Annual Meeting and Election
Persian Cultural Center of San Diego
May 19, 2024
36 Years of Service
Report of Persian Cultural Center’s 2024 Annual General Meeting and Election
PCC’s annual meeting took place on May 19, 2024. The annual report was presented and was followed by the election process for new Board of Director members. The past year’s activities were presented by Mr. Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian-PCC’s chair and Ms. Baharak Shademan- PCC’s vice chair, and the ISSD and Peyk reports by Mr. Ali Sadr Principal of the Iranian School of San Diego and editor–in chief of Peyk, and the Financial Report by Ms. Fariba Babakhani- Ghazi – PCC’s Secretary. A summary of PCC’s annual report is as follows:
The Board of Directors and Committee Members for the past year were as follows:
Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Baharak Shademan, Fariba Babakhani- Ghazi, Soheil Bigdeli, Parnian Badii, Tayebeh Bahmani, Mercedeh Hashemi, Ali Pirouzian, Hamid Rafizadeh, Ali Sard, Sara Taghavi, Sara Alavi (Alternate), and Marshia Sadeghi Hashemi (Alternate)
Executive Board:
Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian – President
Baharak Shademan – Vice President
Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi – Treasurer
Soheil Bigdeli- Secretary
Ali Sadr- ISSD Principal
Advisory Board: Shahri Estakhry, Shaghayegh Hanson, Saeed Jalali, and Shahla Salah.
The Board had twelve meetings in the past year. Committees held meetings as needed. At its first meeting, the Board elected its Executive Committee and established the following committees:
Arts and Culture: Ali Pirouzian and Sara Taghavi (Chair) Sara Alavi, Anahita Babaei, Farshad Babakhani, Fariba Babakhani Ghazi, Tayebeh Bahmani, Soheil Bigdeli, Hossain Hajimowlana, Marshia Hashemi, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Mojgan Poursadighi, Ali Sadr, Abdy Salimi, Baharak Shademan and Mehdi Tayaranian Nourani.
Membership: Soheil Bigdeli (Chair), Sara Alavi, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Tayebeh Bahmani, Shahrzad Julazadeh and Sara Taghavi
Public Relations: Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian (Chair), Anahita Babaei, Tayebeh Bahmani, Soheil Bigdeli, Hossain Hajimowlana, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Ali Pirouzian, Ali Sadr, and Sara Taghavi
Grant and Finance: Fariba Babakhani- Ghazi (Chair), Tayebeh Bahmani, Cheryl Encine, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Hamid Rafizadeh and Shahla Salah
Fundraising and Nowruz: Fariba Babakhani- Ghazi (Chair), Sara Alavi, Nikoo Atefi, Mohammad Ayari, Farshad Babakhani, Parnian Badii, Bahar Bagherpour, Hamid Beikzadeh, Farideh Fazel, Baharak Shademan, Venus Safaei, Parnian Badii, Hamid Rafizadeh, Marshia Hashemi
PCC Charity: Parnian Badii (Chair), Nikoo Atefi, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Mercedeh Hashemi, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Venus Safaei, and Shahla Salah
Education (ISSD): Ali Sadr (Chair), Shahnaz Ahamadian, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, and Ali Pirouzian
Chaharshanbeh Soori and Sizdahbedar: Hamid Rafizadeh (Chair), Hamid Beikzadeh and Hamid Shaghaghi.
Iranian American Center (IAC): Hamid Rafizadeh (Chair), Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Hamid Beikzadeh, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Ali Sadr and Shahla Salah
PCC Youth: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi (Chair), Farideh Fazel and Mersedeh Hashemi
Peyk: Ali Sadr (Chair), Shahri Estakhry, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Shaghayegh Hanson, Reza Khabazian, Ali Sahebalzamani, Rachel Tait and Hooshyar Afsar
Governance: Ali Sadr (Chair), Fariba Babakhani Ghazi, Shaghayegh Hansen, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian and Shahla Salah
Summary of Persian Cultural Center Events and Activities
The Board had twelve meetings in the past year. Committees held meetings as needed. At its first meeting, the Board elected its Executive Committee and established the following committees:
Arts and Culture: Ali Pirouzian and Sara Taghavi (Chair) Sara Alavi, Anahita Babaei, Farshad Babakhani, Fariba Babakhani Ghazi, Tayebeh Bahmani, Soheil Bigdeli, Hossain Hajimowlana, Marshia Hashemi, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Mojgan Poursadighi, Ali Sadr, Abdy Salimi, Baharak Shademan and Mehdi Tayaranian Nourani.
