NexGen DC Hosts Haleh Esfandiari
January 14, 2013, Washington, D.C. – On January 10, 2013, NexGen DC hosted a meeting with Haleh Esfandiari. More than 50 people, including PAAIA DC members, NexGen members, and other guests, attended the event, where they had an opportunity to hear Ms. Esfandiari’s story in a personal setting and network with other Iranian Americans in the area.
Haleh Esfandiari is the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications, including Foreign Policy, Princeton Papers in Near Eastern Studies, Middle East Review, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Review of Books, among many others. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of the Peace Research Endowment and the board of advisors for the Project on Middle East Democracy. She is also a member of a MENA Advisory Panel to the World Bank.
Ms. Esfandiari is the author of My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran, based on her arrest by the Iranian security authorities in 2007 and the 105 days she spent in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
After speaking about her life experiences, Ms. Esfandiari directly engaged the audience by responding to their questions and signing copies of her book. Asked specifically about her expectations and advice for the next generation of Iranian Americans, she said, “I hope to see an Iranian American Congressman or Senator in the next few years.” She continued with the advice that anyone who is interested in doing so should not think that success would occur overnight and that they should begin their efforts locally.
NexGen DC hosts monthly lecture series with prominent members of the Iranian American community to highlight the community’s accomplishments and to also enable the next generation of Iranian Americans to learn and benefit from the guest’s experiences. Events are free and open to the public.
Click here to view a history of the past events in the DC chapter and to learn more about NexGen DC.
Click here to view a photo gallery of the reception on Facebook.
