Karen Bowman

Karen P. Bowman the Treasurer on Tahirih's Board of Directors. She is also an audit partner at Deloitte & Touche USA LLP's Financial Services Group Audit Practice, with over 21 years of experience. Karen has spent her entire career focused on financial services clients. She specializes in working with companies that specialize in commercial and retail banking, mortgage banking, commercial and consumer finance, trust companies and asset management. Karen has significant experience in managing large and complex financial institution client engagements. She focuses on working with clients on complex accounting and regulatory issues, SEC reporting and filing issues and internal control and compliance issues including compliance with Sarbanes Oxley 404 requirements.

Laurie Plessala Duperier is the Secretary of Tahirih's Board of Directors. Until recently, she was also Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Altria Client Services, Inc., in Washington, DC, leading the group of lawyers that supports government affairs, corporate communications and public affairs.  She previously held various legal and compliance positions within the Altria family of companies in the United States, Hong Kong, and Switzerland. She has worked as a litigator at the law firms of Arnold & Porter and Shearman & Sterling, and was Special Counsel to the Director of Trading & Markets at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Ms. Duperier holds a Juris Doctor and Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s degree from Angelo State University in Texas.

Jacqueline Eghrari-Sabet

Jacqueline S. Eghrari-Sabet, MD is the founder and Medical Director of Family Asthma & Allergy Care. Dr. Eghrari-Sabet, a native New Yorker, received her undergraduate degree from Smith College, and her Medical Degree from New York University School of Medicine. She is board certified in both Allergy Immunology and Pediatrics after finishing her training at the Childrens National Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dr. Eghrari-Sabet holds credentials as a Fellow of both the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology and the American College of Allergy Asthma & Immunology. Dr. Eghrari-Sabet has been named a Washingtonian Top Doctor in the field of Adult and Pediatric Allergy Immunology. She has been voted as a Top Pediatrician as well as Top Doctor by The Consumer Research Council of America. Dr. Eghrari has served as the President of the Greater Washington Allergy & Asthma Society, in addition to a variety of committees for both the American College and American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Eghrari is frequently invited to give medical lectures to area physicians, medical organizations, and regional hospital staff. She appears frequently as a guest expert on NBC4 presenting issues of health and wellness.

Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas

Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas is the former Executive Director of ResCare’s international programs, where she worked to provide education, training and employment services to at-risk youth, disadvantaged populations and people with disabilities in the United States and internationally. Prior to that, Princess Dana worked with Her Majesty Queen Noor on projects that promote sustainable development and the environment, women’s participation in development, youth health and education and programs that promote peace and international understanding.  Among her other activities, Princess Dana participated in the establishment of the King Hussein Foundation, served as a member of the steering committee of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2000, organized the second meeting of the International Steering Committee on the Economic Advancement of Rural Women and worked as a consultant for the Global Equity Project.  Princess Dana was educated in Amman before receiving her BA in International Relations and Economics from Boston University, an MSc in International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MPA in Public Policy and Development from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Paul Glist

Paul Glist is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, specializing in cable television and telecommunications law and policy since 1978. Mr. Glist frequently appears as an expert witness before State Public Service Commissions, state legislatures, and in court on a variety of cable and telecommunications matters. Mr. Glist has for over twenty years served as a faculty member for the Practising Law Institute’s annual course on cable television and communications law, and is a frequent speaker, lecturer, and panelist for university, law school, and communications industry programs. He serves as Chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Alexandria, Virginia; member of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington; and Secretary for the City of Alexandria Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Planning Committee. Mr. Glist is a graduate of Cornell University and Stanford Law School.

Emmanuel Irono

Emmanuel Irono is the founder and CEO of Motir Inc., a management consulting company with divisions for Construction and Environmental Services, Facilities Management, and Medical Staffing. Mr. Irono came to the United States as a foreign exchange student and planned to return to Nigeria after college to work for his father's construction company. However, when both of his parents passed away within two years, he decided against returning and began paying his tuition by working as a school janitor. After graduating, Mr. Irono took a job working as a budget analyst for a federal contractor. Soon after, he bought out a small struggling janitorial service company's supplies for $10,000 and turned it into a $14 million profit generator. Mr. Irono renamed the company Motir, in honor of his parents: Memory of Theresa Irono Romonus (MOTIR). Mr. Irono is committed to giving back to his homeland of Nigeria through his nonprofit organization, TIS (To Inspire Strong) African Children Fund, which feeds, educates, and provides medical treatment for children of Africa. He is a strong businessman within the community he serves and has won "Small Business of the Year" and "Outstanding Mentor of the Year" awards.

