Master Teachers by Satellite for Afghanistan

ABOUT US: MASTER TEACHERS BY SATELLITE FOR AFGHANISTAN (MTSA) is an independent volunteer organization with headquarters in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is World Family Development & Education Programs, Inc. (WFDEP), a charity which has been incorporated under the California Non-Profit Corporation Law since 1991 and has had tax status under Sec. 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code since 1993. Originally focused on social and mental health work with families in California, in 2006 the Corporation Board of Directors changed its name to more accurately reflect its other charitable activities, particularly including children and families in Afghanistan.

Members of the Board of Directors of WFDEP receive no salaries or expenses as Board Members. The Board meets quarterly in person or by conference call to review the activities of its programs.

The Board has designated as Project Manager for Master Teachers by Satellite for Afghanistan Hon. Carol Ruth Silver, whose biography is posted below.   

Board Members as of April 1, 2009 Chair of the Board and Board Member, Hon. Carol Ruth Silver President and Board Member, Stanley Mayerson, PhD Board Member, Attorney Wahida Noorzad Board Member, Eng. Latif Ahmadi Board Member, Susan K. Diamond Board Member, Paula Fiscal Board Member, Stanley Mayerson Board Member, Sosan Armon

Biographies of Board Officers

Hon. Carol Ruth Silver, Founder, Chairperson of Board of Directors
CAROL RUTH SILVER is the principal in Law Offices of Carol Ruth Silver in San Francisco, California, specializing in real estate matters including litigation, transactions and particularly mediation. At present she also sits on the San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board and has an active license as a real estate broker. Carol Ruth Silver has a long history as an activist in social and humanitarian causes, from participation in the Freedom Rides (seeking equal rights for African-Americans in the 1960’s) and directing the Delano office of California Rural Legal Assistance (helping farmworkers assert their rights while Cesar Chavez was organizing them) to her most recent cause, assisting the people of Afghanistan in the rebuilding of their educational system. Along the way she founded the Chinese American International School of San Francisco, was a national consultant on Legal Services for the Poor, served on numerous entities of the legal community including the State Bar of California House of Delegates and the Committee on the Right to Legal Service of the American Bar Association. She was elected to and served three terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the 1980’s, and in that capacity she also served as president of two regional organizations, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District Board of Directors, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board of Directors. In her early life she worked as a clerk at the United Nations at its headquarters, and is a founding member of the World Centre San Francisco, a community group supporting the ideals of the United Nations. Education: University of Chicago College, Bachelor of Arts (with honors); University of Chicago Law School, Doctor of Jurisprudence; Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics, Fellow. Personal: Ms Silver is the mother of two grown sons, and grandmother of two grandsons.



Attorney Wahida Noorzad, Board Member
Afghan-American attorney Wahida Noorzad has been elected to the Board of Directors of the public benefit charitable corporation which is the parent of Master Teachers by Satellite for Afghanistan. She is a practicing attorney in Pleasanton, California, specializing in Adoption, Divorce & Family Law, Bankruptcy Law and Immigration. Born in Kabul, she speaks and reads Dari although she completed her education in California where she accompanied her family. She continues to be in touch with her relatives and friends in Afghanistan.



Stanley Mayerson, PhD.
Stanley Mayerson, PhD, was a founding member of the Board of the charitable organization which is the parent of MTSA. He was in his early career a Senior Systems Engineer at the Philco-Ford Satellite Communications Division in Palo Alto, California. Shifting careers, he returned to study psychology at Stanford University and became the Clinical Director on the NIMH Center for the Study of Schizophrenia double blind study and follow-up of selective use of phenothiazines at Agnes State Hospital (published by Silverman-Rappaport). He received his MA from Stanford and his PhD at the Institute for Group and Family Studies. He founded Soteria, well regarded as one of the first efforts to address mental illness in a residential setting. As Assistant Mental Health Director, he designed and ran the Contra Costa County Mental health program (called I-Ward) for serious mental disorders. Since his retirement, Dr. Mayerson has devoted himself to charitable activities, including the provision of mental health services to the working poor and the homeless, and supporting education for girls in Afghanistan through MTSA. He is presently serving as President of the Board.



Sosan Jasmin Armon
Sosan Jasmin Armon, VP and Co-Executive Producer for Ariana Afghanistan Television, was born in Afghanistan and speaks both Dari and Pashto. She has acted in numerous films, as well as producing and delivering news programs for AA-TV. She has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science, from American University of Paris, France, a Masters Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from American University of Paris, France, and 8 years experience in media and television as a producer with Studios USA, Warner Brothers and Warner Music Group, The Rosie O'Donnell show, and The Sally Jessey Raphael Show. She has been an advocate for human rights issues, women´s rights and empowerment in Afghanistan.