PARSA Community Foundation Announces 2008 Norooz Grantees!
A core element of PARSA CF's mission is to strengthen entrepreneurial individuals and nonprofits that serve the Persian community. To that end, PARSA CF recently completed its grant review process with $105,000 in grants going to nine powerful ideas. - 5/9/08
Join Fictionville Studio in the production of FINDING HOME, a documentary about the girls of the Omid-e Mehr Center
The fringes of Iranian society can be a lonely place, especially if you are a teenage girl with few resources to fall back on. Finding Home follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center in uptown Tehran. Forget about the Iran that youíve seen before. With a virtually invisible camera, the girls of Finding Home take us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran with their brave and defiant stories - 5/6/08
IAAB Announces Scholarships for Camp Ayandeh 2008 For Students Applying by May 15, 2008
Iranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB) has just announced several scholarship opportunities for high school students wishing to attend IAAB's youth leadership camp, Camp Ayandeh. - 4/2/08
SAF & GKP: A successful partnership
Science And Arts Foundation as one of active members of GKP in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) participated in the Global Knowledge Conference through 11th-13th December 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. - 4/2/08
Momeni Foundation is accepting applications for the year 2008 Academic Scholarships
Momeni Foundation is dedicated to providing scholarships to graduating high school students and full time college students of Iranian descent anywhere in the world.: Others planted and we ate. We should plant, so others may eat. - 3/20/08
The Iranian Therapist and Her Cambodian Clients
Dr. Mona Afari studied Lay's impassive expression as the translator rendered his words from Cambodian into English. "My mother and father," she heard the translator repeat, "…the Khmer Rouge take them. I never see again." -excerpt from UNDER THE DRAGON - 3/18/08
"Let's unite in the New Year": UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
Actress Mahtab Keramati, Iranian UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador sent a message on the occasion of New Year emphasizing the necessity for united efforts in support of children's rights. - 3/16/08
Kahrizak Foundation Norouz Bazaar in Cupertino, California
Kahrizak is holding the 16th annual Norouz Bazaar to benefit Kahrizak, a Center For Living, Education and Rehabilitation of the Disabled and the Elderly, in Tehran - 3/13/08
Photos: Literacy classes in Turkmen Sahra, Iran
Following photos are from literacy classes in Turkmen Sahra, northern Iran. Turkmens are among the several ethnicities in Iran. - 3/12/08
Iran’s leading poet receives new Stanford literature prize
Iranian poet Simin Behbahani is the first recipient of Stanford's Bita Prize for Literature and Freedom. The new $10,000 prize is part of the Daryabari Persian Studies Fund, recently endowed by Bita Daryabari to support and promote teaching, research and scholarship relating to Iran, including the area formerly known as Persia, and people of Iranian or Persian heritage. -CYNTHIA HAVEN, Stanford News - 3/6/08
Actress Motamed-Arya appointed envoy of Mehrafarin Charity
Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya has been selected as the ambassador of the Mehrafarin Charity Society, during a ceremony on March 3 at the Niavaran Cultural Center. - 3/4/08
Iranian NGOs: Sowing the Seeds of Civil Society
After a period of unprecedented growth which coincided with the drive for political reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Iran have entered a relatively low-key period of activity, characterized by less political overtones and concentration on grassroots involvement. -PARSA Community Foundation - 1/15/08
Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad donates film awards in bid to launch charity
Bani-Etemad attached a note to the collection of awards, reading, "I had once decided to put all my awards on sale in an international auction to establish a foundation to help women who run their families alone. I still have this desire, and I ask the Film Museum to help my wish come true as soon as possible." -MNA - 1/12/08
NIP (National and International Projects)
Teams of Iranian students and teachers have been working on international projects for number of years. Among these are iEARN projects, Think quest and Mondialogo. As these projects are in English and our language is Farsi, many teachers and students find it difficult to participate in these projects. This led a group of teachers to get together to find a way to overcome this language barrier and to enable teachers and students to participate more actively in these international projects. - 12/16/07
PARSA Community Foundation Announces 2007 Mehregan Grantees!
A core element of PARSA CF's mission is to strengthen entrepreneurial individuals and nonprofits that serve the Persian community. To that end, PARSA CF just completed the second of its two semi-annual grant cycles with $100,000 going to twelve powerful ideas, bringing its total number of grantees to twenty. Youth leadership, preservation of Persian arts, promotion of cultural understanding and public service are common themes. - 12/13/07
Mahak – A True success story and now a way of life
Mahak – the charity for children with cancer - is a well known name in many Iranian homes and they are right to claim that a large proportion of people in Tehran and in other cities know their name and what they do. - 12/12/07
Iranian-American Alum Gives $17M to USC Viterbi Dept.
