First Youth Leadership Conference
Iranian American Women Foundation hosts first youth leadership conference
The conference was held in collaboration with the Center for Learning
Newport Beach, CA, November 22, 2014- Twenty Iranian American students from across the nation gathered November 22 at Coastline Community Collegein Newport Beach for the Iranian American Women Foundation’s first annual Youth Leadership Conference: Life Academy.
It was a weekend full of career building activities tailored to high school and beginning college students.
“I am honored to have participated in the IAW Youth Leadership Conference,” said Pardis Habibi. “I never thought there could be an organization that would care about the future careers of Iranian youth. This year I am graduating high school, and feel better prepared to take on the world as this conference equipped me with the tools I needed.”
Theweekend-long conference was held in collaboration with the Center for Learning and featured a speaker series from members of the Iranian American community and career advancement workshops. Those who spoke included Dr. Fardad Fateri, President and CEO of International Education Corporation, Federal Judge Ashley Tabbador, Cameron Rafati, Musician and Songwriter, Aggie Afarinesh, Adjunct Professor at USC and recruitment manager for the City of Irvine, and Mandana Soleimani, Senior Vice President of Global PMO at CBRE.
“Don’t chase the money, chase your passion,” Dr. Fateri told the students.
Soleimani instructed the students to create a vision board as a part of her workshop. She had students cut and paste pages from magazines, of what they envisioned for their future, onto a poster. She stressed the importance of including all aspects of their lives on the poster, whether it was what they wanted in their personal or professional life. After each participant created their vision board, she had all of the participants share their board with the group. This activity gave the group a clearer understanding of what they personally wanted in their future and made it come to life right before their eyes.
Under the supervision of Dr. Shirin Ansari and her staff, the Center for Learning provided individual cognitive assessments to the students. This allowed each participant to figure out their strengths and build the tools necessary to turn their dreams into reality.
The Iranian American Women Foundation would like to extend a special thanks to Coastline Community College, US Bank, and individual donors for hosting and sponsoring the youth conference. The foundation would also like to thank those who attended, the generous speakers, and the dedicated youth planning committee for their involvement with this new initiative.
