Miyamoto’s board of directors monitors the effectiveness of company-wide decisions, policies and strategies while helping further our mission of sustaining industries and safeguarding communities around the world.
Dr. Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez
Before joining Miyamoto’s Board of Directors, Dr. Eddie Ijjasz was the Regional Director for Africa in the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Practice Group covering agriculture, climate, disaster risk management, environment, land, social, urban, and water portfolios. During his illustrious career, he was responsible for a portfolio of about $80 billion of investments and close to 800 policy and advisory reports. He worked in more than 90 developing and emerging countries in all regions of the world – from fragile and conflict-affected countries to high-middle-income countries. Dr. Ijjasz has led work in a wide range of development topics including global environmental issues, sustainable development, green infrastructure, water resources, climate change, agriculture, blue economy, resilience, fragility and conflict, resettlement, PPPs, ESG, and urban development. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in civil and environmental engineering, with a specialization in hydrology and water resources.
Dr. Firouz Rooyani
Dr. Rooyani has 45 years of experience in business development, management, and operations of international development programs. He served as Program Manager for two $5B and $6B USAID Indefinite Quantity Contracts (2008 – 2018). Close to $200M task orders were implemented related to design and construction oversight of vertical structures, transportation, energy, and water supply in Afghanistan, Georgia, Liberia, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Sudan. Included was a high-profile 4-year long Knowledge Management task order covering 6 countries in SE Asia. He holds a Ph.D. in Pedogenesis (Surface Geology/Soil Science interface) from Utah State University and received his early training in river basin management in Australia.
Jamie Claire Kiser, J.D.
Jamie Claire is experienced in financial analysis, evaluating transactions, and providing clear solutions to the financial and operational needs of businesses. Jamie Claire practiced law in addition to working in the commercial banking industry. She joined Zweig Group in 2015 with an initial focus on mergers & acquisitions and a drive to build long-term value for AEC firms.
She holds a Masters of Business Administration, Juris Doctor, and Bachelors of Arts in History. Her current position is managing principal of Zweig Group. As well as serving on the board of Miyamoto International, she also serves on the board of Zweig Group and Buffalo River Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to conserving the Buffalo National River. Jamie is the founder and author of the platform ElevateHer as part of Zweig Group’s mission to Elevate the Industry.
Tom K. Chan, S.E
Tom K. Chan has over 35 years of professional experience in civil and structural engineering, structural design, earthquake engineering, state-of-the-art dynamic and static analysis. Mr. Chan has also completed seismic risk projects for a number of water and wastewater agencies including seven in the Bay Area alone. He has managed and performed numerous structural design, seismic analysis, design review, retrofit, and risk assessment and mitigation projects for major corporations and financial institutions, including IBM, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Seagrams, Bank of America, Chase-Manhattan, St. Paul, Prudential, and others.
Dr. Kit Miyamoto
Dr. Miyamoto is a world-leading expert in disaster resiliency, response and reconstruction. He provides expert engineering and policy consultation to the World Bank, USAID, UN agencies, governments and private sector. He is a California Seismic Safety Commissioner, a Global CEO of Miyamoto International and a structural engineer. From the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake to the Ecuador, Nepal, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico and 2020 Puerto Rico earthquakes, Dr. Miyamoto has led teams of experts on dozens of response and reconstruction projects around the world. He is one of the most respected minds in disaster resiliency and recovery.