Board Of Directors
MURID AMINI was born and lived part of his life in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is currently an undergrad student at the University of Minnesota. He is majoring in Electrical Engineering and will attend Medical School thereafter. His affiliations with diversity groups are broad and he holds several board positions including; President of the Afghan Student Association, Webmaster for the Middle Eastern Student Association, and Executive Board member for the Persian Student Organization of Minnesota.
MARK ANDERSON is currently the chair of the International Service Committee for the Bloomington Daymakers Rotary and serves on the Board of Directors for this organization. Mr. Anderson works as a Private Client Rep for US Bank and has been with them for 3 years. Before that he was a financial planner for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. In 2001 he graduated from Macalester College with a degree in Political Science and Spanish. Mr. Anderson is committed to doing whatever he can to promote peace in the world so looks forward to helping P.E.C.A. not only as a Rotarian but also as a Director of the organization.
SANTWANA DASGUPTA is an American of East Indian origin. She recently left her position as Director of Technologies at Ameriprise Financial, to work full-time in the areas of Peace and Social Justice. She currently works part-time as the Program Co-ordinator for Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition to further the cause of Universal Health Care through a Single Payer system. She also volunteers as an Intern Development Director at Friends for a Non-Violent World. She is an active member of the FNVW program Peace in the Precincts.
PATRICK FISCHER, born and raised in Switzerland, just completed a Master's Degree program in Management Information Systems from Metro State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. His Bachelor's Degree was earned at University of Minnesota in Diplomatic History and International Economics. Patrick has traveled extensively and in 1995 traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan with former board member Nemat Janetkhan.
BARBARA GERTEN received a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and earned the Certified Public Accountant designation. She practiced as a CPA for 10 years before serving as Executive Director of a social service nonprofit. During the past several years she trained in the philosophy of restorative practices and the circle process and serves on the Personnel Committee of Minnesota Restorative Services Coalition. In July 2003 Ms. Gerten traveled to Kabul to experience the situation first hand and learn how to facilitate building schools in Afghanistan
DR. GHAFAR LAKANWAL is a native of Afghanistan, a Muslim and an American citizen. Dr. Lakanwal studied Agricultural Science at Kabul University of Afghanistan. After finishing his doctorate at the Institute of Rural Sociology and Applied Psychology at the University of Hohenheim in Germany, he worked for the German International Development Agency until 1978. In 1982, he was appointed to the position of Minister of Agriculture in Afghanistan. From March of 1988 to November, Dr. Lakanwal was Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the Afghan Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1988, while on an official visit to New York, he asked the United States government for political asylum. In October 1991, Ghafar Lakanwal founded the MultiCultural Development Center, formerly known as Minnesota Cultural Diversity Center, a non-profit organization that promotes multicultural understanding and inclusiveness in the workplace as well as in the community.
ELAINE R. MILLAM is a senior organizational consultant and executive coach helping leaders to maximize their effectiveness and facilitate organizational well-being. She has had over 30 years of leadership experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors, in leadership and organizational effectiveness. Her expertise in coaching, designing and leading both small and large system change processes, team effectiveness and strategic planning has helped her build a client base that includes many Fortune 100 organizations. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with Masters degrees in Educational Psychology (1980) and Industrial Relations (1982) and recently earned her doctorate in Educational/Organizational Leadership at UST (2005). She is a certified coach through the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara and serves on their adjunct faculty; she is also an associate with The Center for Character-Based Leadership in Minneapolis. She teaches Leadership Effectiveness at The University of St. Thomas and also with the Office of Naval Research is Washington, D.C.
Biography Of Honorary Co-Chair
LEE MUN WAH is a Chinese American born and grew up in California. He is the producer and director of the award winning films the Color of Fear I &II and the Last Chance For Eden. Lee Mun Wah is a community therapist, trainer and educator on issues of Racism, Conflict Resolution, Needs Assessment, Diversity and Cross-cultural Communication. His films have been viewed by thousands of people across the nation. He frequently comes to Minnesota to teach corporations, organizations and learning institutions how to combat racism in their organizations. He is the Director of Stir-Fry Seminars & Consulting out of Oakland California.