Wendi Momen MBE, JP, BSc (Econ), PhD, FRSA , Sand Lane, Northill, Nr , Beds., Tel: +44 (0)1767 627626 Mob. +44 (0)7790 795630 email: [email protected]

Personal Born 21 October 1950, Hollywood, California. Moved to UK 1969, naturalised 1980. Author of 12 published books, numerous articles. Broadcast 40+ TV programmes, numerous radio programmes. Established international speaker and lecturer. Delegate to annual UN conferences and summits. Listed in The International Who’s Who of Women 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and The International Who’s Who of Authors and Writers.

Awarded MBE (Member of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List May 2014 for services to the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and to the community in

Education 1971-1974 London School of Economics (University of London), B.Sc. (Honours) Economics 1975-1978 London School of Economics (University of London), Ph.D. International Relations; thesis The Foreign Policy and Relations of The Gambia, 1978. 1984 Teaching Adults, Certificate course, Bedfordshire County Council Education Department

Governor, London School of Economics 2010-present Member Health and Safety Committee (2010-present) Governors’ Contact Group (2011) Member Ethics Code Consultation Group (2011-12) Member Ethics Policy Committee (2012-present; currently Vice Chair) Member LSE Free Speech Oversight Group (2012-present)

Work: Private Sector 1979-present Freelance editor, primarily to George Ronald, Publisher, Oxford 2013-present Faculty member, Wilmette Institute 2001-2006 Assistant Secretary General, European Baha’i Business Forum 1991-2006 Editorial services to Intellect Books, Oxford 1991-1994 Assistant Editor, The Baha’i Encyclopedia, Baha’i Publishing Trust, United States 1991-1997 Editor, Baha’i Publishing Trust, United Kingdom 1989-1996 Editorial services to OneWorld Publications, Oxford 1984-1988 Teacher of adult education at Sandy Community College, : O- level and GCSE British Government and Constitution; Write and Publish

Work: Voluntary Sector 1982-2005; Director and Trustee, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of 2014-present the United Kingdom Ltd (charity) Chairman: 1990-2000 Treasurer: 1984-1990; 2001-2005 Assistant Secretary: 2000-2001

1989-1994 Chairman, Management Executive, Baha’i Publishing Trust, United Kingdom 1991-4, 1996 Chair, Equal Opportunities for Women Advisory Forum, Bedfordshire County Council 1992-2002 Member, Equal Opportunities Panel, Bedfordshire County Council 1994 Member International Steering Committee Global Women sector of Global Forum 1994 2006-2014 Board member UN Women UK National Committee (formerly UK National Committee for UNIFEM (United National Development Fund for Women)); secretary 2006-11 2007-present Vice President, Eastern Region, United Nations Association 2011-present Deputy Multi-Faith Chaplain at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon

Board Positions, Trusteeships and Public Office

Community 1982-2005; 2014-16 Trustee and Director, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United Kingdom 1984-1993 Co-Founder, Chair and Trustee, Sandy Neighbourhood Centre, Bedfordshire 1990-present Co-founder and Board member/chair ebbf (Ethical Business Building the Future) 1994-1999 Borough Council Agenda 21 Core Committee 1994-1999 Bedford Borough Council Agenda 21 ‘Resources, Waste and Pollution’ group 1995-2010 Trustee/Chair, Baha’i Agency for Social and Economic Development (BASED UK) 1997- 2007 Trustee, One World Trust; chairman 2002-2007 2000-2013 Trustee, Multi-Faith Centre at the University of Derby; currently Vice President 2003-2011 Audit Committee, Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (BPHA) 2003-2008 Community member, Bedford Local Strategic Partnership Board 2004-present Trustee, Bedford Council of Faiths; Chairman 2007-2010 2005-present The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Panel 2006-2014 Trustee, UN Women NC UK (formerly UNIFEM UK); secretary 2007-11 2006-present Trustee, Vice Chair, Company Secretary (2015) Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation 2007-2011 and 2012 to present Councillor, Northill Parish Council 2009- present Trustee, Advance 2010-2013 Trustee, Naserian (for Masai widows in Arusha, Tanzania) 2011-present Trustee, Ashworth Charitable Trust 2012-2013 Clerk to the All-Party Group UN Women 2013-present Board member International Environment Forum 2014-present Company member UN Women NC UK 2015-present Trustee and Hon. Treasurer, National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO)

