as well as
private owned company. Wei is also an educator. She received her
bachelor's in education in China.
Adrienne
Jackson Wright,
Board of Directors
Adrienne Jackson Wright has been an educator for over 30 years in public
and private institutions, teaching all ages - from preschoolers to
graduate students. Born and raised in Southern California,
Adrienne holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master’s
Degree in Education from Chapman University and a Doctorate Degree from
the University of Southern California in Organizational
Leadership/Educational Administration. Creating responsive
programs to improve the education of students has been the guiding force
in all of Adrienne’s work. She currently guides vocational school
owners in opening new schools and becoming nationally accredited.
Adrienne serves on the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of
Huntington Beach where she and her husband live.
Mark
Currie, Board
of Directors
Mark is the founder and CEO of
Gold Star International and has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years
operating the manufacturing and distribution of pharmacy vials and
containers nationwide. Mark also serves as President of Overseas
Manufacturing helping businesses with custom manufacturing. A
graduate from the University of Phoenix in business management, Mark is
originally from Dayton, Ohio and moved to California in 1979. Mark is
active in the local community serving as Chairman of the Local Spiritual
Assembly of Baha’is of Huntington Beach and past president of the
Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council. His leadership in the
community is devoted to bringing about better understanding among
faith-based organizations.
Ridvan
Bruss, Board
of Advisors, Program
Consultant
For over 15 years, Ridvan has helped spearhead a
social action initiative that seeks to help youth navigate the social
forces in their lives and to see their group of peers as protagonists in
their community's development. He has advanced the program and empowered
young people of various backgrounds in Colorado, New York and
California. In 2017, Ridvan earned his professional Bachelor of
Architecture degree from Syracuse University, he currently works for an
architectural firm in Irvine, California, and is an active member of the
National Association for Office and Industrial Properties.
Rose
Arghavan,
Board of Advisors, Program Consultant
Rose Arghavan is a graduate
from California State University of Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree
in Psychology and a minor in Child and Adolescent development. She has
extensive experience in working with young children through her work as
a Community Service Project Director at Pathways of Hope Homeless
Shelter and teaching moral education classes through the Ruhi Institute.
She is currently a research assistant in the Family Research Lab at the
Child and Adolescent Development Department at CSUF for a study called
‘Stress Reduction Techniques for Enhancing Parenting Skills’ performing
video coding. She has a strong passion for serving diverse communities
and facilitating groups with youth and junior youth addressing social
issues and consulting ways in which she can give rise to their desire
and independent passion to contribute to the well-being and growth of
their community and the global community. She aims to continue her
education in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis on Child and Family.
Trav
Williams,
Board of Advisors
Trav Williams is a business professor at both Hartnell College and Capella University. He is a former executive and now has a financial advisory practice in Carmel, California. Trav has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, focusing on interfaith, environmental, and social justice causes. He is currently the board secretary of Interfaith Outreach of Carmel.
Chitra
Golestani Maghzi, Board
of Advisors
Chitra Golestani Maghzi is an adjunct faculty at Antioch University in
Los Angeles. She is an educational consultant, qualitative researcher,
and a co-founder of the Paulo Freire Institute (PFI) at UCLA an
organization committed to social justice education locally and
globally. While at UCLA, Chitra worked as a researcher at the National
Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing
(CRESST) on a nationwide study exploring 'student engagement’ and
‘professional development’ in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oregon, and
California public elementary schools. She has conducted research on
social economic development projects in Latin America and Africa. Her
dissertation, "Teaching for Social Justice and Global Citizenship,"
conducted in Los Angeles, explored how teachers employ best practices to
effectively engage students in learning about social justice through
dialogue in an integrative way. Currently, Chitra is writing grants with
the Center for International Development and Education (CIDE) at UCLA
for project development, teacher development, and research on peace and
social justice, education, human rights, and global citizenship.
Susan
Conforti,
Board of Advisors
Rabbi Susan Conforti is a Board Certified Chaplain. After studying
at the University of California, Berkeley, and Purdue University, she
attended seminary in Jerusalem and Cincinnati. Her chaplaincy
training and experience includes Trauma I centers and adult and
pediatric hospitals and hospices. She is trained in perinatal loss
and compassionate care of the dying. She also facilitates
bereavement groups and provides individual pastoral counseling, and
presents Judaism and End of Life seminars at conferences related to
Ethics, Palliative Care, and Hospice. Susan has been a member of
interdisciplinary palliative care and hospice teams, and is responsible
for spiritual and religious care for those at the end of life. As
lead chaplain at Hoag Hospital and as a board member of the Newport Mesa
Irvine Interfaith Council, she is active in promoting cooperation and
celebrating diversity.
Michael
Heinrich,
Board of Advisors
Michael Heinrich was born and grew up in New York. He graduated from
Fordham University in New York City and has tremendous experience in
management, organizational development and marketing. He has worked with
major US companies such as RCA records and Revlon. Michael has traveled
throughout Africa, Europe, and Lived in Russia for a year during the
reform period in the early 90’s. He is a veteran of the U.S. armed
forces. Michael is currently working on water purification systems and
innovative water filters for impoverished areas of the world. He has 3
daughters and currently lives in Los Angeles.
Sean
Sanchez,
Board of Advisors
Sean Sanchez has worked in the nonprofit field for 10 years mainly as a
Fundraiser, Development Officer, Development Associate, and Outreach
Director. He has worked with a variety of nonprofits including the
ACLU of Southern California, the American Liver Foundation, and the
Parents Television Council. He has raised hundreds of thousands of
dollars in his 10 years of experience and specializes in fundraising and
fund development. Sean is currently in his 2nd year of a Master’s in
Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Capella University. He
has experience with strategic development, grant writing, major gifts
fundraising, special event coordination, volunteer management,
budgeting, and business planning. Sean is also skilled in conflict
resolution and mediation and is a certified mediator with 75 hours of
training from Centinela Youth Services.
Bridgette
Schnider,
Artist, Mentor, Associate
Bridgette Schnider is an ornamental designer / artist who grew up in
Idaho. She has studied industrial design and has live in China where she
taught English and worked on a variety of projects including a project
for teaching children virtues and high ideals through music, visuals and
skits. She currently lives in Chicago where she runs her art & design
studio.
Wu
Qianying,
Mentor, Translator, Associate
Wu Qianying has many years of experience in education, translation and
marketing. She worked as an English teacher in Shanghai University and
translated a book which was published in China. She has translated many
articles about education and development. These articles were published
in Chinese and overseas media. She also worked in a Fortune 500 company
as marketing specialist in Shanghai,conducting
market survey and analysis for investment decision making. During
2002-2004, she worked in Canada as a specialist making marketing
programs for world famous companies such as Western Union and P&G. Wu
Qianying holds a Advanced Interpreter Certificate and currently lives in
Shanghai.
Lee
Au, Mentor, Associate
Lee is a researcher, an environmental chemist, and an educator. He was
born and raised in Westminster, California and received his Bachelors in
Chemistry and Environmental Science from University of California -
Irvine in 2009. He has done research in implementing microwave plasma
torch to detect metal-containing aerosols and reconstructing past
variations in rainfall and temperature as well as working as an
environmental chemist analyzing water samples in accordance to EPA
regulations. Lee is the founder and director of KNOW free public
tutoring program for kids of all ages.
For more information about our team, please contact: info@cbdus.org
©2008 Center for Balanced Development