Mona’s life-long passion for community work and social justice began with student activism in defense of human rights and democracy in Iran both before and after 1979. Over the years, that passion and her education as a therapist have helped her make a difference in the lives of Cambodian, Afghan, Iranian and Latino refugees and immigrants.
In 2005, Mona founded the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) in Oakland, CA. Today, with the collective input and involvement of the board, staff, clients and volunteers, CERI has become a unique and highly respected community mental health center. CERI is also a refuge for the survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide living in the high crime and impoverished neighborhoods of Oakland.
Mona’s leadership in community empowerment was the subject of a chapter in the Under the Dragon: California’s New Culture
(Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2007).
Mona Afary holds a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from Berkeley’s Wright Institute.