Health 1990-1994 Non-Executive Director, Bedfordshire Family Health Services Authority 1990-1994 Member, Ophthalmic and Pharmaceutical Service Committees, FHSA 1991-1993 Chairman, Corporate Contract Committee, FHSA 1993-1994 Member, Performance & Operational Review Group, Bedfordshire Health 1994-1996 Non-Executive Director Bedfordshire Health 1994-1996 Chairman, Performance & Operational Review Group, Bedfordshire Health 1994-1996 Member, Audit Committee, Bedfordshire Health 1997-1998 Associate Member Bedfordshire Health 1997-1999 Deputy Complaints Convenor, Bedfordshire Health Authority 1998-2001 Non-Executive Director Bedfordshire Health Authority 1999-2001 Complaints Convenor, Bedfordshire Health Authority 1999-2001 Member, West Mid Beds Primary Care Group 2001-2002 Deputy Complaints Convenor, Bedfordshire Health Authority 2001-2004 Deputy Complaints Convenor, Bedfordshire Heartlands Primary Care Trust 2003-2006 Non-executive Director, Bedfordshire Heartlands Primary Care Trust 2007-2011 Non-executive Director NHS Bedfordshire Chair, Prioritization Advisory Panel; Patient Safety and Standards Committee; Integrated Governance Committee; Performance Committee; Remuneration Committee; Patient and Public Champion; Carbon Reduction and Sustainability Champion; Communications and Engagement Reference Group 2011-31.3.13 Non-executive Director NHS Bedfordshire and Luton Patient Safety and Quality Committee; Risk Committee Remuneration Committee; Patient and Public Champion; Carbon Reduction and Sustainability Champion; Chair, Joint Pharmacy Applications Panel; Communications and Engagement Reference Group; Audit Committee (including until 30 June 2013)

Magistrate 1982-present Justice of the Peace (Magistrate), Biggleswade (now Bedfordshire); appraiser; family appraiser 1984-present Domestic Panel, subsequently Family Panel 1991-present Deputy Chairman, North Bedfordshire Family Panel 1994-present Court Chairman, Biggleswade (now Bedfordshire) 1999-2004 Member, Selection Panel (Magistrates); chair 2001-2004 1999-present Member, Executive Board, Magistrates’ Association, Bedfordshire Branch 2000-2003 Member, Area Criminal Justice Strategy Committee for Bedfordshire and Luton 2000-2007 Vice Chairman, North and Mid Bedfordshire Magistrates’ Court 2000-2009 Member, Lord Chancellor’s Bedford and Mid-Bedfordshire Advisory Sub- Committee on Justices of the Peace 2001-2002 Member, Bedfordshire Excellence Forum (Criminal Justice System) 2004 Magistrates’ Court Committee, Bedfordshire 2004-2007 Courts Board for Bedfordshire - Magistrate member 2006-present Magistrate Member of Review Body, Office for Judicial Complaints 2008-2013 Member, Youth Panel, chairman 2011-2013 2010-2013 Member of the Family Panel Training and Development Committee for Bedfordshire 2014-present Lay judge, family division 2014- 31.3.17 Chair, Family Panel April 2017- present Vice Chair, Family Panel April 2017 Member Selection Panel for Justices Training, Approvals, Authorisations and Appraisals Committee (JTAAAC) for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. April 2017-- 31.2.20 Member Family Training, Approvals, Authorisations and Appraisals Committee (FTAAAC) for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Current membership of professional organizations Board member/chair ebbf (Ethical Business Building the Future) Magistrates’ Association, member of Bedfordshire Executive Soroptimist International of Bedford Royal Institute of International Affairs UN Women UK (company member) National Council of Women National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) International Environment Forum Consumer Citizenship Network (European Commission) Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (RSA) United Nations Association

Publications

Call Me Ridvan. Oxford: George Ronald, 1982 Family Worship. Oxford: George Ronald, 1989 A Basic Bahá’í Dictionary. Oxford: George Ronald, 1989 Jewels series. Oakham: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1994 Meditation. Oxford: George Ronald, 1996 A Basic Bahá’í Chronology (with Glenn Cameron). Oxford: George Ronald, 1996. To Be a Mother. Oxford: George Ronald, 1997. Visions of a New World Order: Paradise Created (with Brenton Edwards). Oxford: George Ronald, 2001. To Be a Father. Oxford: George Ronald, 2002. The Devotional Meeting. Oxford: George Ronald, 2003. To Be Married. Oxford: George Ronald, forthcoming 2007. Understanding the Bahá’í Faith (with Moojan Momen). Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, October 2005. (also published in Arabic, 2008) Becoming a Bahá’í, London: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom, 2005.