Membership: Soheil Bigdeli (Chair), Sara Alavi, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Tayebeh Bahmani, Shahrzad Julazadeh and Sara Taghavi
Public Relations: Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian (Chair), Anahita Babaei, Tayebeh Bahmani, Soheil Bigdeli, Hossain Hajimowlana, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Ali Pirouzian, Ali Sadr, and Sara Taghavi
Grant and Finance: Fariba Babakhani- Ghazi (Chair), Tayebeh Bahmani, Cheryl Encine, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Hamid Rafizadeh and Shahla Salah
Fundraising and Nowruz: Fariba Babakhani- Ghazi (Chair), Sara Alavi, Nikoo Atefi, Mohammad Ayari, Farshad Babakhani, Parnian Badii, Bahar Bagherpour, Hamid Beikzadeh, Farideh Fazel, Baharak Shademan, Venus Safaei, Parnian Badii, Hamid Rafizadeh, Marshia Hashemi
PCC Charity: Parnian Badii (Chair), Nikoo Atefi, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Mercedeh Hashemi, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Venus Safaei, and Shahla Salah
Education (ISSD): Ali Sadr (Chair), Shahnaz Ahamadian, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, and Ali Pirouzian
Chaharshanbeh Soori and Sizdahbedar: Hamid Rafizadeh (Chair), Hamid Beikzadeh and Hamid Shaghaghi.
Iranian American Center (IAC): Hamid Rafizadeh (Chair), Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Hamid Beikzadeh, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Ali Sadr and Shahla Salah
PCC Youth: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi (Chair), Farideh Fazel and Mersedeh Hashemi
Peyk: Ali Sadr (Chair), Shahri Estakhry, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Shaghayegh Hanson, Reza Khabazian, Ali Sahebalzamani, Rachel Tait and Hooshyar Afsar
Governance: Ali Sadr (Chair), Fariba Babakhani Ghazi, Shaghayegh Hansen, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian and Shahla Salah
ISSD: The academic year 2023-24 was ISSD’s 36th year of operation. This year ISSD had 300 students attending in-person and virtual classes. The in-person classes were on Sunday mornings. The school’s Nowruz program was held on March 10, 2024, at Lewis Middle School. The End of the Year event and graduation for the Class of 2024 will take place on May 26, 2024. ISSD had a total of 24 classes online and in-person, which were separated into six levels, covering from Pre-Kindergarten to Persian classes for adults. Extracurricular classes such as Dance, Drawing, and music were offered as well. In the virtual classes, students from other parts of the country were participating as well. ISSD is planning to continue and expand the online classes and provide our unique means and methods to more students around the country and other parts of the world. ISSD’s Persian language program is accredited by all local School Districts as well as WASC. This accreditation allows high school students to meet their second language requirements by enrolling in Persian language courses at ISSD. ISSD’s six Persian language textbooks designed for teaching Persian as a heritage language are being used in several Persian schools nationwide. Audio versions of the textbooks are also available. ISSD maintains an online presence through its website (issd.pccsd.org) and is also engaged on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Persian Dance Academy: The Persian Cultural Dance Academy, with a total of fifty-eight students, convened at ISSD every Sunday. The dance students performed in the PCC Nowruz event, ISSD Nowruz program, Escondido Public Library Nowruz Program, Poway Public Library Nowruz Program, and ISSD End of the Year program. In addition to the regular dance classes, a Persian Zoomba dance class was held for adults.
Iranian-American Center (IAC): The Iranian American Center (IAC) typically hosts a variety of PCC events and other cultural activities for the Iranian community such as IASF, DMF and SDSU. The Center has a library with more than five thousand books.
Peyk Magazine: For the past 33 years, Peyk has been one of our most successful outreach means. Peyk is PCC’s bi-monthly and bilingual cultural publication. Every two months Peyk is mailed to thousands of subscribers in San Diego and other parts of the country. Typically, hundreds of copies of the magazine are also distributed through the business and cultural centers in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles Counties, the Bay Area, Chicago, Washington DC, Maryland, Dallas, Atlanta, and many other cities. Peyk is also available online at peykmagazine.com. This site offers interactivity, allowing readers to communicate directly and leave comments for the editorial board. Past issues of Peyk are accessible at the Peyk archive at pccsd.org/peyk.
