Peggy Bilsten is a passionate and caring woman who has spent her professional life advocating on behalf of many human rights issues, both locally and internationally.

 

Peggy’s international relief work began when asked by the Mayor of Phoenix to represent the citizens of Phoenix and the Phoenix City Council on rescue and relief trips to regions affected by a tsunami in Indonesia, earthquake regions in China, and war torn regions in Central Africa including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. She was instrumental in the support to elected officials in immediate rebuilding efforts and participated in the dedication of places of refuge for women and students.

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Peggy faithfully served fourteen years on the Phoenix City Council, including two terms as Vice Mayor of the City of Phoenix. Peggy is an outspoken champion for those marginalized by society.

 

During her tenure on the Phoenix City Council Peggy worked tirelessly to make public transportation more accessible to the disabled community. Countless hours were spent on the development of the Phoenix Family Advocacy Center – a one-of-a-kind center that provides medical aid, counseling, prevention, education and legal services all within a safe framework that also includes the best that law enforcement has to offer to victims of domestic violence all under one roof. This center was created while Peggy chaired the Mayor’s Ad Hoc Committee on Domestic Violence. It is now the largest advocacy center in the state of Arizona.

 

In addition to these efforts on behalf of abused women, Peggy also had the privilege to serve as the Chair for Former Governor Napolitano’s Commission to Prevent Domestic Violence Against Women.

 

Peggy currently serves as Director of Intergovernmental Relations for Bilsten Consulting, facilitating strategic political, community, neighborhood and business outreach to support development, non-profit and community-based projects.

Devoted wife, mother and community activist, Tehmina (Tina) Khan has served as a board member of the American Center since its inception.

 

Tina is active in women’s leadership with the Council of Pakistan of Los Angeles, California, where she advocates for visibility, services and resources for women of all ages, ethnicities and races.

 

Tina was a vocal leader in the civil rights movement of the 2020’s in Los Angeles where she partnered with numerous other organizations to not only speak out, but also to provide much needed services to community members.

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Tina has a solid business background, having conducted numerous event planning efforts for large events that hosted celebrities, dignitaries, elected officials, and thousands of participants.

 

Tina has traveled extensively on people-to-people relational diplomatic missions to Azerbaijan, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, and more.  

 

In addition, Tina is very active in United for Pakistan and various youth-serving organizations.

Kelly Paisley served as a political appointee in the Biden, Obama, Napolitano and Clinton Administrations, and worked on capitol hill for the Senate Majority Leader. Her career included political appointments at HHS (Health and Human Services), the GSA (General Services Administration), Vice President Gore’s NPR (National Partnership for Reinventing Government) and the USAID (Agency for International Development). She worked on Capitol Hill, consulted and managed several political and issue campaigns. 

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While in Arizona, she worked to elect President Obama as the State Director for the Obama campaign.  She served Governor Napolitano's Administration as Deputy Director of the Arizona Office of Tourism, Director of Efficiency Review and the Director of Community Relations for the Department of Environmental Quality. She also ran her own business Paisley Imprints where she handled over 2000 media interviews for Daniel Hernandez, the intern who saved Congresswoman Giffords' after the assassination attempt on her life.

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Kelly has traveled to over 50 countries.  As part of White House advance teams, she traveled extensively for Presidents and Vice Presidents both domestically and internationally. In addition, she monitors elections internationally for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) including Uzbekistan, Montenegro, Moldova and Kazakhstan. For the National Democratic Institute (NDI) she conducted media training in Serbia and helped advise the staff of the President of Kosovo.

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Kelly’s community involvement includes serving as a Board member Angels of America’s Fallen. Previously on the City of Phoenix Community Development Review Committee, Food and Friends and as the Former Chair of the Board of Directors of Emerge where she trained democratic women to run for office. She was named the "Valley Dictorian" of Phoenix’s Valley Leadership Class XXVII, was a member of the Anti-Defamation League’s Glass Leadership Program.

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She believes we change the world one friend at a time, so she has hosted foreign exchange students through state department programs for five years. 

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Kelly has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Colorado, where she served as Student Body President and a M.A. in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. Her family are among the founders of the iconic Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale.