Good morning!

Breakfast is just wrapping up as everyone’s preparing for day 2 of the Summit- but the discussion among this incredible group of students seems unstoppable. From what was room full of unfamiliar faces on Friday evening, this group has truly come together in the past 36 hours and created a promising network among them.

The first full day of the Summit was comprised of five workshops, including a morning workshop on effective leadership as change agents by Dr. Sousan Abadian; two workshops by Amnesty International’s Thenjiwe McHarris on communication and coalition building; as well as two early evening workshops led by IAAB’s Co-Founder and board member Narges Bajoghli, and IAAB’s Executive Director Mana Kharrazi, that answered questions as to how to overcome infrastructure issues we face in leadership. Even the Summit participants acted as workshop facilitators, weighing in with their personal experiences and suggestions to overcome these hurdles.

On Saturday evening, students headed out to group dinners before a fun-filled evening of dancing and socializing, hosted by IAAB’s favorite “DJ K”, our dear friend and former staff member Kayvan. And, after an evening full of dancing, everyone warmly welcomed the extra hour of sleep we earned from daylight savings time!

Today, workshops will focus on community organizing and civic engagement, as well as mobilization and outreach. Although we all wish we had more time to spend with these phenomenal student leaders, I know I speak on behalf of the entire staff when I say that we are thrilled to see how these students continue to keep in touch and collaborate on projects in the future.

Check back this afternoon for a wrap-up of the day’s events!

With the energy in the room running high after group lunches on campus, Summit participants reconvened just after 1:00pm in the Marvin Center for the second workshop of the day led by Thenjiwe McHarris, a Field Organizer with Amnesty International USA.

Thenjiwe’s workshop, “The Fundamentals of Communication: Putting Words into Action”, focused on the role communication plays in leadership from a theoretical perspective. Right away, Thenjiwe made sure to utilize the energy of the room by encouraging students to push their chairs aside and split into two groups. Then, she gave them a task: order yourselves from tallest to shortest-blindfolded. What first seemed to be a daunting task quickly forced the students to test their leadership and teambuilding skills in a fun and competitive way.

“What do you think the purpose of this activity is?” Thenjiwe asked the students. Answers rang out from different sides of the room: “Teambuilding!” “Communication is key!”

Thenjiwe, a Field Organizer at Amnesty International USA, maintains a focus is in working with activist members, volunteer leaders, partners and coalitions in New York and New Jersey. She has years of experience within the human rights and social justice field, and has worked on a number of human rights issues with oppressed and marginalized communities.

Transitioning from the group activity to her discussion on effective leadership styles, Thenjiwe explained three important aspects of being a leader, including:

• External representation: it’s important to determine how to strategically convey your intended message to your audience;
• Facilitation and guiding: communication is the most important aspect to leadership, and it’s important that as a leader helps facilitate discussion and avoids “telling”; and,
• Identifying Communication Methods: determining what communication methods will best benefit your group’s goals is key to successful leadership and team work.

Tying these points together, Thenjiwe shared, “You are responsible, along with the rest of the group, to help create a healthy dynamic.”

IAAB’s second biennial Student Summit is off to a great start. Over 50 students from universities around the country have gathered at George Washington University for the opportunity to create a forum for open dialogue and idea exchange. With new and old faces present this weekend, IAAB is thrilled to be able to provide this opportunity for students.

Stay tuned for more details on the rest of the day’s workshops and discussions!

My name is Yalda, and I am a part of the 2010 camp planning committee. I, along with my fellow camp team members, have been working very hard in planning and organizing this summer’s Camp Ayandeh, which is set to be held at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA, July 6- 12, 2010.  This year, we are celebrating our fifth year anniversary of Camp Ayandeh with a strong curriculum and some exciting activities, as we hope to make this year one of the most memorable years of camp for our campers. We have already received a record number of applicants, and spaces are filling up quickly.

Before joining IAAB staff and preparing for this year’s Camp Ayandeh, I was a camper for two years and a volunteer staff member at Camp Ayandeh 2009. IAAB’s Camp Ayandeh has truly been an experience to remember.  Both as a camper and a staff member, I have learned so much about myself and my Iranian heritage. Camp Ayandeh provided an environment where I was able to be myself without any judgment from the people around me.  I had never felt more comfortable in my surroundings than I did within my years working with IAAB and being a camper.  It has taught me how to become a leader both in the Iranian community and beyond.

