Annual Meeting and Election
Persian Cultural Center of San Diego
May 21, 2023
35 Years of Service
PCC’s Annual General Assembly took place on May 21, 2023, 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 2022-2023 president, Shahla Salah, reported last year’s activities. Farideh Fazel presented the financial report and Ali Sadr reported about ISSD and Peyk magazine. A summary of last year’s activities is listed further below.
2022-2023 Board of Directors and Committee Assignments
PCC’s board of directors and committee members for the past year were Shahla Salah (President), Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian (Vice President), Hamid Rafizadeh (Treasurer), Farideh Fazel (Secretary), Farshad Babakhani, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Parnian Badii (Alternate), Hamid Beikzadeh (Alternate), Soheil Bigdeli, Ali Pirouzian, Ali Sadr (ISSD Principal), Baharak Shademan, and Sara Taghavi.
The Advisory Board consisted of Shahri Estakhry, Saeed Jalali, Rosita Bagheri, and Shaghayegh Hanson.
The Board had twelve monthly meetings in the past year, while committees held meetings as needed. At its first meeting, the Board elected its Executive Committee members and established the following committees:
Arts and Culture: Soheil Bigdeli & Sara Taghavi (Head), Hossain Hajimowlana, Ali Sadr, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Farshad Babakhani, Baharak Shademan, Anahita Babaei, Mojgan Poursadighi, Abdy Salimi, Ali Pirouzian, Mahmood Reza Pirouzian, and Mehdi Tayaranian Nourani
Membership: Soheil Bigdeli (Head), Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Farideh Fazel, Sara Taghavi, and Shahrzad Julazadeh
Public Relations: Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian (Head), Ali Sadr, Soheil Bigdeli, Hossain Hajimowlana, Ali Pirouzian, Sara Taghavi, Anahita Kalantar, and Shahrzad Julazadeh
Grant and Finance: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi (Head), Shahla Salah, Hamid Rafizadeh, Shahrzad Julazadeh, and Cheryl Encine
Fundraising and Nowruz: Shahla Salah (Head), Nikoo Atefi, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Farshad Babakhani, Farideh Fazel, Baharak Shademan, Venus Safaei, Parnian Badii, Hamid Rafizadeh, Bahar Bagherpour, Mohammad Ayari, and Hamid Beikzadeh
PCC Charity: Parnian Badii (Head), Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Shahla Salah, Venus Safaei, Nikoo Atefi, and Shahrzad Julazadeh
Education (ISSD): Ali Sadr (Head), Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Parisa Amini, and Shahnaz Ahmadian
Chaharshanbehsoori and Sizdahbedar: Hamid Rafizadeh (Head) and Hamid Beikzadeh
IAC: Hamid Rafizadeh (Head), Ali Sadr, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Hamid Beikzadeh, Shahla Salah, and Shahrzad Julazadeh
PCC Youth: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi (Head) and Farideh Fazel
Peyk: Ali Sadr (Head), Shahri Estakhry, Saeed Jalali, Shahrzad Julazadeh, Shaghayegh Hanson, Reza Khabazian, Ali Sahebalzamani, Hooshyar Afsar, and Rachel Tait
Governance: Ali Sadr (Head), Shaghayegh Hansen, Shahla Salah, Farideh Fazel, Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, and Shahrzad Julazadeh
Summary of PCC Events and Activities
During 2022-2023, 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- Improvisation in Rast-Panjgah in collaboration with UCSD
2- ISSD End of the Year celebration
3- Passport to Persian Calligraphy Performance Art, in collaboration with Encinitas Friends of the Arts
4- Book Fair by the PCC Youth Committee
5- Virtual Writing Workshops with Hossein Mortezaeian Abknar
6- Electric Ud Trio concert with Farhad Bahrami
7- Trio Concert with Pejman Hadadi, Kourosh Taghavi, and Amir Jojan
8- Max Amini Live in San Diego, in collaboration with The Laugh Factory
9- Commemorating Hushang Ebtehaj, in collaboration with AIAP
10- Mehregan Celebration, in collaboration with SDMA, Afra Music Ensemble “Voices of Motherland” at San Diego Museum of Art
11- The Art of Improvisation, in collaboration with UCSD Division of Arts
12- Food and Toy Drive by the PCC Youth Committee for the San Diego Food Bank
13- Collaboration with Pacific Art Movement San Diego Asian Film Festival
14- A Journey in the Folk and Traditional Music of Iran, in collaboration with UCSD
15- Turkey Trot 5K Walks by the PCC Youth Committee
16- Family and Friends Movie Nights by the PCC Youth Committee
17- Voices From Iran world premiere, in collaboration with Moaaser Foundation and Students of UCSD
18- Yalda Celebration at IAC
19- Voices Unveiled Concert at IAC
20- Family Night by the PCC Youth Committee
21- Nowruz Preparation at ISSD
22- Presentation of Haft-seen along with literary, cultural, and historical exhibits at seven San Diego Public Library locations
23- ISSD Nowruz Celebration at Del Norte High School
24- PCC Nowruz Celebration at IAC
25- Nowruz Celebration, in collaboration with Poway Public Library
26- Nowruz Celebration, in collaboration with Escondido Public Library
27- Clara Breed Civil Liberties lecture featuring Shereen Marisol Meraji, in collaboration with Central City Library
28- Sizdahbedar with AIAP and HOI at NTC Park
29- Iranian Singing Workshop with Maliheh Moradi
30- Collaboration with Pacific Art Movement Spring Showcase Asian Film Festival
31- Collaboration with Bay Clean Up on Earth Day by the PCC Youth Committee
32- Sitar & Tabla Concert at IAC
33- Concert of Siamak Shajarian with UCSD music students at UCSD
34- Nine Virtual Nights of Poetry and Literature (on the second Wednesday of the month)
35- Eight Virtual and In-Person Film and Discussion Series sessions (on the third Thursday of the month)
ISSD: The academic year 2022-23 was ISSD’s 35th year of operation. This year, ISSD had 229 students attending the in-person and virtual classes. The in-person classes were on Sunday morning. The school’s Nowruz program was held on March 12, 2023, at Del Norte High School. The End of the Year event and graduation for the Class of 2023 took place on May 28, 2023. ISSD had a total of 24 classes online and in-person, which were separated into six levels, plus two classes for kindergarten, one pre-kindergarten, and two Persian classes for adults. Extracurricular classes such as dance, drawing, and music were offered as well. Virtual classes included students from other parts of the country, too.