Contributions to books

‘Organizing Yourself’, in Working from Home, Oxford: Leith Heenan, 1994 ‘Why I am a Bahá’í’ in Ultimate Visions, Oxford: One World, 1995 ‘How Close are We to the Lesser Peace?’ in Law and International Order, Oakham: Bahá’í Publishing Trust and Netherlands: Tahirih Institute, 1996. ‘An African Enlightenment in Beijing’, in Voices of Women, Michigan: Fetzer Institute, 1996

‘Globalization and Decentralization: The Concept of Subsidiarity in the Baha’i Faith: in Baha=i and Globalization, Institute for the History of Religion, University of Copenhagen, 2005. ‘Spirituality and Spiritual Care from the Baha’i Perspective’, in Spirituality in a Care Setting:. Sue Ryder Hospice Care, 2008. ‘Spiritual Guidance in the Baha’i Faith’ (Wendi Momen and Moojan Momen), in Spiritual Guidance Across Religions: A Sourcebook for Spiritual Directors and Other Professionals Providing Counsel to People of Differing Faith Traditions, ed. by John Mabry, (Nashville, TN: SkyLight Paths) 2014 ‘We Must Pray Together: The Perspective of One Baha’i’, in We Must Pray Together: Interfaith. Worship and Prayer. Christopher Lewis and Dan Cohn-Sherbok, eds. London: Jessica Kingsley, Publishers, forthcoming 2017,

Selected papers presented at conferences

Women

‘Women and Children First?’, Stirling University, 1985.

‘A Global Perspective on Women’, 1986.

‘The Role of Women in the New World Order’, keynote address Conference on Women’s Role in the New World Order, Copenhagen, January 1994.

‘Women’s Role in the New World Order’, keynote address Conference on Women, University of , 7 March 1994.

‘Women as Entrepreneurs’, European Bahá’í Business Forum conference 1995.

‘The Changing Role of Women in the Bahá’í Administration in the West’, Gender Studies Conference, Association for Bahá’í Studies, July 1995.

‘The Potential of Women’, Women’s Conference, Bristol, 1995

‘Service of Women on the Universal House of Justice’, Haj Mehdi Arjmand symposium, The Netherlands, Proceedings, 1995.

Lecture tours resulting from attendance at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women, August- September 1995:

‘The Human Rights of Women’, Beyond Beijing conference, London, February 1996

‘The Beijing Global Platform for Action: Areas of Critical Concern’, 1996

‘Women and Peace’, 1996

‘Human Values in a Global Order: The Role of Women’, September 1996

‘Women into the Future’, January 1998

‘Women in the New World Order,’ February 1998

‘Advancing Women’, March 1998

Women: Developing the Future, January 1999

Global Platform for Action Update, June 2000

Gender Matters, November 2003

Beijing Plus 10, June 2005

Women in Public Life, 13 October 2005

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Articulation of the Equality of Women and Men During His Western Travels’, Irfan Colloquium, Italy, July 2011. (Subsequently published in Lights of Irfan)

‘From “What? A Woman?” to “What a Woman!”, University of Bangor, Wales, November 2016.

‘Two Wings of Humanity: The Empowerment of Women’. Leiscester Interfaith, March 2017.

‘Women Advance: The Relationship between the Bahá’í Teachings and the Women’s Movement.’ Irfan Colloquium, Italy, July 2017 (To be published in Lights of Irfan, forthcoming)

International Order/Global Governance

‘Peace: Coming or Not’: Association for Bahá’í Studies regional conference 1992.

‘Elements of the Lesser Peace’, Association for Bahá’í Studies, conference 1993.

‘Paradigm of the New World Order’, University of Manchester, 1993.

‘How Close Are We to the Lesser Peace?’, Conference on Law and International Order, De Poort, Netherlands, 1995.

‘Consideration of the Elements of the Lesser Peace in Light of Post Cold War Developments’, Conference on Law and International Order, London School of Economics, August 1995

‘Nation-Building and the Lesser Peace: Is the Territorial Map Frozen into its Present Shape?’ Conference on Law and International Order, London School of Economics, January 1996

‘Future Tense (Distant Future Brighter)’, Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies English-Speaking Europe, November 1996

‘Emerging Global Institutions: A Bahá’í Perspective’, Conference on Law and International Order, London School of Economics, June 1998

‘Governing the People: A Comparison of the Bahá’í Administrative Order and Other Forms of Government’, Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies English-Speaking Europe, July 2001

‘Globalization and Subsidiarity in the Bahá’í Faith’, Copenhagen, August 2001 (Subsequently published as ‘Globalization and Decentralization: The Concept of Subsidiarity in the Baha’i Faith: in

Baha=i and Globalization, Institute for the History of Religion, University of Copenhagen, 2005.)

