majtabah.walai@gmail.com

Majtabah Walai is an online meetings tech specialist. In this capacity he runs all tech aspects of Peer Advocates online trainings from strategic planning to designing, implementing and managing trainings in real time. His knowledge base includes Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams as well as other emerging online meeting apps.

Mr. Walai also runs a photography studio where he specializes in family portraits. He recently launched a unique online venture -- @coffeethenphotographee -- that features three of his passions. The Instagram page reviews coffee spots in the Bay Area, features his photography portraits of families and promotes his love of Jiu Jitsu. Recently his portraits made the cover story of Ambition Magazine and his celebrity portrait sessions have included MC Hammer and Kiesha Cole, among others. Asked about the experience of being photographed by Mr. Walai, one of his subjects stated “(his) shots are epic.”

Mr. Walai is a Blue Belt in the Martial Art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He trains at Spark Jiu-Jitsu Academy where the renowned lineage of Darcio Lira is followed. Together with the school’s Sensei and other instructors, he demonstrates multiple techniques of self-defense including tactical takedowns, striking defense, submissions and throwing strikes without inflicting excessive harm to the attacker or defender. He works with people from all walks of life including law enforcement professionals affiliated with local police departments and federal agencies.

Mr. Walai has been greatly influenced by the experience of his father, Mohammad Walai, who came to the United States as a refugee from Afghanistan. Though deported four times through a series of bureaucratic snafus, Mr. Walai senior persevered and, to this day, serves as an inspiration to his son in numerous ways: the personal sacrifice he made to ensure that his family could enjoy self-expression, opportunities and freedom in the US; and the poetry he shared with his son at a young age.

Mr. Walai is a spoken word poet whose poem, I Love You Spoken Word, was published in World Poetry Movement’s 2012 edition, Stars in our Hearts Diversity. While in high school he was inspired to write poetry after listening to his father’s. He started writing and performing spoken word poetry at Cal State East Bay’s Free Thought Thursday where he became a regular every month; and he has also frequently performed at Mission Coffee Roasting close by Ohlone College, the local community college in Fremont, California. 

Mr. Walai studied Mass Communications, Radio Broadcasting and Advertising at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, California. In addition to the English language, he is fluent Farsi and Dari speaker