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 which means that high school students can fulfill their second language requirements by taking Persian language courses at ISSD. Our six Persian language textbooks for teaching Persian as a heritage language are being used in several other Persian schools around the country. In addition, audio versions of the textbooks are also available. ISSD has a website (issd.pccsd.org) and is also active on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Persian Dance Academy: With 53 students, the Persian Cultural Dance Academy met on Sundays at ISSD. The dance students performed at the PCC Nowruz event, ISSD Nowruz program, Escondido Public Library Nowruz Program, Poway Public Library Nowruz Program, and ISSD’s End of the Year program.
Iranian American Center (IAC): The Iranian American Center (IAC) typically hosts a variety of cultural activities for the Iranian community (such as IASF and DMF, SDSU, and UCSD). The Center has a library with more than five thousand books.
Peyk Magazine: For the past 32 years, Peyk has been one of PCC’s most successful outreach instruments. Peyk is PCC’s bimonthly, bilingual cultural publication. Every two months, Peyk is mailed to thousands of subscribers in San Diego and other parts of the country. Typically, hundreds are also distributed through the 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 is interactive and the readers can directly communicate and leave comments for the editorial board. The past issues of Peyk are available at the Peyk archive, pccsd.org/peyk.
Grant and Outreach Programs: PCC enjoys continued joint programs with local organizations such as the San Diego County Public Libraries, San Diego Museum of Art, UCSD, Dollar a Month Fund, Iranian American Scholarship Fund, Iranian American Bar Association, Pacific Art Movement, Sheed Film, Dornab, Persian Cultural Center of Atlanta, Professional Organization of Iranian Americans, Racism Awareness Project, AIAP, and House of Iran.
PCC has also 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 chosen as a partner because of our ability to target a specific demographic and translate important emergency news alerts into Farsi as necessary.
Membership: PCC continued advertising and inviting members of the community to join. PCC provided new online membership software by (Join-it) and provided newly issued electronic membership cards to its members. Members get a special discount for our events. PCC also managed to continue getting discounts from various Iranian businesses for its members.
Public Relations: Thousands of people all over the world view PCC’s website (www.pccsd.org), Facebook and Instagram pages, 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 refer to our website to read about PCC’s many activities and 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 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 refugee families.
• PCC, in collaboration with AIAP and DMF, helped an Iranian couple and their 9-year-old son, who had entered the U.S. as refugees.
• PCC continues to support two young students who lost their parents and need help. This is a long-term project.
Youth: This 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. 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: Parnian Badii, Farshad Babakhani, Hamid Beikzadeh, Farideh Fazel, Hamid Rafizadeh, Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, and Shahla Salah. Except for Farshad Babakhni, Farideh Fazel, and Shahla Salah—who have served their two consecutive terms and are subject to “term limits”—the others can run for re-election.
We are continually looking for volunteers to join our committees and subcommittees. Please step forward and GET INVOLVED with various groups to HELP US serve the community better.
2023 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. Mr. Mohammad Ayari, Mr. Sina Emami (Association of Iranian American Professionals), Ms. Shahri Estakhry, and Mr. Mehdi Moein (House of Iran) 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: Tayebeh Bahmani, Parnian Badii, Mersedeh Hashemi, Mohmoud Reza Pirouzian, and Hamid Rafizadeh. Sara Alavi and Marshia (Sadeghi) Hashemi will serve as alternative board members. These members will serve along with the current board members: Fariba Babakhani-Ghazi, Soheil Bigdeli, Ali Pirouzan, Ali Sadr, Baharak Shademan, and Sara Taghavi. The general assembly adjourned at noon.
The first meeting of the Board of Directors was held on June 7, 2023. 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
Other members of the Board of Directors will be leading various committees such as Arts and Culture, Education, PCC Charity, Building, Grant and Finance, Nowruz and Fundraising, 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.