Through Camp Ayandeh, I learned, I laughed, I made long lasting friendships, and I began to better understand myself as an individual, and when I returned back to my home community, I wanted to share what I learned with everyone around me.

I am looking forward to sharing a great summer with my IAAB family! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at campayandeh@iranianalliances.org. See you this summer!

Hey all!

Summer just ended, and with the beginning of fall comes a new year at IAAB. We have some new staff members that I hope will be introducing themselves here soon!

This past year IAAB rocked the west coast in Berkeley, CA with our biannual International Conference on the Iranian Diaspora, and closed the year with the ever successful, exciting, and extremely fun Camp Ayandeh.

I want to keep our supporters up-to-date on an important event that is happening at the end of the week. On Saturday September 19, NeverHeard Inc. will be hosting a benefit concert for IAAB. The concert will be at TT the Bear’s, a venue in Cambridge, MA. The line-up includes Hypernova, Esfand, Ali Eskandarian, DJ Chris Ewen, and a special guest DJ.

Tickets are $10 until September 15 (that’s in 2 days), and on September 16 prices will increase to $15; all proceeds go to IAAB. So get your exclusive discount-rate tickets now by clicking here

If you live in the Boston area, please come out and support IAAB. All proceeds will go to IAAB.

Hope to see you there!!!

Omeed

P.S. Checkout the Facebook event page for more information on the event and artists! click here

Hey everyone!

For those of you who followed the camp or had loved ones attending this year, none of the following information will be “news” for you. For everyone else, IAAB’s Camp Ayandeh 2009 was a GREAT SUCCESS.

Held in Hinsdale, MA, the camp saw campers/staff/counselors brave through pesky mosquitoes and spontaneous rainstorms in an effort to experience what united them in the first place – learning the skills necessary to become leaders in their communities, while interacting and finding friends amongst their Iranian-American peers. With the guidance of highly-qualified counselors and staff, a thriving environment emerged from the onset and developed throughout the duration of the week.

The camp, as always, served to provide a healthy balance of leadership and culture. Examples of this ranged from various activities concerning essential interpersonal skills (active listening, negotiation, persuasion, etc) to the annual Ta’arof Tournament and Vasati Challenge between campers and counselors. (In case you were wondering, the counselors and staff came out with a decisive victory!)

All in all, though, the camp provided an opportunity for growing Iranian-Americans to share their experience with each other – something they wouldn’t find anywhere else. As one camper put it, “We all come in as strangers but we all leave as family.” So on behalf of the camp team, I would like to thank everyone who followed this year’s camp, as well as those who made our success possible. We hope we see you join the family next year!

P.S. You can see the day-to-day coverage of Camp Ayandeh 2009 at www.campayandeh.org

Dear IAAB Family,

Hi, my name is Roshan and I am a current IAAB Staff member and previous Camp Ayandeh camper. Camp Ayandeh was the best week of my life and I took with me so from the experience. I learned that I am not the only Iranian-American struggling to define myself. I can be a leader in my school, in my community, and in the world if I work for it. I learned that I had just as much of a right to be self confident and proud of myself as everyone else in the world. I laughed, I ran, I danced and along the way I found myself a family of understanding, amazing Iranian-Americans who truly care about each other.

After my first year of attending in 10^th grade I knew I had found something magical. Not just anything could have filled the void I had and replace it with a sense of community and empowerment; this was something special. So I did everything I could to share it with other Iranian American teens. For the next two years, I helped bring Camp Ayandeh to my friends and family across the country. Finally, after three years of being a devoted camper, I was hired to be a part of IAAB’s Staff to help Ayandeh grow even more.  

The rest of Camp Team and I have been working on Camp Ayandeh 2009 for over a year now. I already know it’s better than ever and with your help we can make Camp Ayandeh bigger than ever as well. The application deadline is coming up on Sunday, June 21, so please email your friends and family and make sure their child doesn’t miss an opportunity to attend Camp Ayandeh 2009!

Salaam!

I love the IAAB blog because it gives you a more personal look into the workings of our organization.  Currently we are working hard on and getting excited about Camp Ayandeh, which is just 2 weeks away.