‘Fundamentalism and the Establishment of World Government: An Overview’. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, June 2002

‘Terrified of Terrorism’, International Law Conference De Poort 2005; Belfast, August 2007; Edinburgh University, October 2007

‘World Government: Dystopia or Utopia?’, Oxford, June 2017

Social Issues

‘The Social Summit in Copenhagen’, Gwynedd Country Council, Conference on Eradicating Poverty, Carmarthen, March 1996.

‘The Family’, paper given on innumerable occasions in the UK and abroad

‘Transcendence’, University of Oxford Bahá’í Society, February 1996

‘Creating a Violence-Free Family’, seminar sponsored by the Prime Minister’s office, Kingdom of Tonga, Nuko’alofa, Tonga, 15 April 1996

‘The Right to Believe: The Human Rights Abuses against the Bahá’ís in Iran’, University of Keele, 9 May 1996

‘Promoting the Rights of Women’, seminar sponsored by the Prime Minister’s office and the Royal Palace, Kingdom of Tonga, Nuko’alofa, Tonga, November 2001

‘Terrified of Terrorism: Challenges to the Law’, European Law Conference, The Netherlands, 1 December 2005.

‘Values Underlying Commitment and Consistency’, Symposium on Fostering Commitment and Consistency, Consumer Citizenship Network, Third International Conference, Hamar, Norway, 15-16 May 2006.

‘Modern Slavery=, Carshalton College, October 2007.

‘Adasiyyah’, various conferences, 2012.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Elucidation of the Concept of the Oneness of Humanity During His Western Travels’, Irfan Colloquium, Italy, July 2012. (Subsequently published in Lights of Irfan)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Articulation of the Bahá’í Concept of Peace on His Western Travels’, Irfan Colloquium, Italy, July 2013. (Subsequently published in Lights of Irfan)

‘Shared Prosperity: How Does That Work?’ European Baha’i Justice Conference, The Netherlands, February 2014.

‘Emerging Values for an Emerging Economy’, Why China? How China? Conference, University of Bangor, Wales, in Association with the Welsh Assembly and the Confucius Institute, April 2014.

‘The Concept of “Faithfulness” in the Bahá'í Texts in English Translation’, Irfan Colloquium, Italy, July 2015. (Subsequently published in Lights of Irfan)

‘Why bother with business ethics?’, Vision Kuwait Conference, Kuwait City, May 2016.

‘Themes in the Tablets of the Divine Plan’, Irfan Colloquium, Italy, July 2016.

Courses taught

‘Write and Publish’, Bedfordshire County Council Adult Education programme (many years)

‘British Government’, Bedfordshire County Council Adult Education programme, GCSE

‘World History 1917 to 1945’, Bedfordshire County Council Adult Education programme. GCSE

‘Together Forever?’ (week long course on marriage prepared for residential schools)

‘Consultation’ (week long course prepared for residential schools)

Six Bahá’í Women (week long course prepared for residential schools)

The United Nations (week long course prepared for residential schools)

Wilmette Institute Courses

Marriage and Family Life 20 February - 20 April 2013

Becoming a Couple: Preparing for Marriage, 8 September - 2 October 2013

Communicating and Consulting as a Couple: Strengthening Your Marriage 3 November - 7 December 2013

Building Unity Toward Marriage: Preparing for Marriage 2 January - 15 February 2014

Making the Most of Your Time Together: Strengthening Your Marriage 13 March - 19 April 2014

Engaging in Parental Consent for Marriage: Preparing for Marriage 22 May - 12 July 2014

Becoming a Couple: Preparing for Marriage 7 August - 2 October 2014

Communicating and Consulting as a Couple: Strengthening Your Marriage 16 October - 14 December 2014

Building Unity Toward Marriage: Preparing for Marriage 15 January - 15 March 2015

Creating a Fortress for Well-Being and Salvation: Strengthening Your Marriage 10 April - 14 June 1015

Becoming a Couple: Preparing for Marriage 5 July - 20 August 2015

Communicating as a Couple: Before and After Marriage 26 September - 2 November 2015

Are We Ready for Marriage?: Deepening Our Courtship 1 January - 26 February 2016

Creating a Coherent Marriage, Family, and Community Life 1- 30 April 2016

Thinking of Relationships and Marriage? 27 May - 12 July 2016

Consulting and Problem-Solving as a Couple (and Family) 2 September - 6 October 2016

Creating Unity with Friendship, Fun, Social Vitality, and Laughter 30 December 2016 to 15 February 2017

Thinking of Relationships and Marriage? 13 January - 26 February 2017

Bahá’í Faith and Social Change, 5 September - 6 November 2017 Lead faculty