Grant & Outreach Programs: PCC has been enjoying continued joint programs with local organizations such as City Libraries, San Diego Museum of Art, UCSD, Dollar a Month Fund, Iranian American Scholarship Fund, House of Iran, Association of Iranian American Professionals, Iranian American Bar Association, Pacific Art Movement, Sheed Film, Dornab, Persian Cultural Center of Atlanta, Professional Organization of Iranian Americans, Racism Awareness Project.
PCC has worked with SDG&E’s “Energy Solutions Partners” campaign. As an “Energy Solutions Partner” PCC has joined other nonprofits and environmental groups in a collaborative effort to make all San Diego consumers aware of how they can save energy and money through energy efficiency. PCC was selected as a partner because of our ability to target a specific demographic and translate important emergency news alerts into Farsi, as necessary.
Membership: The Persian Cultural Center continued advertising and extending the invitation to community members to join. PCC introduced new online membership software by Join-it and distributed newly issued electronic membership cards to its members. Members get a special discount for our events. Moreover, PCC successfully maintained partnerships with various Iranian businesses securing continued discounts for its members.
Public Relation: Thousands of people all over the world viewed the Persian Cultural Center’s website, www.pccsd.org, Facebook, Instagram Page, Telegram, and YouTube Channel. PCC issues a weekly electronic newsletter that reaches thousands of community members. The PCC website provides quick access to Peyk, bi-monthly, bi-lingual magazine; our ongoing programs, and activities; as well as other cultural information and events. People can visit our website to explore PCC’s numerous activities, renew their membership, and make tax-deductible contributions online.
In the past year, several PCC events were featured on KPBS radio in San Diego, KIRN Radio Iran in Los Angeles, and the San Diego Arts and Sol website. These programs not only reached out to the Iranian American community but also attracted attendees from other communities to our highlighted programs.
In the past year, several PCC events were featured on KPBS radio in San Diego, KIRN Radio Iran in Los Angeles, and the San Diego Arts and Sol website. These programs not only reached out to the Iranian American community but also to other communities who attended our featured programs.
The PCC Foundation-a charitable organization: The foundation continues to raise funds for the following projects:
- PCC raised money to help an Iranian lady who lost her house.
- PCC has continued to support two young students who lost their parents and need support. This has been a long-term project.
- PCC has been supporting an Iranian lady who is a refugee in a shelter in San Diego.
Youth: This committee has been instrumental in supporting the PCC’s and ISSD’s events. Some of the members are actively working as Teacher Assistants at ISSD. They have organized two food and toy drives on behalf of the San Diego Food Bank. They provided free of charge tutoring for other students, particularly refugees. They have provided an Informational Seminar about college applications. They have also organized a hiking trip and participated twice in Creek to Bay Clean up.
Special Thank You: We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following board members who are leaving us. We are grateful for the time, energy, and talents they generously gave to PCC and our community. We look forward to having them back on the PCC Board again.
The following members have served their terms and are leaving the board: Sara Alavi, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Marshia Sadeghi- Hashemi, and Sara Taghavi. All of them can run for re-election.
We are continually looking for volunteers to join our committees and sub-committees. Please step forward and GET INVOLVED to HELP US to serve the community better.
2024 PCC Board of Directors Election
After the Board of Directors’ report, candidates to fill the vacancies on the Board introduced themselves and presented their plans for joining the Board. Ms. Sholeh Dadkhah (Association of Iranian American Professionals) Ms. Shahri Estakhry, Ms. Shiva Akhavizadegan (House of Iran), Mr. Hossain Hajimowlana and Mr. Soheil Bigdeli observed the election, which was performed by secret ballot. After counting the ballots, including the absentees and electronic votes, the results were announced.
The following were elected as voting members of the Board of Directors: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi and Sara Taghavi. Marshia (Sadeghi) Hashemi and Sara Alavi will serve as alternative board members. These members will serve along with the current board members: Soheil Bigdeli, Ali Pirouzan, Ali Sadr, Baharak Shademan, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Mersedeh Hashemi, Parnian Badii and Tayebeh Bahamani. The general assembly adjourned at noon.
The first meeting of the Board of Directors was held on June 12, 2024. Subsequently, the Board elected members of the Executive Committee, who will serve PCC for one year:
- President: Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian
- Vice president: Baharak Shademan
- Treasurer: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi
- Secretary: Soheil Bigdeli