FOX 5 San Diego Morning News Anchor Shally Zomorodi has been waking up San Diego for more than a decade. A dedicated journalist, Zomorodi launched her news career as an assistant for KTTV FOX 11 in Los Angeles. Quickly advancing into an on-air reporting position in Beaumont, Texas, Zomorodi, with her winning smile and refined reporting skills, woke the Southwest residents of the Lone Star state to breaking local and national news.

Shally's embracing personality and dedicated reporting returned her to the Southland and family she loves dearly in Orange County. She reported for LA City View in Los Angeles and then became the anchor of DAYBREAK OC, a two-hour live morning show broadcasting from the heart of Orange County for all of Southern California... Read More

She has a BA in Liberal Arts from the College of Literature of the University of Tehran and ultimately a master’s degree in Psychology and Education.

“Ette-laat” Newspaper began the publication of the first women’s magazine called “Ette-laat e Ba-no-von.” In its first issue, they asked aspiring writers to submit a writing sample for a chance to join the staff. Pari Abasalti wrote a report about her college and, upon its submission, won the heart of publishers and was asked to join the magazine as a reporter. Working in that magazine changed her life in personal, social, and public aspects.

She began to work as the first woman reporter in Iran when the progressive change had not occurred to facilitate women's work environment. She embarked on a lifelong of writing with her first assignment interviewing the woman in charge of the Office of Family Affairs in Iran. Read More...

For the past 25 years, Parvin Arasteh has committed herself to expanding opportunities for students to fulfill their educational dreams. Ms. Arasteh established the Amin Arasteh Foundation, with a mission to provide scholarships to students of Iranian heritage pursuing their studies in the United States. To date, the Foundation has granted over 70 scholarships to deserving students across various fields, including engineering, the arts, and medicine. Her Foundation has also worked with the Iranian American Women Foundation (IAWF) and the Iranian Scholarship Foundation (ISF) to expand scholarship opportunities for students pursuing graduate and undergraduate studies in the US. Additionally, Ms. Arasteh has dedicated her time to supporting various charitable organizations focused on enhancing educational opportunities for underprivileged youth, including Keep Children in School (KCIS) and the Omid Foundation. 

Beyond her philanthropic endeavors, Ms. Arasteh is a lifelong enthusiast of learning and the arts. She writes her own poetry and participates in poetry, daf, and sama classes. 

Layla S. Diba is an independent art advisor, scholar and curator specializing in the art of 19th and 20th century Iran. Herself of Iranian-American heritage, she has devoted her career to increasing understanding between Iranians and Americans through the arts.

She held the post of Director and Chief Curator of the Negarestan Museum of 18th and 19th century Iranian Art in Tehran from its inception in 1975 until 1978. Under her leadership, the holdings of the museum increased from a few hundred items to more than three thousand artworks. After moving to the United States in 1979, she became the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s Curator of Islamic Art from 1990-2000. During her tenure, she organized the highly successful exhibition, Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch (1785-1925), the first major international presentation on 18th and 19th century Persian art and culture. Read More...

Haleh Mahboubi Gabbay was born in Tehran Iran to Minoo and Behrouz Mahboubi in 1969.
While she honors her roots always, Haleh believes we must grow with grace and purpose,
wherever life may lead us. Haleh migrated to the United States in 1978 with her parents and two siblings where she attended Akiba Academy until transitioning to Westlake School For Girls. As she prepared to begin her senior year at Westlake in the summer of 1978, her academia was met with affection as she met her love and life partner, Dariush Gabbay. After a year together, Haleh and Dariush got married and continued to cultivate the seeds of their future. Haleh then began university and graduated from Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in May 1993 with an emphasis in Real Estate Finance. In April 1994, the emphasis in her life changed from school to family, as Haleh and Dariush were blessed with their firstborn son, Daniel, who changed their world forever. Four years later in March 1998, they welcomed their second child - a beautiful daughter, Nina. Their third child, a son named Eli, completed their family seven years later in September 2005. Haleh’s dedication to her family has resulted in joy, love, unity, and a support system that has inspired her to pursue her other ambitions, as well. Read more...

Shahrzad "Shari" Rezai strives to bridge cultures and expand awareness through the universal language of the arts. Born in Iran and educated in the USA with a degree in Business Administration, she has spent much of her life traveling, appreciating creative beauty and wisdom all over the world. 

In 1978, with the growing unrest in Iran and eventual revolution, Shari and her family moved back to Los Angeles, where she has lived ever since. Over the years, Shari’s career, starting with interior design led her to textile design, which led to her job in the 80’s at Mirak Furniture and Textiles at the Pacific Design center. From 1982 until the present time, Shari has acted as the President and CEO of Geltman Industries, a textile finishing company in Los Angeles. In addition to running her own company, she devotes a substantial amount of her time to various charitable organizations, including The Omid Foundations, an organization established in 2004 dedicated to strengthening the lives of disadvantaged young women in Iran and Neuromuscular Disease Foundation. Read More...

Atossa Soltani is the founder and Board President of Amazon Watch and served as the organization’s Executive Director for 18 years. Working in partnership with indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin, Atossa has been leading successful global campaigns for indigenous rights, corporate accountability, and rainforest protection. Soltani was named the 2013 Hillary Laureate for Leadership in Climate Equity by the New Zealand-based Sir Edmund Hillary Institute. She is the chair of the board of the Christensen Fund, board member of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, and on the advisory board of the Inter-American Clean Energy Institute. Prior to founding Amazon Watch, Atossa directed campaigns at the Rainforest Action Network. She began her career in the 1980’s as the Conservation Director for the City of Santa Monica. A native of Iran, Atossa graduated from the University of Akron in Public Policy Management. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, English and Farsi.

The Hon. A. Ashley Tabaddor is a member of the Biden-Harris leadership team as the appointed chief counsel of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the Department of Homeland Security. She was appointed as chief counsel in January 2021. USCIS is the agency responsible for administering our nation's legal immigration system, processing millions of requests for benefits and applications annually, including immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, asylum and refugree processing, and naturalization applications. The chief counsel for USCIS is responsible for overseeing the entire legal program that supports the agency's domestic and international work.

Prior to her appointment as chief counsel, judge Tabaddor served as an immigration judge. She was appointed to the bench in November 2005 where she presided over the detained, nondetained, juvenile and mental competency dockets. Prior to joining the bench, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. She also served as a trial attorney with the Justice Department’s Civil Division in Washington D.C., and as a law clerk and attorney advisor for the immigration court and the Chief Immigration Judge. Read More...