Our Team

Farshad Rastegar, Ph.D., CEO & President

Dr. Rastegar is founder and has been the CEO of Relief International since the inception of the agency in 1990. He has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Comparative and International Education from UCLA and has served on the faculty of UCLA's Graduate School of Education, Sociology and Political Science departments. His research and program intervention interests include the impact of displacement on political marginalization and radicalism, minority-majority relations, Islamist political movements, and organizational learning behavior. His academic work includes study of the ideology and organization of the Afghan mujahedin organizations. Since founding RI, he has designed and overseen innovative approaches in transitional programming from relief to development and from centralized to market economies including integrated multi-sectoral approaches in active conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Georgia, Kosovo and Tajikistan.

Peter Medway, M.Sc., Senior Program Officer

Mr. Medway joined Relief International in 2001, after completing a M.Sc. in Development Project Planning and Management at the University of Bradford. After a stint in Afghanistan overseeing school program logistics and distribution for UNICEF, he returned to RI Los Angeles in the post of Senior Program Officer. His extensive field experience in the health, education, and nutrition sectors has demonstrated his interest in community-driven approaches to development. Mr. Medway has served for a variety of organizations in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Liberia, Rwanda, Tajikistan, and Thailand.

Eric James, M.Sc., Country Director--Relief International Afghanistan

Mr. James began his career with the US Army, eventually involved in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, and has held positions with USAID. After receiving his Master of Science in Government (International Relations) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Mr. James completed field assignments in Burundi and Tajikistan. He joined RI in 2001 as head of operations for Afghanistan, currently based in Kabul. His academic interests include the consolidation of democracy and public health in developing countries.

US Headquarters:

• Naila Madatova, Chief Finance Officer
• John Maris, Operations Officer
• Gulnaz Zokhrabbekova, Administrative Officer

In Afghanistan:

• Ghada Ajami, Coordinator for the Afghan Schools Construction Project
• Jaime de Dios, School Building Project Coordinator
• Kellie Ryan, Women's Development Project Coordinator
• Steven Hutcheson, Rural Livelihoods Project Coordinator

The Afghan Schools Project is a project of Relief International (RI). RI is a humanitarian non-profit agency that provides emergency relief, rehabilitation, and development assistance and program services to vulnerable communities worldwide. RI focuses on bridging emergency relief to development through transitional and cross-sectoral and integrated programs including education, health, shelter, community development, agriculture, food, income-generation, and peace & tolerance promotion. RI is solely dedicated to reducing human suffering and is non-political and sectarian in its mission. RI was established in 1990 and is based in Los Angeles, California, USA and London, UK.