In this project, A Path to Great Democracy, I bring together my experience, expertise and passions: human development, intercultural communication, collaborative decision-making and bringing order to chaotic information overload. I have been a businesswoman, entrepreneur, educator, mediator, community facilitator and trainer. I love what I do, and believe with my life, that we can work constructively toward our highest goals and succeed.

Life experiences—participation in the civil rights movement in the 60s, seven years working and living in Paris, Teheran and Kish Island in the Persian Gulf during the 70s, founding and directing a private school in the 80s, raising venture capital in the 90s for a .com, and parenting four children, now adults—gave me practical wisdom in the art of moving groups toward satisfying and profitable positive outcomes, and led to my work on a path to great democracy. (I just read that Einstein nearly went crazy in the eight years that it took him to come up with the theory of relativity…I hope the nearly equivalent years that I have put into this next venture warrant some humble comparison…beyond the nearly crazy part…)

I owned and directed a graphic design studio in Teheran, Iran, whose major clients included Kish Island Development Organization and the Shah of Iran. I developed my online entrepreneurial wings working on the failed fledging of Great Beginnings Internet. When my children were small, I founded Hawaii Montessori Schools and as Head, grew the school from a one-room preschool to three campuses serving children from 18 months to twelve years. Life changing experiences included serving as a volunteer and on the founding boards of West Hawaii Mediation Services, the Hawaii State Coalition of Mediation Centers and Hawaii Montessori Schools.

I have a Masters degree in Youth and Childcare Administration, postgraduate Montessori teacher certification, a Bachelors degree in Secondary Education and Literature. I am trained and experienced as a Mediator/Community Facilitator. Studies of several mind-body technologies, including Educational Kinesiology, massage, NLP, Spiral Dynamics and Integral studies enrich my understanding of how to remove blocks to learning, to communication and to effective decision-making.