In a remarkable gathering, some of the most accomplished Iranian Americans shared their experiences with the next generation of leaders. Held at the NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on April 25, 2010, former CNN anchor Rudi Bakhtiar and the popular actor/comedian Maz Jobrani co-hosted this educational and inspirational event, featuring:

• Top Wall Street executive, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, discussing her path to becoming Chief Investment Officer of Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s Private Wealth Management Division
• Top NASA scientist, Dr. Firouz Naderi, sharing his life journey from Shiraz to Mars;
• Roya Hakakian, focusing on her journey to America, the “Land of Yes”;
• Nuclear physicist turned finance guru, Dr. Hamid Biglari, Chairman of Citicorp, sharing lessons from his vertical climb of the corporate ladder;
• Mohsen Moazami, member of Cisco executive staff and the strategic leadership team overseeing Cisco’s entire operations across Emerging Markets discussing his life journey from Tehran to the Silicon Valley; and
• Award winning actress, writer and producer, Mary Apick, sharing career confidences in advance of her performance in the critically acclaimed play “Beneath the Veil” playing at Lincoln Center.

The event also featured a musical performance titled Notes from Persia from world-class concert pianist, violinist and composer,Tara Kamangar.

The event began at 2:00 pm (doors opened at 1:30pm) at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY 10012).Event attendees were provided complimentary admission following the program to the PAAIA NexGen Torch Networking AfterParty with MC Tehran SoParvaz & DJs Alex & Amir at PRANNA Lounge located at 79 Madison Avenue in New York.

PAAIA organized this event in conjunction with our Partners including NYU’s Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Columbia University’s Center for Iranian Studies, Iranian Jewish Club at NYU, NYU Persian Cultural Society, Columbia Iranian Students Association and Iranian Alliances Across Borders.

Corporate sponsors of the program included the Persian Cultural Foundation (www.persiancultural.org), Modern Prophecy (www.modernprophecy.com), Oznoz Entertainment (www.oznoz.com), the Iranian American Society of New York (www.iasnweyork.org), and the Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery.

 

Highlights from Passing the Torch of Success, New York