Annual Meeting and Election Persian Cultural Center of San Diego
May 19, 2024
36 Years of Service
PCC’s Annual General Assembly took place on May 19, 2024, at the Iranian School of San Diego (ISSD), located at Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California. At the assembly, the annual report was presented, followed by the election of the new board members.
After calling the meeting to order, PCC’s 2023-2024 president, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, and vice president, Baharak Shademan, reported last year’s activities. Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi presented the financial report and Ali Sadr reported about ISSD and Peyk magazine. A summary of last year’s activities is listed further below.
2023-2024 Board of Directors and Committee Assignments
PCC’s board of directors and committee members for the past year were Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian (President), Baharak Shademan (Vice-President), Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi (Treasurer), Soheil Bigdeli (Secretary), Parnian Badii, Tayebeh Bahmani, Mercedeh Hashemi, Ali Pirouzian, Hamid Rafizadeh, Ali Sadr, Sara Taghavi, Sara Alavi (Alternate), and Marshia (Sadeghi) Hashemi (Alternate).
The Advisory Board consisted of Shahri Estakhry, Saeed Jalali, Shahla Salah, and Shaghayegh Hanson.
The Board held twelve scheduled meetings in the past year and 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 (Chairs), Sara Alavi, Anahita Babaei, Farshad Babakhani, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Tayebeh Bahmani, Soheil Bigdeli, Hossain Hajimowlana, Marshia (Sadeghi) 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, and Marshia (Sadeghi) 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 Mercedeh 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 Hanson, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, and Shahla Salah
Summary of Persian Cultural Center Events and Activities:
During 2023-2024, PCC was active in organizing traditional celebrations and programs for the Iranian American community. PCC also collaborated with other organizations to reach out to the community at large. These events were held in-person, virtually, or both.
PCC sponsored or co-sponsored the following programs:
1- ISSD End of the Year Celebration
2- Food Drive by the PCC Youth Committee for the San Diego Food Bank twice a year
3- Teen Party at IAC
4- Art Gallery Exhibition (Mehrdad Samimi) at IAC
5- Mehregan Celebration in collaboration with SDMA, “Voices Unveiled” at SDMA
6- Reading Shahnameh—Story of Zahak at IAC
7- Hafez Day in San Diego in collaboration with San Diego Central Library
8- Persian Music and Spiritual Health in collaboration with UCSD and AIAP
9- Alborz: We Climb Mountains in collaboration with UCSD and AIAP
10- Collaboration with San Diego International Film Festival
11- Collaboration with Pacific Art Movement’s 24th Annual Asian Film Festival
12- Yalda Celebration with Ziba Shirazi and Mehrdad Arabi at IAC
13- Collaboration with MOPA & SDMA at Human Rights Watch Film Festival
14- Turkey Trot 5K Walks by the PCC Youth Committee
15- Mahsa Vahdat and Bridget Kibbey Duo in collaboration with UCSD and AIAP
16- Stand up Comedy with Arman at IAC
7- Yalda Celebration in collaboration with Escondido Public Library
18- Calligraphy Art Exhibition with Yadollah Kaboli at IAC
19- Workshop on the Art of Iranian Calligraphy with Yadollah Kaboli at IAC
20- Dustless Ocean concert at IAC
21- English–A Play, collaboration with The Old Globe
22- Nowruz Preparation at the Iranian School of San Diego
23- Presentation of Haft-seen along with literary, cultural, and historical exhibits at seven San Diego Public Libraries
24- ISSD Nowruz Celebration at Lewis Middle School
25- PCC Nowruz Celebration with Mansour and DJ Julius at Marriott Hotel La Jolla
26- Nowruz Celebration in collaboration with Poway Public Library
27- Nowruz Celebration in collaboration with Escondido Public Library
28- Chaharshanbehsoori with AIAP and HOI at NTC Park
29- Toy Drive by the PCC Youth Committee for the San Diego Food Bank
30- Collaboration with Pacific Art Movement in San Diego Asian Film Festival 13th Annual Spring
Showcase
31- Collaboration with Bay Clean Up on Earth Day, by the PCC Youth Committee
32- From Lust to Loyalty with Banafsheh Taherian–A Play, at Carlsbad Library
33- Presenting Memory Garden, a children’s book, in collaboration with SD Central Library
34- Pallett Concert at Westview High School
35- Three Family Nights at IAC (first Friday of every quarter)
36- Two Virtual and In-person Jong e Farhangi (third Friday of the month)
37- Nine Virtual One Poem, One Poet presentations (third Wednesday of the month)
38- Ten Virtual and In-person Film and Discussion sessions (last Friday of the month)
Iranian School of San Diego: The academic year 2023-2024 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. 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 participated 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 the 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 accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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 took place on May 26, 2024.
Persian Dance Academy: The Persian Cultural Dance Academy, with a total of fifty eight students, convened at ISSD every Sunday. The dance students performed at the PCC Nowruz event, ISSD Nowruz program, Escondido Public Library Nowruz Program, Poway Public Library Nowruz Program, and the ISSD End of the Year program. In addition to the regular dance classes, a Persian Zumba 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, including those for the Iranian American Scholarship Fund and Dollar a Month Fund (helping street children in Iran), and also classes and workshops in partnership with 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 bimonthly and bilingual cultural publication, mailed to thousands of subscribers in San Diego and other parts of the country. Typically, hundreds of copies of the magazine are also distributed throughout business and cultural centers in San Diego, Orange, and 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.
Grants & Outreach Programs: PCC continued its 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, and Racism Awareness Project.
PCC also worked with SDG&E’s “Energy Solutions Partners” campaign. As an “Energy Solutions Partner,” PCC 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 its 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. Members get a special discount for PCC events. Moreover, PCC successfully maintained partnership with various Iranian businesses, securing continued discounts for its members.
Public Relations: 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, our ongoing programs and activities, as well as other cultural information and events. People can visit the 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.
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 are in need of 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: The Youth Committee has been instrumental in supporting 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; provided free-of-charge tutoring for other students, particularly refugees; hosted an Informational Seminar about college applications; organized a hiking trip; and participated twice in Creek to Bay Clean up.
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Special Note of Gratitude: 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 in the future.
We are continually looking for volunteers to join our committees and subcommittees. Please step forward and GET INVOLVED with various groups to HELP US better serve the community.
2024 PCC Board of Directors Election: After the Board of Directors’ report, candidates to fill the vacancies in 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 re-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, Mercedeh Hashemi, Parnian Badii, and Tayebeh Bahamani. The general assembly adjourned at noon.
The first meeting of the Board of Directors was held on June 5, 2024. Subsequently, the Board re-elected the previous Executive Committee, who will serve PCC for one year:
President: Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian
Vice President: Baharak Shademan
Treasurer: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi
Secretary: Soheil Bigdeli
Other members of the Board of Directors will be leading various committees such as Arts and Culture, Education, PCC Charity, Building, Grant and Finance, Fundraising and Nowruz, PR, PCC Youth, Chaharshanbehsoori & Sizdahbedar, and Membership.
If you are interested in joining any of the committees, please contact PCC by phone at (858) 552-9355 or email at pcc@pccsd.org.
