Berkley Center

Avideh Shashaani is the founder and president of the Fund for the Future of our Children, focusing on youth leadership for peace. She was the first co-director of the International Institute for Rehabilitation in Developing Countries, founded by the United Nations, UNESCO, and UNDP, and was appointed by the UN secretary-general to the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on the “Socio-Economic Implication of Investments in Rehabilitation of the Disabled.” She is the sixth recipient of the “Waging Peace” award first given to George Clooney by President Jimmy Carter. Shashaani is the author of three books: Promised Paradise (1993), Remember Me (1996), and Tell Me Where To Be Born (2008). She is the editor of Something Deeper Happened: Young Voices and the 2008 US Election (2010). Her poetry and writings have also appeared in books, anthologies, and journals. She has a B.A. in Experimental Psychology and a Ph.D. in Sufi Studies.