About Us
Our Board, Our Team, Our Volunteers
Our Vision & Mission
Desert Rose is a community-based center of learning, guided by Bahá’í principles, that creates an atmosphere of spirituality which inspires positive human development.
The Mission of Desert Rose is to serve the community at large through phased development of activities and institutions that promote spiritual, artistic, intellectual, agricultural, and other practical education for people of all ages and backgrounds.
Governance
The Board of Directors is appointed by the Corporate membership of the Institute, the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Scottsdale Arizona, and consists of the following members.
Taj Sabet:
Chairman. Taj is a trilingual businessman /entrepreneur who is currently focused in real estate investment. Taj has served as Chairman of the Board for the past six years, has lived and worked around the world and is also the great-grandson of Shu’a’u’llah ‘A’la’i, one of the two Hands of the Cause to whom the institute is dedicated.
Marguerite Sears:
Board member. As the namesake and grand daughter of the founder of DRBI, Marguerite has a unique connection to the Institute. She specializes in envisioning events and activities that will inform even more people about Desert Rose.
Dwight Cox:
Vice-Chair and interim Treasurer. Dwight joined the DRBI Board in 2015 after he moved his Aviation business into the Eloy SkyDive property just down the road. Dwight’s degree in Aviation Mechanics belies his passion for reclaiming the desert as viable land. Dwight has since retired from his Aviation business and is devoting more of his time to DRBI's Agriculture program.
Chad Jones
Executive Director. Chad is an Alaskan fisherman and software developer with a particular interest in Bahá’í education. He is of the opinion that guidance of the Guardian is not just about our past, but our future.
Pete Smith
Vafa Aflatooni
Our Core Team
As a Not-for-Profit 501c (3) DRBI has long relied on the generosity of skilled individuals within the community to administer the day-to-day activities of Desert Rose.
- Tim McKenna – Facilities Manager
- Robin Springfield – Facilities Assistant
- Telahoun Molla - Operations Manager
- Brooke Molla - Landscape redesign
- Chris Ruhe - Radio Station Manager
- Janet Ruhe-Schoen - In-Residence Scholar and Author
Janet is the author of the biographies A Love Which Does Not Wait; The Nightingale Bahá’u’lláh; Rejoice in My Gladness: The Life of Táhirih; Champions of Oneness: Louis Gregory and His Shining Circle; Son of Spirit: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and The Hidden Words. She is a mother and grandmother; has been a Bahá’í pioneer and worked as a journalist and vocalist in South America and the U.S.; makes visual art, writes poetry and fiction, and edits a quarterly newsletter for DRBI.
Our Community of Volunteers
You may call them Volunteers; we call them EXTRAORDINARY!
DRBI’S EXTRAORDINARY CURRENT AND PAST TEAM:
BONNIE TOZER, NANCY SLOMAN, DORIS AND ROGER RASMUSSEN, SANDRA PARM, DEEPALI JONES, MARYLOU STRAWWAY, JEAN AND DUFFY SHERIDAN, LADJAMAYA GREN, GLENN AND NANCY DARLING, CHRIS RUHE AND JANET RUHE-SCHOEN, KITTY AND MARK LUTNESS, MOOI YONG NG KHOSRAVIANI, KELLY HADDEN
Our core team keeps the Institute running like a charm, assisted by other on-site and off volunteers who are happy to serve DRBI in any way they can.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of any non-profit operation. Volunteer service allows DRBI to offer exceptional programs to our local, national, and international audiences. And what’s in it for you? Volunteering can help you make friends, learn new skills, advance your career, and even feel happier and healthier.
Service opportunities exist in the areas of farming, landscaping, food service, housekeeping, maintenance, programming, events coordination, bookstore, library, and more.
DRBI could not exist if it were not for the generous, skilled involvement of our many volunteers.
Job Postings
As a not-for-profit organization DRBI relies primarily on Volunteers for the day-to-day operations of the Institute That said there are occasional opportunities for full or part-time, Regular or Contract positions, but none currently.