We are still actively encouraging students to enroll and have decided to extended enrollment for camp until Sunday, June 21. The extension was granted not because of a lack of applicants; in fact, IAAB has received a record 70 applications of camp. Rather, we firmly believe that each new camper enriches the experience exponentially and have worked hard to increase our camper capacity to 100.

Personally, I became involved with camp in its first year in 2006. It was the summer following my freshman year of college and I applied to be a counselor after meeting an IAAB staffer at a local Nowrooz performance. Being involved with the camp for four years, even on the staff side, has helped with my self confidence, given me valuable leadership skills, connected men meaningful ways to other Iranian-American youth, and taught me about the amazing diversity of our community. Our community needs Camp Ayandeh, the only program of its kind in the world.

Please help us provide this unique and life-changing opportunity to as many campers as possible.  We encourage you to contact Arash Majdi, Director of Camp Ayandeh, with any questions you may have by email at arash@iranianalliances.org or by phone at (404) 376-1619.

See you at camp! Make sure to check out the new campayandeh.org for interactive updates on camp!

Hello everyone!

My name is Arash Majdi and I am the Director of Camp Ayandeh 2009. For those of you who have not heard of Camp Ayandeh yet, allow me to give you some information about it. Camp Ayandeh is the first camp of its kind. It is a one-week leadership camp for Iranian-American high school students. For one week, campers participate in leadership activities and lessons such as public speaking, hear from remarkable speakers from the Iranian-American community, and learn about their culture and background through games and activities such as vasati (Persian dodgeball), cultural presentations, cooking activities, and Iranian geography workshops. This year we are proud to say that Camp Ayandeh is in its fourth year running; this fourth installment will be held in Western Massachusetts at Duquette Academy from June 28 – July 5.

The past few weeks, my team and I have been working tirelessly to select counselors for the camp, create a new and interactive curriculum that builds upon the last 3 years, and ensure that every detail is addressed to give our campers the best camp to date. We are excited that we were able to add one extra day to camp, which will allow even more time for campers to build the lasting bonds that make Camp Ayandeh so special. In the past, many of our former campers have returned to Camp Ayandeh as campers and counselors – some have even joined the IAAB staff. We know that this year Camp Ayandeh participants will have as amazing a time as they do each year and we hope that you can be a part of it!

Thanks to the support of our community, IAAB was able to execute another important international conference. Coverage of the conference is just beginning to be released through a variety of media outlets, but we want you to hear from the IAAB team first. Video, audio, and synopses of the panels will be available on our website in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Some highlights of the weekend included:

• John Tehranian’s discussion of the ambivalent effects of “white” identification among Middle Eastern Americans;
• NIAC and PAAIA’s discussions on the most effect means of political influence building;
• Round table discussion featuring Ross Mirkarimi, Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Hooman Khalili, and Rudi Bakhtiar on the successes and challenges facing Iranians in the United States;
• Neda Maghbouleh’s mobilization of the theory of “Inherited Nostalgia” vis-a-vis the role Googoosh and other Persian language musicians have played in diasporic conceptions of Iranian-ness;
• Gelareh Bassiry‘s important confrontation with domestic violence and notions of patriarchy that escape most public discourse on the status of Iranian women living abroad;
• Taghi Amirani’s talk that brought on bouts of tears and laughs through his discussion of the commodification of Iran expertise and the inherent inaccessibility of Iran, even to Iranians;
• Hanif Yazdi’s eloquent characterization of his diasporic identity: “I should not feel guilty for not being there, for there is purpose in my being here. I cannot feel I do not own the problems of this country, for in working to solve them I will gain the skills I need to help those back home. I do not long for a place that no longer exists, but imagine an Iran that can be and seek to create it;”
• Fared Shafinury and Sholi’s high energy and virtuosic performances on Saturday night, including a rock cover of Googoosh and legendary percussionist Pezhham Akhavass.

Thank you again for all of your support of this amazing project. It was an impactful weekend filled with great ideas, analysis, and conversations. The IAAB staff is extremely pleased with the outcome of our hard work, and we have already started to brainstorm how to further improve the conference in 2011!

-

Also, Check out Nazy Kaviani’s blog on Iranian.com for preliminary coverage:

http://iranian.com/main/blog/nazy-kaviani/so-are-you-white

http://iranian.com/main/albums/beautiful-people

http://iranian.com/main/node/60943