PAAIA Board Elects New Chair and Vice Chair

February 3, 2011, Washington, D.C. – The Board of Directors of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) this week elected Mr. Ali Mojdehi as Chairman and Mrs. Forough Hosseini as Vice Chairman. Mojdehi and Hosseini succeed Dr. Hamid Biglari and Dr. Firouz Naderi, who respectively served as the Board’s Chair and Vice Chair for the past three years.      

 

“Firouz and I welcome Ali and Forough into the Chair and Vice Chair positions and look forward to working with them on PAAIA Board matters,” said Biglari.  “We are very fortunate as an organization to have two such high-caliber, experienced individuals assume leadership of the Board. Their combined experience and commitment to the organization will play an important role in PAAIA’s growth over the next two years.” 

 

Mojdehi has served on PAAIA’s board since the organization’s inception in 2007.  He is a partner at the law firm of Baker & McKenzie LLP and is the past Chair of the firm’s Financial Restructuring, Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Practice Group in North America. Mr. Mojdehi regularly lectures to bar and lay groups and advises debtors and creditors – as well as counseling boards – on innovative and efficient strategic transactions and restructurings. 

 

Hosseini has been a PAAIA board member since April 2010.  She is the Executive VP of Information Systems for ICI Homes. Ranked as one of the top 100 homebuilders in the country, ICI currently develops and builds in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.  Hosseini serves on the boards of many local and national organizations and participates in and contributes to numerous local, national, and international charities and causes. In January of 2011, she was awarded the Herbert M. Davidson Community Service Award for her work with homeless children and her contributions to education. In prior years, Hosseini, among other recognitions, received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Philanthropist of the Year award from PARSA Community Foundation, Spirit of Hope award from Habitat for Humanity, and  was selected as one of Florida’s most Influential Women in Business. 

 

“Forough and I are honored and humbled that the Board has reposed confidence in us to serve as Chair and Vice Chair,” said Mojdehi.  “We consider it a privilege, particularly following Hamid and Firouz, who have set the bar so high, and have given to PAAIA with boundless energy, enthusiasm, and wisdom. We look forward to the benefit of their wise counsel as we move ahead.”

 

One of the distinguishing hallmarks of PAAIA since its inception has been its transparent governance structure and the limitation on the term limits set for its Board of Directors.  The Chairman and Vice Chairman serve as the presiding officers of the Board of Directors.  The Board sets overall policy and direction for the organization, and operates as a consensual, deliberative body.

 

The 2011 – 2012 PAAIA Board of Directors is comprised of 19 Board Members who represent a cross-section of the nation.  They include:  Pouria Abbassi (Los Angeles), Mina Amir-Mokri (Chicago), Sharon Baradaran (Los Angeles), Mary Bavafa (Los Angeles), Hamid Biglari (New York), Ali Ebrahimi (Houston), Nazie Eftekhari (Minneapolis), Majid Fateh (New York), Tamilla Ghodsi (New York), Forough Hosseini (Daytona Beach),  Yousef Javadi (Washington, D.C.), Mariam Khosravani (Irvine), Akbar A. Lari (New York), Mohsen Moazami (San Jose), Ali Mojdehi (San Diego), Firouz Naderi (Los Angeles), Francis Najafi (Phoenix), Sanam Quraishi (New York), and Nariman Teymourian (San Francisco).  

 

For more information, please visit www.paaia.org.