Hamed Farmand
President
Hamed Farmand is a children’s rights activist and founder of Children of Imprisoned Parents International (COIPI). He was born and raised in Iran and moved to the U.S. in 2010. When Hamed was six-years-old, his mother was arrested in Iran for political reasons. He wrote a book (in Farsi), titled “Missing Mum,” which is the story of this childhood experience. In addition to running COIPI, he is a research consultant at Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran.
Shervin Assari
Chair
Dr. Shervin Assari received his medical degree in primary care from Shahrekord University of Medical Services, Iran, in 2002. In 2011, he completed a Master’s in public Health degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 2014, he completed a 2- year post-doctoral research fellowship in health inequalities at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. In 2015, he joined the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry as a research faculty. In 2017, he completed a health policy fellowship at the University of Michigan.
In 2018, Shervin was a visiting professor at UCLA Psychology. Since 2019, he has joined Charles R. Drew University as an associate professor of family medicine and public health. Dr. Assari has extensive research experience in the child development of Black youth. He has been a co-investigator of multiple studies funded by the National Institute of Health. Shervin has chaired committees and has served on the board of directors of the American College of Epidemiology (ACE) and the American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB). He has authored more than 400 scientific papers in peer review journals, focusing on the health of Black Americans. Some of his work shows the role of incarceration and associated discrimination on the mental health of Black men.
Shervin works with his mentor, Professor Cleopatra Caldwell, one of the most known academic figures of parenting promotion among Black children, to prevent youth risk behaviors through enhancing the relationship between Black youth and their non-resident Black fathers. He has also published on the role of neighborhoods and socioeconomic status on the health and behaviors of Black youth.
Robin Brooks
Treasurer
Robin Brooks joined Path Medical, employee-owned chiropractic and physiotherapy clinics, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2019. She is a valuable asset to Path Medical’s Executive Team with over 32 years of experience in finance, including valuation and project financing, and oversight of financial planning, mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions analysis, cost of capital analyst, human resource, long-range planning, public corporate financing, investor relations support, and rating agency interaction.
As CFO, Robin manages the board of director’s lender and audit relationships, develops and manages the organization’s budget, and oversees Path Medical’s financial operations, including billing, general accounting, accounts payable, grant management, and investments. She previously held the position of CFO at Chase Brexton Health Care, Sentient Medical System, and Travelex/Ruesch International.
Robin received her BS in Accounting from Indiana University, and an MBA from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. She is a certified public accountant in the state of Virginia.
Chuck Appleby
Secretary
Chuck Appleby is the President of Appleby & Associates, a leadership and organization development consulting firm. He has over 30 years of management, consulting, and coaching experience in government, industry, and non-profits.
Chuck was a company officer at two aerospace industry firms. In addition, he is a founding member of the World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL). He was a former Chairman of the Board for the DC Public Charter School Student Support Center. He is a faculty member in the Organizational Development Certificate Program at Georgetown University.
Chuck earned a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in International Relations, and a BA in History and Economics from Dartmouth College.
Gail C. Arnall
Advisor
Gail stepped down as Executive Director of Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) in July 2015, where she oversaw a staff of twelve, and over one hundred volunteers who continue to provide pre- and post-incarceration services for men and women and manage the Community Service function for Arlington and Falls Church courts. In FY15, OAR served 2,698 clients, 556 of whom were returning citizens from jail and prison. She continues to work with OAR as a consultant in Development and Outreach, while working with others in the DC Metropolitan area involved in helping former offenders when they come home.
Gail has been in the Washington area for 42 years, coming from graduate school at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1974. Prior to coming to the Washington area, she owned and operated her own educational technology consulting firm for 17 years in Ft. Washington, MD. During those 17 years, Gail started and managed eight nationwide distance-learning networks in partnership with various educational entities, serving rural high schools, American Indian tribally-controlled colleges and universities, Hispanic colleges and universities, juvenile correctional facilities in Texas, Florida, and New York, and volunteers and parents involved in Reading Is Fundamental.® She raised over $60 million for her clients, primarily in federal grants. Prior to starting her own company, she served as Director of Planning and Research for National Public Radio; senior planning associate for PBS and manager of the PBS Business Channel; and held multiple positions at the Federal Communications Commission.
Gail holds a BA from Baylor University, and an MS and PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
She is active in church and civic organizations.
Nasser Teymourpour
Advisor
Nasser Teymour is well accomplished in the field of film and photography. He is an award-winning photographer with several of his works presented in well-respected publications. His work has also been part of several group exhibits in Tehran, London, and Vienna. Teymourpour’s work called, “The Silky Sand Dunes,” was exhibited in the British Embassy, Iran, in 2008. Aside from still photography, he has also directed a short documentary called, “Years We Didn’t Count, Years We are Counting…” It was a film about a sculptor named Behrouz Heshmat. Before finding success in film and photography, Nasser Teymour received his Mathematical Diploma in 1999. Shortly afterwards, he expanded his educational credits with a BA in Industrial Design from Azad university, Art and Architecture, and furthering his accomplishments with an MA in Stage and Film Design from The University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria.