Iris Bieri

Iris is the Chief of Staff at Rochester Area Community Foundation. She has extensive experience in public policy, conflict resolution, and mediation. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff for New York State Assemblymember Jen Lunsford.  Iris currently serves as an Advisor to The Iran Project, a bipartisan advisory group that supports principled diplomacy to reduce U.S.-Iran tensions and prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. She previously served as Deputy Director of The Iran Project for nearly a decade. Prior to that, Iris served as Deputy Director of The Pluribus Project, an organization that promoted civic health and engagement, and Program Coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee in Manhattan. Iris is a certified mediator in the state of New York and has mediated cases and held restorative circles for the Center for Dispute Settlement in Rochester.  She has a B.A. from Earlham College and an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University.  She is fluent in Spanish and basic proficiency in Persian. Iris lives with her husband, an environmental historian, and two young children - they enjoy hiking, gardening and making meals together.