Irish born, Clodagh Lyons-Bastian was raised in Dublin and Berlin before moving to the US in early adulthood. She completed her BA in Sociology and Psychology Magna Cum Laude at North Carolina State University. Clodagh has been working in cross-cultural communication and language acquisition in Europe and America since 1985.

Rafiq Bandukwala has been involved with the International Festival since its inception by Mayor Avery Upchurch of Raleigh in 1986. Over the past 25 years, he has served in various capacities on the Board including Board President as well as on the Festival Committee. Rafiq is excited to be back on the Board to make the Festival's 25th year it’s most successful. Originally from Mumbai, India, Rafiq and his wife Lalita live in Raleigh. They enjoy international travel and interacting with friends from diverse cultures.

Chad Cochran is an attorney at Vann & Sheridan, LLP in Raleigh wherein he focuses on various forms of business litigation throughout North Carolina. He is involved in numerous community activities including leadership responsibilities with the North Carolina Bar Association and YMCA. Chad moved to Raleigh in 2006 with roots in Knoxville, Tennessee. He first met Clodagh Bastian during their participation in Leadership Raleigh where Chad's excitement for the possibilities of International Focus, Inc. began to flourish. Chad travels internationally multiple times per year and says, "Life is all about interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds." International Focus, Inc. provides a vehicle to accomplish exactly that.

Mrs. Edwards has been involved with the International Festival since its inception. She has been in charge of the Main Stage for twenty-one years and the Young People.s Matinee prior to that. Karen Edwards is owner and principal teacher of The Dancer.s Studio. She is Artistic Director of Concert Dancers of Raleigh, a youth ballet company beginning its 35th year. She is a regular reader for the Triangle Radio Reading Service and a judge for the Silver Arts Follies of the Senior Games. She was given the 2005 City of Raleigh Medal of Arts Award in recognition of her volunteer service and commitment to teaching.

Glenn Hunt is a lifelong resident of North Carolina. Although he had to be coaxed and almost physically dragged to the first festival he attended in 1993, he has marked his calendar and eagerly anticipated it every year since. To anyone who will stand still long enough, Glenn can be heard telling them that in his opinion, .The International Festival is the best event of the year in Raleigh.. While he enjoys international travel, he continues to be amazed at the number and variety of cultures represented in the Triangle area. Glenn is excited to serve on the festival committee for 2009 and looks forward to an exciting festival.

Nazi Kite has been involved with the International Festival since 1987. At first, she was involved with the Iranian Cultural Society of NC and helped present Persian culture in the Cultural Booth, Dance Presentation, Demonstration and Iranian Sidewalk Café. In Early 1990, she joined the International Focus Board of Directors. Since then she has served in different capacities including 4 years as the President of the Board and member of the Festival committee for several years. Nazi is an experienced Project Manager in the IT area and has worked in RTP over 27 years. Nazi is also very active with the Persian community in the triangle area and currently is its President of the Board of Directors. Nazi and her husband Gary live in Cary. Her interests are in volunteer activities, reading, traveling and spending time with family and friends. Nazi has travelled to over 35 countries.

Dr. Kamlesh Mehta is an internationally renowned professor, research scholar, administrator, consultant, and business owner. He has been recognized in The National Faculty Directory (1998) and Harvard Business School Publishers-International Directory of Business and Management Scholars and Research (1996). Dr. Mehta’s background includes Doctor of International Business and four other degrees in business. In his 21 years of academia and 23 years of international business experiences, Dr. Mehta’s scholarly work has been widely published. He has reviewed numerous textbooks in International Business and Management, and provided extensive corporate consulting. Dr. Mehta serves on the Advisory Board of the Teacher Education Program and as the Chair of the Business Administration Department at a local College, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Clute Institute for Academic Research. Dr. Mehta has traveled to over 40 countries and is fluent in four languages.

Tim was born in Finland but grew up in Waukegan, Ill., outside Chicago. Tim helped his parents, who were members of the local Finnish community, prepare and setup for the local International Festival held annually in Waukegan, Ill. Tim left home to join the Army and was discharged from the Army at Ft. Bragg, N.C. In 1988 Tim moved to Raleigh, N.C. where he joined the Triangle Finnish Association (TFA) in 1989 and started to become involved with the TFA in the Raleigh International Festival in 1990. Tim has been an active participant with the International Festival since with the TFA and during the last 5 years also with the International Focus. 2009 is the second year Tim has been on the Festival Committee in charge of the Cultural Booths. Tim is also in charge of the Festival.s load-in and load-out.

Sheila is the owner and president of Quick Bookkeeping, Inc., a company specializing in QuickBooks training and providing bookkeeping services for small or startup companies. She brings her 20+ years of accounting experience to our board to handle the Treasurer position. Sheila moved from Long Island, New York 16 years ago. She lives in Raleigh with her husband Bruce, two children, a dog and a cat. “I am extremely excited to be involved with International Focus and working with the variety of cultures in our community.”

Konrad has been attending the International Festival since its days in the original Raleigh Civic Center. One chance encounter with one of the organizers at a lemonade stand gave him the opportunity to take over the Festival's online operations. Konrad spends his days as a software engineer in RTP.

Jonathan has been a participant in each International Festival since the first one in 1986. He started out as a member of the Dutch cultural club, DeWieken, helping set up and working in the Cultural Booth, World Bazaar and the Dutch Sidewalk Café. In 2003, Jonathan joined both the Board of Directors of International Focus and the International Festival Committee. For three years he served as Village Square section chair and then took over as the Sidewalk Café section chair of the Festival Committee. For three of his six years on the Board of Directors he served as the Secretary.