The Rotarian Action Group for Peace Nominations Committee reports that nominations to the Board of Directors are completed. The following members have been elected to 3-year terms on the Rotarian Action Group for Peace Board of Directors by acclamation.
Board Of Directors – Executive Board
- Chair 2014-15 Al Jubitz (Term: 3 years, through 30 June 2015)
- Chair Elect 2014-15 Gordon Crann (Term: 1 year, through 30 June 2015)
- Chair Nominee TBD (Chair 2016-17)
- Immediate Past Chair TBD (Will be filled in 2015-16 by Al Jubitz)
- Secretary Brian Farr (Term: 3 years, through 30 June 2017)
- Treasurer Garbis Der-Yeghian (Term: 3 years, through 30 June 2017)
Board Of Directors
- Funding Development Chair Amir Saba (Term: 3 years, through 30 June 2017)
- Partnerships Chair Mike Caruso (Term: 2 years, through 30 June 2016)
Read more about our new Board Members:
Brian Farr, Secretary 2014-17
Brian Farr, Esq. is from Rotary District 5420 (Utah, USA), and Rotary Club 24 (Salt Lake City). Brian is a Rotary Peace Fellow who attended Chulalongkorn University Rotary Peace Center from Jan-April 2008. Brian serves as the chair of the District 5420 peace committee, and is past chair and longstanding board member of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable, an organization advancing its mission to “build love, harmony and understanding among people of all faith traditions, cultures and belief systems.” He has served as a board member and president of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy, an organization that hosts hundreds of emerging leaders from around the world each year as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, and boasts having 53 heads of nations as alumni of the program. One of Brian’s mottos is simply “Make Things Better.”
PDG Dr. Garbis Der-Yeghian, Treasurer 2014-17
Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Garbis earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from American University of Beirut before moving to the United States to earn doctorate degrees from Northwestern University in Human Development and Social Policy and from the University of La Verne in Educational Management. He holds honorary doctorates from five universities, and is the first Armenian American inducted into the Academy of Diaspora Sciences in Armenia. Garbis is internationally recognized as the founder and catalyst of Armenian higher education in the United States. Currently, he serves as president and professor of Educational Management and International Relations/Public Diplomacy at Mashdots College in Glendale, California. He serves on eleven non-profit boards and committees, hosts three live weekly television programs and is frequently interviewed by TV networks on education and international affairs. Garbis has been a dedicated Rotarian since 1981, serving in myriad positions at the club, district, zone and international levels. He is actively involved in diplomacy efforts between Israel and Lebanon, between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and between Turkey and Armenia.
Amir Saba, Funding Development Chair 2014-17
Amir Saba is from the Rotary Club of Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt, District 2451. He has been a member of Rotary for 18 years and has served as Club President, Assistant Governor, in zone positions and has worked with twelve clubs to secure successful matching grants. He received his Master of Business Administration from Pace University in New York, and his BA from the Faculty of Commerce at Ein Shams University in Egypt. He is the owner of Saba Engineering Technology.
PDG Mike Caruso, Partnerships Chair 2014-17
Mike joined the Newberg Noon Rotary Club in 2001 and was sponsored by his daughter. Following graduation from the University of Portland, he served in the Peace Corps in Malaysia for 3 years, working in Tuberculosis Control, primarily with the 16 Malaysian aborigine tribes. Upon completion of his Peace Corps assignment Mike worked in the family’s produce business until his retirement as senior vice president in 2005. Mike has served as director and treasurer for Oregon Common Cause, and served as a president of the Oregon board of directors of “Thugz Off Drugz” (now Helping Hands), one of the state’s most effective organizations addressing the transitional housing and society reentry process for those suffering from drug related addiction. Mike has also participated in the Rotary Foundation’s Major Matching Grant process and helped organize ten hands-on service projects in Guatemala sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newberg including dental, medical, water, electrical, construction and micro-finance groups over the past ten years. He served as 2011-12 District Governor and is currently the Rotary Peace Fellowship Sub-Committee Chair and co-chair of District 5100 Peacebuilder Clubs. Mike and his wife have five children and eight grandchildren.