Meet the Board of Directors
Massod R. Khan
Masood R. Khan is a Claremont Canopy board member. Masood is licensed to practice law in all courts of the State of California and in all immigration courts throughout the United States. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law in 2001 and his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1997. In addition to the practice of law, Masood Khan is a faculty lecturer at California State University, Los Angeles in the Department of Finance and Law, where he teaches courses dealing with Business Law. He is a member of the Academy for Studies in Business Law and sits on the boards of various non-profit organizations.
Masood Khan has previously worked for Schoenleber and Waltermire, the Adila Law Group and the California Appellate Project in Northern California.
Masood Khan represents scores of businesses of varying sizes and types. His clients include manufacturers, retail businesses, consulting firms, as well as professionals in various fields.
Kirsti zitar
Kirsti Zitar serves as the CFO for Claremont Canopy. Kirsti graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1997 with a dual degree in Human Biology and Anthropology. Following graduation, Kirsti worked in the biotech industry in Seattle before returning to Claremont in 2000 to join the inaugural class at Keck Graduate Institute. She finished her MBS degree in 2002 and joined a local start-up biotech company where she worked in business development, marketing, product development, and human relations. In 2009, Kirsti returned to her alma mater to work with the Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children and transitioned to the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights in 2011.
Christy Anderson
Christy is the founder and executive director of Claremont Canopy and the Canopy board chair. Christy graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1998. She is a Minnesota native and began her career in the non-profit sector. Christy began working with the local refugee population in 2016 and after a few months, she saw the need for a broader organization to act as a Canopy for the smaller organizations that work with refugees. She used her network and social media to spread the mission of Canopy. Christy has received recognition from both local and district government offices, as well as local groups for her work with Claremont Canopy. She also serves as the Director of the New Arrival Supper Club with Miry’s List in Los Angeles. This program brings the community and refugee families together through a social impact culinary experience. Christy has been a resident of Claremont, CA since 2014. She and her husband are active in the community raising their four children.
Dr. Maryam Othman
Dr. Othman is a Claremont Canopy Board Member. Maryam Othman, MD, MPH is the Director of the Global & Community Health Center / Associate Professor, Western University of Health Science, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Pomona, and the Director of Medical Education, WiRED International, a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization that provides vital medical information and education to underserved communities in regions challenged by war, poverty and dislocation.Othman provides leadership and oversight for the Global and Community Health Center within the Department of Social Medicine and Healthcare leadership. She is the Director of the Community Service Learning (CSL) and the Global and Community Health Track in Pomona campus. Dr. Othman received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Baghdad, Iraq in 2000, and her Masters of Public Health from The George Washington University, Washington, DC, in 2009, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She was the National Medical Officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Baghdad, Iraq (2003 – 2006). She also served as the Project Manager of the Palestine Children Relief Fund (PCRF) in Baghdad (2004-2006).
Natalie Taylor
Natalie Taylor is a Claremont Board Member. Natalie Taylor has been in the field of education in Los Angeles County for over 15 years. She has served as an elementary teacher, elementary principal, and district level director focused on equity, instruction, and intervention. In addition to serving students in her home district of Claremont Unified, Natalie has traveled to China to work alongside overseas departments of education. Natalie was awarded the 2020 and 2021 'Valuing Diversity Award' from the Association of California School Administrators, Region 15. Natalie completed her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from USC. Her research focused on the journey White educational leaders take when building racial identity and heightening racial consciousness.
Natalie’s work with Claremont Canopy began when she was an elementary principal in Claremont Unified. As refugee students enrolled in school, Natalie learned first-hand the importance of building relationships to best serve the students upon arrival. Natalie moved to the district office in the role as Director of Intervention and English Learner Programs. It was in this role that she was able to provide support to Claremont Canopy families in all levels of Claremont Unified, from preschool to adult school. Upon meeting Christy, a friendship and partnership was created. Natalie has served on the Board of Claremont Canopy since 2020.
Helen Musharbash
Helen Musharbash is a Claremont Board Member. Helen was born and raised in Southern California to immigrant parents from Amman, Jordan. As the first in her family to go to college, she made an effort to pay it forward throughout her educational and professional careers through tutoring and mentoring youth. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Psychology in 2010. She initially wanted to go into medicine, however, realizing how much she loved educating others and working at the community level, she took a path towards public health and community health education.
In 2010, Helen began her graduate education at Western University of Health Sciences in the Master of Science in Health Sciences program with a concentration in Community Health Education. Upon earning her graduate degree, she chose to stay at WesternU as an employee whose role has been to oversee medical students in community-based outreach projects and ensuring WesternU continues to play a positive role in our community’s overall health whether it be through educational or medical services.