Sonny Astani, whose soaring high-rises and philanthropy are remaking downtown Los Angeles, has given $17 million to name the USC department of civil and environmental engineering. - 12/11/07
Profile: Philanthropists Yasmin Sanie-Hay and Tina Roshdi
Driving 10,000 miles of rugged, alien territory in a tiny car that frequently broke down turned out to be more than a thrill-seeking passion for Iranian-American MIT student Yasmin Sanie-Hay. It inspired her to start her own philanthropic project and business venture. -PARSA - 12/10/07
Inaugural Persian Community Foundation Gala Raises $599,000 for U.S. Nonprofits
PARSA's Gala Celebration of Persian Heritage and Philanthropy Helps Fund Grants for Arts, Culture, Education and Civic Integration - 12/6/07
Mahak Charity's Second Music Festival
The Second Mahak Music Festival commenced on Thursday November 29th with a concert conducted by the famous Armenian composer and conductor Loris Tjeknavorian, who is celebrating his 70th birthday this week. -Paul Sanford, Tehran - 12/6/07
Profile of an Iranian-American philanthropist: Ali Saberioon
One journalist described Ali Saberioon as "a humble man with a huge heart." Saberioon emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1976. He credits his parents with instilling the values of community and benevolence in him. -PARSA - 12/3/07
Philanthropy can play an important role for Iranian Diaspora
The global Iranian diaspora is four million strong with the largest population having settled in the United States over the last thirty years. Heightened tensions and the war of words between the U.S. and Iran have cast a shadow of suspicion and blame on the Iranian-American population that is otherwise marked by exceptional academic and economic accomplishments. -Noosheen Hashemi, PARSA CF - 11/30/07
OMID-E-MEHR: empowering disadvantaged young women in Iran
Omid is a non-political, privately funded charity, registered in Iran in 2004. Omid focuses on providing care, support, education and training for severely disadvantaged young women in Tehran, aged from 15 to 25. These are women who are faced with relentless emotional and financial deprivation, are desperately vulnerable to anti-social influences, and struggle to remain engaged in society. All are in urgent need for help. - 11/29/07
Apply for a PARSA Community Foundation Grant!
PARSA Community Foundation is inviting nonprofits and student organizations to submit letters of inquiry for its 2008 Norooz grant cycle by December 13, 2007. Based on a positive review, applicants will be invited to submit full proposals, due on January 10, 2008. - 11/20/07
Tjeknavorian to conduct benefit concerts at Mahak Charity Society
Prominent Iranian musician Loris Tjeknavorian is to conduct an Armenian orchestra in benefit concerts at Tehran's Mahak Charity Society from November 29 to December 6. - 11/13/07
Interview with SAF sponsors: ParsOnline
ParsOnline is one of the most important and valued sponsors of SAF. Most of the schools and educational centers within the SchoolNet network have access to the internet via the Pars Online Network. - 10/18/07
PARSA Community Foundation: An Iranian-American philanthropy group is born
Last year, without much fanfare, several prominent Iranian-Americans pulled in their resources and founded PARSA Community Foundation. The mission of PARSA is to become the leading institution practicing strategic philanthropy and promoting social entrepreneurship towards a strong global Iranian presence. -Ali Moayedian - 10/15/07
PARSA Community Foundation Inaugural Gala: October 20 in Atherton, California
PARSA Community Foundation's Inaugural Gala will take place on October 20, 2007 at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton, California. Please join us for what promises to be a festive evening celebrating the diversity of our heritage and the evolution of our traditions as we have embraced the American dream. - 10/9/07
Momeni Foundation announces Scholarship Recipients for Year 2007
With great pleasure and pride Momeni Foundation introduces its Scholarship Recipients for Year 2007. Please join us in congratulating the following students for their great achievements and admiring their continued success. - 9/6/07
PARSA University: What is Social Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship, sustainability, and innovation. These terms are commonly associated with a successful business executive or a young and energetic business team. They also embody an exciting movement sweeping the globe, one centered around identifying and resourcefully solving social problems on a large scale. -PARSA Community Foundation - 9/4/07
Video: History of Persian Philanthropy
A brief history of Persian Philanthropy from the Achaemenid era to the present-day diaspora in the U.S. is chronicled in a video titled "History of Persian Philanthropy", now available for your viewing on YouTube -PARSA Community Foundation - 8/31/07
Fashion Icon Manny Mashouf Looks Towards the Future in Education
If you’ve ever shopped at one of the 256 national and international locations of the trendy and popular Bebe stores for women, then Manny Mashouf has entered your life. -PARSA Community Foundation - 8/28/07
Science and Arts Foundation Newsletter: Bam in the News
SAF was the main NGO that, after the Bam earthquake, made a major contribution in helping the children to overcome their trauma by helping them in an IT centre, which was set up in couple of temporary prefabricated buildings. - 8/27/07
Apply for a PARSA Community Foundation Grant!
