May 13, 2012 – Meet Cyrus Habib – The Official Democractic Nominee for Washington State Representative

Meet Cyrus Habib – The Official Democractic Nominee for Washington State Representative

May 5, 2012, Seattle, WA – The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian American (PAAIA) and its connected PAC, the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), recently had the opportunity to sit down with Cyrus Habib and discuss his campaign for the 48th Legislative District in the Washington State House of Representatives.   If successful, Habib would make history by becoming the first Iranian American elected to a State Legislature.   

Habib is a technology lawyer and community volunteer. He grew up in Bellevue, Washington and is a proud product of its public schools. Having lost his eyesight at age 8 to a rare form of childhood cancer, he learned early the importance of equal opportunity, hard work, and a quality education.

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PAAIA Launches Third Annual Mentorship Program 

                                        May 7, 2012, Washington DC – PAAIA is pleased to announce that applications for the 2012-13 PAAIA Mentorship Program open today through June 4^th, 2012. Since 2010, PAAIA has matched over 200 young Iranian Americans to industry leaders across the country.  As noted decades ago by the Harvard Business Review, “Everyone who makes it has a mentor,” and PAAIA is committed to ensuring that the next generation of Iranian American leaders has access to the resources and guidance of mentors.

A cornerstone of the program is the personal interaction between mentors and mentees, and they build a strong relationship over the course of their time together. PAAIA Board Member and incoming Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Dr. Vali Nasr has mentored young Iranian Americans interested in foreign policy and international affairs. From his experience he shared, “the program provided me valuable opportunity to interact closely with young Iranian Americans considering next stages in their career. I found these interactions to be an occasion to share experiences and ideas, but also to create bridges to the next generation–at once doing community-building and ensuring its success.” Dr. Firouz Naderi, Dr. Hamid Biglari, Ms. Nazie Eftekhari, Mrs. Forough Hosseini, and Mr. Karim Sadjadpour are group of dedicated all-volunteer PAAIA Mentors.

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PAAIA Congratulates Nader Baroukh on his Successful Reelection to the Falls Church City Council 

May 7, 2012, Washington DC – Incumbent Mayor Nader Baroukh was re-elected in last Tuesday’s election to serve a second term on the City Council of Falls Church, Virginia.
 
First elected to the City Council in 2008, Baroukh has served as the Mayor of Falls Church since 2010. The City of Falls Church is governed by a seven member city council, each elected at large for four year, staggered terms.  The Mayor is elected by the vote of the members of the council. 
 
Baroukh was re-elected with the second largest vote margin following a competitive race that featured a crowded field of seven candidates. The three highest vote-getters in this year’s election were elected to serve in the next City Council of Fall Church.  

Baroukh, who speaks Farsi fluently, immigrated to the United States from Iran as a child with his family and grew up in Los Angeles, California.  
 
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Amir Bagherpour joins PAAIA as Director of Research & Analysis

May 7, 2012, Washington DC – PAAIA is pleased to announce that Amir Bagherpour has joined PAAIA as its Director of Research and Analysis, a key function supporting the activities of the Public Policy Center. In addition to his work at PAAIA, Dr. Bagherpour consults the Department of Defense and other government agencies on predicting conflicts and their outcomes. He is a former Senior Analyst at the Iran Research Desk at Voice of America. Dr. Bagherpour is also presently completing his book titled, The Coming Storm: The Evolution of Instability in Middle East. Prior to his civilian career, Dr. Bagherpour served in the U.S. Army as an Armor Officer. He is the first Iranian born graduate of West Point.  Dr. Bagherpour holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University and an M.B.A. from the University of California Irvine.