Thursday May 6, 2010, Los Angeles, CA – The Passing the Torch event received tremendous accolades from attendees.  Following the event, Roxanna Yaghoubzadeh who became a PAAIA/NexGen member, commented, “The event really made me proud to be part of such a wonderful and accomplished community, and made clear how important it is to have a group that unites us.”

These sentiments were echoed by Faraz Parhami, a young professional in finance, who commented, “it was really inspiring and may be for the first time I felt that an organization can unite our community and create a tight and effective network of professionals”. 

Among students, the event was regarded as a refreshing and inspiring occasion. Ryan Fateh, a Columbia University alumnus and current PAAIA intern, responded to Ms. Mossavar-Rahmani’s dialogue by stating, “it was refreshing to hear a successful individual say that you cannot have it all, that part of success means sacrifice.  It is something that while you may not want to hear, this dose of realism is something that you should hear, and for that I am grateful for events like Passing The Torch of Success.”  NYU student Shireen Soheili remarked “every speaker had such original insight into what it means to be Iranian American – each had a lot of wisdom to share and pass on to the next generation.”

Korangy, a current finance vertical leader for PAAIA noted that events like Passing the Torch of Success “are a great community building effort.”  New PAAIA members echoed this sentiment as well – Nazee Moinian stated that “[the event] is long overdue,” and an elderly physician simply stated, “Passing the Torch of Success was the best event I have had in my life”.