Maria Afsharian is one of the first members of the NYC conference planning team. She has continued to dedicate time to IAWF by organizing community outreach events in both NJ and NYC, set up the chapter’s Facebook social media page, help promote IAWF events, and serving as a Mentor in the organization’s mentor program. She has been featured twice as an IAWF NY chapter spotlight member in the IAWF newsletter.

Maria was born in Shiraz to an American mother and Iranian father. She moved to Texas when she was 10 years old and attended local schools and university, earning a BS in Business Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations and Journalism. She later moved to the Washington, DC area where she worked for USA TODAY and Dateline NBC, where she worked on over 60 stories for national broadcast and was the recipient of 7 prestigious journalism and broadcast awards including a national Emmy Award.

In 2005, Maria returned to Iran and persuaded MAHAK Charity for pediatric cancer to expand its award-winning services to Shiraz, where she founded the first MAHAK Charity Social Workers Office, still in operation. In 2012, Maria returned to the US and now lives in the greater New York City area. She continues to do advocacy work in the form of presentations and sharing her experiences about life in Iran, and the effect on sanctions particularly with regard to medicine based on her first-hand experience.

A serial entrepreneur, Maria currently provides business communications services through her virtual company, Bloom Five, LLC.

She has also earned her New Jersey real estate broker’s license, assisting others to buy, sell, rent, lease, or invest in residential real estate.

One of her current pursuits is producing documentaries, particularly geared toward human interest stories.

More information on Maria can be found here:
Linked In profile
Her direct email is Maria.Afsharian@gmail.com