Born and raised in Iran, Ms. Amani is a proud graduate from the University of Tehran. She has been a member of the California State University system in the capacity of administrator and lecturer in the Women Studies Program for the last 27 years. Ms. Amani has been a trailblazer on issues related to gender, peace and human rights at the local and global levels for more than four decades. Ms. Amani has attended and presented at numerous United Nations women and human rights sessions. In September 2014, she gave a talk at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on “Women in Iranian Prisons.” Ms. Amani is a trained peacemaker and mediator and works closely with Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB). She has been a trainer and speaker on gender and mediation, conflict resolution in cross cultural perspective and the role of women in peacebuilding for more than 20 years. In 2003, she traveled to Afghanistan and played a pivotal role in encouraging collaboration among Afghani women working in non-governmental organizations. In 2013, she chaired the Mediators Beyond Borders Training Institute (MBBTI) for women leaders in the MENA region, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey. In Sept 2014, she trained women leaders in the MENA region for the second round of MBBTI in Belfast. She has served in many leadership roles including chairwoman of the Women’s Intercultural Network (WIN ), the International Interest of AAUW in California, Women from Asia and the Middle East and the President Commission on the Status of Women at Cal State Long Beach, global advisory board for “Stop Stoning Forever in Iran.” Ms. Amani is currently the Director of Student Technology at California State University, Fullerton, and Chairwoman of Global Circles for WIN. Her work has received wide recognition, including the Cal State Fullerton Lifetime of Activism Award in 2012, Women Intercultural Network’s Leading Change Heroines and Heroes Award in 2010 and the Cal State Long Beach Women Studies Program’s Lillian Robles Award for Feminist Activism.