Our Hui International Team

Lucy Roberts

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Lucy Morse Roberts is an educator by training and specializes in creating effective, transformative programs for diverse, multicultural communities. She and her Hui International co-workers focus their parent education programming on evidence-based parenting practices, self-reflection, ACEs, and on building skills of resilience. Prior to working with Hui International, Lucy served as the Executive Director of Lead4Tomorrow’s Family Hui program where she redesigned their Bloom curriculum to be ACEs informed, resilience-focused, and multiculturally appropriate. She expanded the program statewide and internationally. Additionally, Lucy co-founded the Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida, and the non-profit ArtReach Orlando. Lucy served as co-chair of Resilient Yolo and the California Essentials for Childhood Equity Committee. She is currently on the State of California Child Welfare Council’s Prevention and Early Intervention Committee. In 2016, she was named Yolo County Public Health Hero and in 2018 was named one of US Congressman John Garamendi’s Women of the Year.

Arezoo Pamiry

Program Coordinator Afghanistan

Arezoo coordinates Hui International’s programming in Afghanistan. She has worked with Hui International Executive Director, Lucy Morse Roberts, to coordinate Family Hui programming throughout California. Arezoo deeply understands the importance of social connections in strengthening families and building resilience. She focuses on building strong, supportive communities wherever she goes and created an extensive Afghan ohana by connecting Afghan families in California and in Afghanistan. She is fluent in Dari/Farsi and English. She is the mother of two.

Rowan Sutton

Social Media Intern

A student at Davis Senior High, Rowan is the intern for the social media face of CalGalsMedia. Currently armed with a love for the arts of all kinds, she is focused on reaching this nonprofit’s audience in engaging and creative ways. As she navigates the modern generation, she hopes to invite as many peers as she can into this field of public outreach. When she doesn’t have a barbell in hand, you can usually find her writing, reading and consuming copious amounts of literature and coffee. In the past couple years, Rowan has spent her time volunteering with the Davis Arts Center, The Yolo County Health Department, and CommunityCatAdvocates. If you were to visit the Harper Junior High gym room, you would also encounter one of her murals. Most likely to be found with traces of paint on her face.

Regan Overholt

Board of Directors — Treasurer

Regan serves as a public/private partnership consultant. Prior to her current position, Regan was with UC Davis Health (Sacramento campus) with their patient experience team. Regan has spent 12 years with First 5 Yolo Children and Families Commission where she was the Early Learning Specialist which included overseeing the Family Hui Community Grant in Yolo County. Regan has spent her career in human services including Planned Parenthood, California Breast and Cervical Cancer Detection Program, and the CA State Office of Foster Care Ombudsperson. She is active in the community and she serves on numerous local and statewide Commissions and Boards as well as volunteering with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and Foster  and Kinship Care and Education (FKCE).

Rachel Allen

Board of Directors — Secretary

Rachel Allen is a life-long educator and practitioner who inspires and supports others as they practice and educate for peace and justice in their work and personal lives. She is a tenured Professor of Humanities and is Co-founder and Director of the Valencia College Peace and Justice Institute. Rachel presented at a High-Level Forum on creating credible pathways to peace at the United Nations in 2018. She was recently recognized as a Social Justice Game Changer by the Orlando Magic and was noted as one of the people making a difference in Central Florida by the Orlando Sentinel. Rachel serves on multiple committees in Orlando that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion with the goal of creating a resilient community where all are valued and all can thrive. Rachel is an advocate for women’s rights and opportunities and is a proud parent of two children; they live in Maitland, Florida.

Karla Russek

Board of Directors — Director

Karla Russek, MD is a surgeon from Mexico living in Davis, California. Karla finished medical school and surgery residency while in Mexico, being the first female surgeon to graduate from the program in more than 20 years. She has published extensively and has authored several chapters in surgical textbooks, wrote dozens of research articles published in the medical literature, and presented at surgical meetings around the world. She is no longer practicing surgery but has a passion for prevention of disease, a holistic approach to health, and trying to make a positive impact around her. More recently she has worked with education and non-profit organizations. While living in the Bay Area, she was involved with Stanford University to develop the nutritional curriculum for education and worked with the Mountain View Day Worker Center developing educational nutrition programs in Spanish for the region’s day workers. Karla is passionate about immigration, being an immigrant herself, and understands the difficulties women face in mostly male-dominated professions. Karla enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures. She is fluent in Spanish, English and Italian.

Muzhgan Fakhri

Board of Directors — Director

Muzhgan Fakhri is the mother of 4 beautiful kids, two boys and two wonderful girls which are 12 years and younger. Additionally, she is an accomplished women’s rights activist with a law degree from Kabul University, the premier state institution in Afghanistan. She most recently earned a MA in Comparative Law from the University of San Diego School of Law. Before coming to the United States, she served as a women’s rights attorney and assisted the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) and Attorney General’s Office staff with victim service providers and investigators. She is fluent in Persian/Farsi/Dari & understands Pashto. Muzhgan aims to inspire, educate, and empower, women and girls here in California and around the world.