IEF 2007

Biography
Ms. Susanne Tamas has served as Director of Governmental Relations for the Bahá'í Community of Canada since 1997, engaging with government officials and national non-governmental organizations concerning policy issues related to human rights and global prosperity and supporting bilateral and multilateral action on behalf of Bahá’ís facing religious persecution.

Her professional experience ranges from elementary school counselor to junior high school librarian; ESL teacher to correspondence tutor; primary school teacher to College Registrar. In each of these occupations, she has worked closely with students of all ages and ethno-cultural backgrounds in Yukon, Nunavut, NWT, five provinces across Canada and briefly in Ghana. Susanne‘s graduate studies focused on issues related to citizenship as the basis of social cohesion in a pluralist society.

Susanne was appointed as an Auxiliary Board Member in 1990 and was released from that service in 1997 in order to take up her responsibilities as Director of the Office of Governmental Relations. She was elected to membership on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada in April 1999 and is currently serving as its Chairperson.

Susanne and her husband Andy live in Almonte, Ontario. They are blessed with two children in their late 30s and three grandchildren.