Frank Kendall

Frank Kendall is the Chair of Tahirih's Board of Directors. He is also a pro bono human rights attorney and a Managing Partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors, an aerospace and defense consulting firm. As an attorney, Mr. Kendall provides pro bono legal services through the Tahirih Justice Center and other organizations. Mr. Kendall is actively involved with several human rights organizations including Amnesty International USA, where he is a member of the board of directors, and Human Rights First, where he is a pro bono consultant. Mr. Kendall is also a member of the Amnesty International USA Executive Directors Leadership Council and he has been involved in AI’s ongoing capital campaign and in AI’s business relations program. With Human Rights First, Mr. Kendall was a major contributor to the effort to secure passage of the McCain anti-torture amendment and he serves as a human rights observer at the Military Commissions in Guantanamo, Cuba. Mr. Kendall is a West Point graduate with over 30 years of experience in the national security area including military, government, and industry positions. He was the Director of Tactical Warfare Programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for several years and served as Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Strategic Defense Systems. In private industry he was the Corporate Vice President of Engineering of the Raytheon Company. Mr. Kendall obtained his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2004. His purpose in obtaining a law degree was to be able to help individual clients who have suffered human rights abuses and to work for enforcement of human rights norms from a policy perspective. Mr. Kendall was born in Pittsfield, MA. He resides in Falls Church, VA with his wife Beth.

Dr. Barbara Miller has 25 years of management and technical experience in water resources and environmental engineering with a range of consulting, research, US government, and international agencies.  She joined the World Bank in 1998, and currently serves as a Lead Water Resources Specialist in the World Bank’s Africa Region, focusing on water resources management and international rivers in sub-Sahara Africa. Dr. Miller is a senior, core member of the Nile Team, a multi-sectoral team that provides support to the ten countries of the Nile through the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), which is a unique regional partnership that seeks to develop and manage the Nile River for poverty alleviation and protection of resources.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Dr. Miller was President and Co-founder of Rankin International, a consulting firm providing engineering expertise in the areas of water, energy, and the environment.  Previously, Dr. Miller spent ten years with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  As Manager of the Flood Risk Reduction Department she was responsible for flood management in the Tennessee River Basin. She also managed the Reservoir System Analysis Group, which provided technical support to multipurpose reservoir system and hydropower operations. Prior to TVA, Dr. Miller worked with the Illinois State Water Survey, Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton Engineers and Architects, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Barbara Miller received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Layli Miller-Muro (ex-officio)

Layli Miller-Muro is the Executive Director of the Tahirih Justice Center.  Prior to joining Tahirih as Executive Director in 2001, Ms. Miller-Muro was an attorney at the law firm of Arnold & Porter where she practiced international litigation and maintained a substantial pro bono practice. Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Mrs. Miller-Muro was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, Board of Immigration Appeals. She co-authored the book, Do They Hear You When You Cry (Delacorte Press 1998) with former client, Fauziya Kassindja, which details the story of a young woman's flight from female genital mutilation and her historical impact on U.S. law as the first woman to receive asylum on that basis. The author of numerous articles on female genital mutilation, immigration law, and human rights abuses against women, Mrs. Miller-Muro is frequently asked to lecture at universities and conferences throughout the world as well as serve as an expert on those subjects to media sources. She is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mrs. Miller-Muro received her J.D. (summa cum laude) and M.A. (international relations) from American University and B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) from Agnes Scott College. 

Leah Rampy

Leah Rampy, Ph.D., is the Vice-Chair on Tahirih's Board of Directors. She is also an executive coach, group facilitator and organizational consultant.  She founded Illumine, LLC, in 2000 to provide services to executives in corporations, associations and non-profits.  Ms. Rampy has over 20 years of study and practical experience in leadership, having been responsible for leadership training and/or human resource departments at American Express, Duracell and Fannie Mae. Ms. Rampy is a member of the Rainmaker’s Giving Circle of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. She is also a founding member of the McLean Connections Steering Committee, a grass roots organization that has helped to bring multicultural dialogues to the community in an effort to increase understanding and resilience post 9/11.

Ruth

Ruth is a former client of the Tahirih Justice Center and an administrative assistant with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services. Ruth has worked with women's groups and street children in Kenya, prior to her escape to the United States in 1998.