MARCH 2019 NEWSLETTER ISSUE II

March 2019 Newsletter Issue II

Save the Date: April 13, 2019

The IAWF invites you to join the Iranian American Women of Influence Soir é e on April 13, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, CA. The soiree will be celebration of the achievements of the women of Iranian heritage who inspire, influence and empower the community and the society. This event will be a lively and entertaining opportunity to celebrate and honor the contributions of these visionary women who are making a difference in philanthropy, community services, arts and science.

Purchase your Tickets here.

Chapter Member Spotlights

Nilo Tabrizi New York	Nilo Tabrizy is a journalist, filmmaker and writer based in New York City. Currently, she is a video journalist at The New York Times. There, Nilo covers breaking news, with a focus on Iran and national security-related stories. Prior to The New York Times, she worked at VICE News as a producer and on-camera reporter where she focused on drug policy and the environment. She holds a Master's of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, and a B.A. in Political Science and French from the University of British Columbia. Nilo has also joined IAWF Mentorship Program and will kindly mentor our mentees in New York. You can read more here .
Shida Saam Southern California	Dr. Shida Saam is Board certified in Family Practice and Geriatircs in private practice with offices in Irvine and Tustin. She is actively affiliated with Hoag hospital, St. Joseph Hospital and Western Medical Center. She is currently Chief of Family Medicine and Vice Chair of Medicine at Western Medical Center and is a guest speaker on various health topics at professional and community events. Dr. Shida Saam received her medical degree form Western University of Health Sciences and completed her three years of residency at the UC Irvine Family Practice program. She is an Assistant Professor of the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP) and an active member of many professional and medical societies such as and Orange County Medical Associations (OCMA). You can read more here .
Sima Hashemifar Northern California	During the first adult phase of her life, Sima worked in semiconductor industry holding senior engineering positions at Intel, National Semiconductor, and KLA-Tencor Corporations. She earned her B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology in Tehran, Iran, where she ranked first in her graduating class. And her M.S. degree in Materials Science & Engineering from University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. While in graduate school, Sima also developed a program for the Women In Engineering (WIE), which resulted in increased number of women completing first year of engineering studies. The WIE Association in US awarded her 2 times for her contributions. You can read more here .

Circle of 1000s Featured Member

Shahla Sohi brings more than 25 years of experience in diverse accounting and financial management to her role as a professional accountant. She has had extensive experience working in Iran, U.A.E., and the United States. Once she obtained her bachelor's degree in Cost Accounting, Shahla started to work as a Capital Project Accountant for the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC). Shahla became one of the first Iranian women who held the CFO position of Governmental Accounting Controller, and oversaw and trained 250 employees throughout her ten-years working at those agencies

You can read more here .

Circle of Men

Ali Ghadimi is a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP. He represents real estate investors, developers, operators, partnerships, funds and institutional lenders in complex business litigation. On behalf of the firm's real estate clients, he has handled disputes involving development agreements, energy transmission rights, purchase option rights, guaranty and lender liability, landlord- tenant, environmental claims, disability-access claims, and construction defect claims.

With more than 18 years of litigation experience, Ali has also represented public and private companies in state and federal courts of California, Colorado, Georgia, Virginia and New York in employment cases, securities cases, contract actions, shareholder disputes, and trade secret violation and unfair competition cases.

Laya Khadjavi on The "Seldom Said" Podcast

(Photo Credits: LIU Studios)

The host of the Seldom Said Podcast Robert Amato is joined by Laya Khadjavi , a financial advisor and head of strategy and business development for international corporations, as well as women's rights activist. They discuss her lifestyle, her Persian background, and how her financial acumen has grown. Listen to the full episode

here .

Paria Farzaneh Nominated for LVMH Prize

(Photo Courtesy of Hypebeast)

Paria Farzaneh, Iranian designer based in UK has been nominated for LVHM prize for her Men's Collection. LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris.LVMH writes Paria Farzaneh's "designer pieces are fiercely independent exploration of her Persian heritage. Paria was selected as the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN "One To Watch" in 2018, and has been working extensively with Converse on bespoke collaborations as well as creating some of LFWM's most talked about presentations. In the past four seasons, Paria has used her collections to challenge the western perception of Middle Eastern aesthetics, by boldly blurring the lines between the two distinctly different worlds that have informed her experience Paria has rapidly gained notoriety within the menswear scene, gathering 21 stockists globally". Paria is 24 years old and is a 2016 graduate of London's Ravensbourne University. Twenty designers have been nominated, the winner of the LVMH prize will receive €300,000 Euro and a year- long mentorship with LVMH team, and the chance to work at one of the many prestigious brands under the LVMH umbrella for a year, which includes Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Dior, and more. Iranian American Women Foundation wishes the best of success for Paria Farzaneh in her creative journey. Click here to see more of her designs.

Book of the Month


	Photo courtesy of Sara Saedi Website

Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card is the story of an undocumented Iranian teenager growing up in the United States. In her funny memoir, Ms. Saedi depicts her fear and anxiety of living without legal documentation in a foreign land far from her homeland. Living with her secret as an undocumented immigrant and fear of possible forced deportation, Sara tells the story of how her Middle Eastern family rooted their lives in the American society. In her exclusive interview with NPR, Sara Saedi openly speaks about her nonfiction book and her fears and anxieties as a teenager growing up in the United States. You can listen to the interview here .

Sara Saedi's memoir, "Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card", is set to be in an ABC half- hour comedy series that Reese Witherspoon will be producing.

Sara was born in Iran and amidst of revolution and war, she migrated to the United States with her family. You can read more about her life and her literary and film projects here.