PARSA Community Foundation is inviting nonprofits and student organizations to submit grant proposals to its site by August 15. PARSA CF is keen on identifying and supporting innovative change makers with effective business plans in the following areas - 7/16/07
One Laptop per Child: A Grand Vision
The One Laptop Per Child initiative, announced by Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab at the World Economic Forum in January 2005, aims to one day deliver inexpensive laptop computers to the world's children. -Medhi Gazor, Forsat - 7/2/07
SEPAS: "A new organization providing help for those recovering from cancer"
Since I came to live in Iran, I have been very impressed by the high standards of health care, particularly in the private sector, but also in the state funded and voluntary sectors. But there are always gaps in the service that private individuals have seen, where more support is needed and funding is required. -Paul Sanford, Tehran - 6/28/07
Ashraf Ghandehari's Devotion to the Disabled and Elderly
From just one patient and one room, to a 1,600-bed, 400,000-square meter, state-of-the-art center, Mrs. Ghandehari has been instrumental in transforming Kahrizak Charity Foundation, an Iranian non-governmental organization, into one of the most high-impact and entrepreneurial nonprofits in the world. - 6/25/07
PARSA Community Foundation Announces 2007 Norooz Grantees!
A core element of PARSA's mission is to strengthen entrepreneurial individuals and nonprofits that serve the Persian community. To that end, PARSA just completed the first round of its two semi-annual grant cycles with $114,000 going to six powerful ideas. Youth leadership, preservation of Persian history, promotion of cultural understanding and civic integration are common themes. - 6/21/07
Scholarships for Iranian American Students
As part of its greater effort to increase Iranian-American civic participation, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has compiled information on US scholarships available specifically to students of Iranian heritage, funded by Iranian-American donors - 6/14/07
Tehran Diplomatic Ladies Bazaar
Last month on a very hot Friday morning, we went to the annual bazaar in Tehran organized by the Diplomatic Ladies Group in the massive garden of the Turkish ambassador's lovely residence on the north east corner of Elayieh near Pul-e Roumie. They had sold nearly 3000 tickets, the proceeds of which went to charities and good causes in Iran. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 6/5/07
Iranian news agency joins WFP in fight against hunger
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced a new partnership with Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN) which will work to generate greater awareness of hunger throughout the world and to increase contributions from the public to WFP's operation and activities -IRNA - 5/16/07
Science and Arts Foundation Newsletter: Bam IT Center complete and fully functional
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, BAM Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Centre, is now complete and fully functional. The Center was built under the leadership of the Science and Arts Foundation with support from Bam's Department of Education, Iranian charitable individuals ,Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Coalition of Persian Charities and UNICEF. - 5/15/07
Bam 6.6 at Stanford, California
Bam 6.6 is the story of the human condition. The film weaves together stories of survival, loss, and healing, as we explore the humanity of the Iranian people through the prism of the devastating 2003 earthquake that struck at the heart of Bam, an ancient Iranian village. - 5/11/07
Science and Art Foundation's wonderful work in Bam
The main goal of SAF is to empower Iranian youth through IT education and bring them into the realm of the 21st century. I became familiar with SAF through its founder Dr Edalat in London and my friend Mojgan and Dr Tabesh at the SAF office in Tehran. SAF has branches in many countries and has helped to truly advance computer usage and abilities in many schools all over Iran. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 5/9/07
A generation of street kids hustling in Iran
A decade ago, street children were rare in Iran, with its long traditions of charity for the poor, government aid programs and strong family connections. No more. -Times - 4/23/07
Damavand Mineral Water Company and UNICEF team up for girls' education in Iran
Iranian Mineral Water Company Damavand and UNICEF Iran launched a new partnership today whereby Damavand will donate a portion of the revenues of its water bottle sales to UNICEF Iran to help finance girls¡¯ education projects. This is the first time in Iran that a share of the sales of a product will benefit a charitable cause. - 4/19/07
Momeni Foundation is accepting applications for the year 2007 Academic Scholarships
Momeni Foundation is dedicated to providing scholarships to graduating high school students and full time college students of Iranian descent anywhere in the world. - 3/24/07
Good news from home: Good Deeds
On a hectic sunny Saturday morning a few weeks before Norouz, I visited the Darmangah Kahyrieh Ghadir Khum - a very busy clinic in the south of Tehran. I met Dr Nassery who runs the clinic from 8-8. This Dr Nassery is the nephew of Dr Nassery who first helped to build this with the help of many gentlemen who are followers of the Imam Ali light and tradition. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 3/17/07
A Visit to Hazrat-e Seyed-Al Shohada Charity Hospital in Tehran
As part of my work for Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation (PKCF), I have come to know many interesting people and places. As the Iranian New Year approaches, I am writing these so that Payvand readers can learn how much good work is being done by good people who think of others and try to help them without asking for anything. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 3/16/07
PKCF's Vocational School in Bam near completion
The Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation (PKCF) launched a special 'Bam Fund' immediately in response to the earthquake of December 2003 with an initial deposit of £100,000 made from the Foundation's capital. - 3/13/07
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