Wellesley, MA – Iranian Alliances Across Borders is pleased to announce the success of its first Iranian-American Student Summit. From April 4th-6th, 2008, thirteen Iranian American student organization leaders from ten universities and colleges around the nation convened at Wellesley College for a weekend of exchange, brainstorming and friendship.

The Student Summit provided an opportunity to connect student groups from across the country, and create a forum for them to collaborate and discuss setbacks, successes, and future plans, as well as hear from leaders in the wider Iranian-American community today. The students spent two days learning from each other, determining solutions to difficult problems, and forming new ideas for collaboration among student groups.

Participating student organizations were: UC Berkeley's Iranian Student Alliance in America, UC Berkeley's Iranian Student's Cultural Organization, Boston University's Persian Student Cultural Club, UC Davis's Iranian Student Cultural and Aesthetic Organization, Georgia Tech's Iranian Student Association, Harvard University's Iranian Student Association, Harvard Persian Society, NYU's Persian Cultural Society, Wellesley's Persian Student Association, MIT's Persian Student Association and the Persian Association at North Dakota State University.

In the words of Pouya Alimagham, founder of UC Berkeley's Iranian Student Alliance in America and President of Harvard University's Iranian Student Association:

"The Iranian-American Student Summit reinforced a sense of community by providing a forum for Iranian students from various backgrounds and regions in America to come together for a common purpose: to help develop their Iranian community and preserve their culture and identity in America. Furthermore, as student leaders from across the country, we've faced similar problems and it was a bonding experience to express ourselves, to relate to others under the same strain, and to brainstorm possible solutions to common problems."

In addition to discussions and workshops, the Summit also involved the participation of four remarkable members of the Iranian-American community: Ms. Banafsheh Akhlaghi, President and Founder of the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA); Ms. Mahdis Keshavarz, Principal of The Make Agency and Director of Media and Public Relations at BoomGen Studios; Ms. Niloofar Nouri of The Persian Center at Berkeley and Founder of UC Berkeley's Iranian Student Cultural Organization; and Ms. Niaz Kasravi, Director of Community Relations for the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans. Each of the four speakers spoke about their experiences as leaders of the Iranian-American community and led interactive workshops related to leading an Iranian student organization.

In this way, the summit gave student leaders the opportunity to explore the role of Iranian student groups within the broader American university setting as well as the Iranian-American community at large. As Shabnam Sharbatoghlie, Student Summit Project Manager, stated:

"The student leaders who attended the Summit were able to accomplish an incredible amount in a short period of time. Their hard work, willingness to collaborate with others, and eagerness to effect change within their respective organizations and communities truly enabled us to achieve all of the goals we had set for the summit. We hope that this weekend will only be the beginning of future collaborations among Iranian student organization leaders and that the Summit attendees will be able to sustain the connections that were made at this event."

For more information about the Student Summit including a full schedule of events please visit: http://iranianalliances.org/summit.html.

About Iranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB)

IAAB is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, non-profit volunteer organization with a young, dedicated staff spread across the United States, Europe and Iran. The mission of the organization is to address issues of the Iranian diaspora community while raising awareness of the Iranian community, promoting leadership, and connecting Iranians across borders. For more information about IAAB please visit www.iranianalliances.org.

Contact:

Nakkisa Akhavan, Press Inquiries, Student Summit 2008

Iranian Alliances Across Borders

Nakkisa@iranianalliances.org

www.iranianalliances.org/summit

• Raise awareness of the Iranian culture and community;

• Promote leadership in the Iranian Diaspora community, with a specific focus on the younger generation; and

• Connect Iranians across a variety of borders

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