About Me

Hello, my name is Faranak Eftekhari. I was born, raised, and attended school until the age of 18 in Tehran, Iran and moved to California at the age of 19. I started attending classes at Mount San Antonio College to learn English while taking some classes at Cal Poly Pomona, the school to which I eventually transferred . As an undergraduate student at Cal Poly, I majored in Graphic Design and was among the very few who were able to learn web design in its first stages during the last year of my undergrad along with my professors (World Wide Web was at the earliest stages of growing at the time).  After graduating with a degree in Graphic/Web Design, I started working at Air Quality Management District (AQMD) as a Webmaster in 1996. During the first stages of growth in web design, I had to hand code HTML documents, as more advanced softwares were not yet available. Some of my responsibilities at AQMD were, but not limited, leading the web development team to design content placement and upgrade navigation, building and maintaining both Internet and Intranet sites, analyzing browser compatibility performance, and collaborating in graphic design of the Automated Permitting Project. A few years later, upon the birth of my third child, I decided to the best course of action was for me to stay home and focus my duties as a mother. Not being used to staying home all day long, I decided to go back to school to obtain my master's degree in Educational Technology from Cal Poly Pomona. During this time, I contracted more web design projects at San Dimas Technology and Development Center (STDC) converting paper format documents to searchable web-based data and designing handicap accessible web pages complying with W3C guidelines. As a part of this process, I created a website for my childrens' school as my Thesis project for my Master's Degree. This project made the school a pioneer within the region due to it being the first to have a website which it used to communicate with parents.  This also allowed the school to be among the first to go paperless. This project opened the opportunity for me to work with more clients requesting web and technology consultation as a freelance web designer.  After obtaining my degree, I was hired as a computer teacher at the same school, which allowed me to work, while maintaining the level of involvement with my family I desired at the time.  I continued working as a freelancer during and after my work with the school.

Being in the this field for the last 19 years has given me a great deal of inspiration to grow in the field of technology and be a part of its constantly advancing world.  This is the field that motivates me the most due to its fast moving nature. Every new technique that is introduced in the tech world allows users to have fast access to information, increases communication, and speeds up work.

Now that my kids have gotten older I am able to put my focus back on my career. Being an alumna of Cal Poly Pomona with a Master's of Educational Technology, I have been keeping up with the new advancements of this field and look to obtain any new information I can to stay current in this ever-changing discipline. Furthermore, my goal is to advance my skills and work toward obtaining a faculty position at a college.