Presenters

Mr. Mark Bamford

Mark Bamford is an American film writer and director whose award-winning work has screened all over the world. He graduated with honors from New York University in 1989 and became a Bahá’í in 1995 after moving to Los Angeles to work as a screenwriter. In 1999 he wrote and directed his first short film, “Hero”, which played at numerous international film festivals and subsequently sold worldwide for television.

In 2001, Mr. Bamford and his wife left Hollywood and moved to South Africa, where they co-produced the “Building Momentum” video for the Universal House of Justice. They also wrote, produced and directed their first feature length film, “Cape of Good Hope”, which won several “Best Film” awards and nominations. The film was hailed by critics as a “genuinely uplifting, inspiring and memorable film” (The New York Times) and described as “one of the year’s most engaging films” (NBC).

Mr. Bamford is also the founder of the Bahá’í Media Network, an online group of Bahá’í media professionals with members from more than 60 countries. He now lives in London with his wife and two children.

Mr. Hooper C. Dunbar

Hooper Dunbar was born in Los Angeles, California in 1937.  After schooling, he was involved in Hollywood theatre productions including acting and scenic design, especially Arthur Kennedy’s Stage Society and Samuel Goldwyn Mayer’s study drama group.  He played the title role in the inaugural production of Paul Goodman’s psycho-drama “The Young Disciple” with the Living Theater off-Broadway in the fall of 1956, followed by a number of film and TV roles with Columbia, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and Twentieth Century-Fox studios.

In 1958 Mr. Dunbar pioneered to Latin America where he taught art and English as a second language, and eventually set up a graphic design business. Elected as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Nicaragua at its inception in 1961, he represented that Assembly at the first International Convention in Haifa, Israel in 1963.  Shortly after, Mr. Dunbar was appointed as an Auxiliary Board for the Protection of the Faith in the Americas and later in 1968 became a member the first Continental Board of Counsellors in South America.

Called to Haifa to serve at the International Teaching Centre when it was founded in 1973, Mr. Dunbar was subsequently in 1988 elected a member of the Universal House of Justice and has since been serving on that body.

Mr. Dunbar is an avid enthusiast of the arts and an active abstract painter in his own right. His works are found in private collections on all five continents.

He married Maralynn Dunbar in 1962 and they have a grown son.

Dr. Holly Hanson

Holly Hanson received her PhD from the University of Florida in 1997 and has been the recipient of a number of scholarly awards, including two Fulbrights and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship.

She teaches history at Mount Holyoke College, which is the oldest university for women in the United States, and one specifically commended by ‘Abdu’l Bahá. In courses such as “The History of Global Inequality” and “African Cities: Development Dreams and Nightmares” she asks students to consider how human actions have created the world as it is, and what kinds of actions will be necessary to transform modern societies.

Dr. Hanson is the author of Landed Obligation: the Practice of Power in Buganda, Social and Economic Development: A Bahá’í Approach, and numerous essays on Ugandan history, social justice and the processes of social transformation. In Uganda, she is involved with the discourse on science, religion and development and works with Kimanya-Ng’eyo, an organization attempting to initiate a program of rural education developed by FUNDAEC.

Dr. Hanson has two grown children and currently lives in South Hadley, Western Massachusetts.

Dr. Eric S. Mondschein

Dr. Eric S. Mondschein is an education consultant and writer. He has a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the American University, a Master’s degree in delinquency prevention, and a doctorate in law and education from the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Mondschein has taught law and education at undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Massachusetts, the American University in Washington and the State University of New York.  He has worked for the US government in various capacities, published and edited numerous articles and books in the various areas of law and education, and directed a law-related education program for the New York State Bar Association for 14 years where he managed and developed many programs in the areas of constitutional, international, environmental and education law as well as other areas of civil and criminal law.

From 1995 to 2006, he served as an advisor for external affairs at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, and assisted the Bahá’í International Community with diplomatic affairs and public information.

He currently resides in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York with his wife, Ginny, and they have two grown children.

Mr. Giuseppe Robiati

Mr. Giuseppe Robiati was born in Asmara, Ethiopia. He became a Bahá’í at the age of sixteen. He graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Milan, Italy, in 1973. Currently, he is the managing director of an industrial group based in Milan. He has been active in the international arena through numerous publications and lectures.

He initiated an extensive curriculum at the University of Bari, which spans a wide range of business issues. The curriculum, which is titled “Ethics and Economy: Towards a New World Order”, consists of ten seminars focused on Bahá’í values that relate to the world of business and economics. Mr. Robiati is a member of the governing board of the European Bahá’í Business Forum and has been serving on the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy since 1973. He is married to Mehry Sefidvash-Robiati, and they have two grown children.

Dr. Patricia Romano McGraw

Dr. Patricia Romano McGraw completed her undergraduate education at Rosemont College in Philadelphia and her PhD in educational and counseling psychology at the University of Kentucky. Her post-doctoral training in systems theory was completed at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center.

Dr. Romano McGraw is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience in helping organizations and individuals identify, understand, and develop their potential. As a forensic expert in post-traumatic stress disorder and interpersonal violence and its effects, she consults organizations that are dealing with crisis and change and speaks to diverse audiences in both the private and public sector. She also provides expert witness testimony in court cases involving mental health issues and the law, and is a reviewer for Psych Critiques, a publication of the American Psychological Association.

She is also the author of two books published by Bahá’í Publishing in the US: Seeking the Wisdom of Heart: Reflections on Seven Stages of Spiritual Development (2007) and It’s Not Your Fault: How Healing Relationships Change Your Brain & Can Help You Overcome a Painful Past (2004).

In her spare time, she enjoys playing the piano and sailing in the Chesapeake Bay with her husband and large family.