A night to reflect on what we hope to see from President Joe Biden’s administration as it relates to Middle East Politics. Hosted by Vahid Razavi a Iranian-American author, activist and entrepreneur and founder of Ethics In Technology, a 501c 3 nonprofit.

Speakers:

Norman Solomon went to his first antiwar demonstration in 1967 and has been active in peace and social-justice movements since then. His books include The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media and War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.

Reese Elrich is an adjunct professor of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. As a freelance journalist he files for PRI, CBC (Canada), The Progressive, VICE News, and Foreign Policy, among others.

Hassan. El-Tayyab is front man of the band American Nomad and an award winning singer/ songwriter. Hassan El-Tayyab is FCNL’s lead lobbyist on Middle East policy. He is also responsible for representing FCNL within the various coalitions that work on these issues.

Brett Wilkins is Ethics In Tech board member. Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams (commondreams.org) and a member of the activist writers' group Collective 20 (www.collective20.org).

Nima Rahimi is a Commissioner on the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission and has helped lead special hearings on the crisis at the border, the status of DACA, the Trump travel ban on Muslim majority nations, and on the Yemen Civil War. He has advocated for abolishing ICE and to expand our state’s sanctuary laws to further protect our at-risk immigrants.

Rik Center is Author of the Book “If You Can’t Change Your Mood, Change Your Mind - mindful reflections toward self-discovery” and is Cofounder of the Mindfulness Care Center where he’s developed workshops around mindfulness and the resilience of unwinding somatic experiential stress anxieties.

Host:

Vahid Razavi is an Iranian-American and technology veteran of Silicon Valley, Vahid has founded tech firms and advised and worked in senior management roles in Silicon Valley. He has published two books, The Age of Nepotism and Ethics In Tech and Lack Thereof.

Comedians:

Debi Durst Forged in the crucible of improvisational theater at a young age, Debi has performed with every improv group known to humanity in the Bay Area.

Jeanette Marin is a stay-at-home mom by day and a stand-up comedian by night.  She gravitates towards jobs with long titles and very little pay. 

Aundre the Wonderwoman A Bay Area comic who says of her career, “I woulda been famous by now, but I gotta work!” By day, she works as an attorney advising lawyers who represent clients on California’s death row. By night, she is one of the Bay Area’s most popular comics.