Dear friends, family, and supporters of IAAB:

Hello! My name is Raha and I am one of the incredibly fortunate individuals to hold a staff position with IAAB this year. It is an exciting time for our organization, which seems to have grown leaps and bounds in mere months. With our Fourth International Conference on the Iranian Diaspora fast approaching, we are all as staff members feeling the excitement that comes with seeing our efforts manifest themselves into an amazing event that is sure to inspire and affect many. If you have not already done so, I urge to you register for the conference. With panels focusing on cultural expression amongst diaspora members and the perspectives of Iranians around the globe, and an incredible night of music featuring Fareed Shafinury and Tehranosaurus, you are sure to have an insightful and rewarding experience.

But now I would like to take a moment to give all of our fellow supporters a sneak peak into some very very exciting plans in IAAB’s future programming. In a matter of months, IAAB will be launching a new project entitled “Bayaan: Expressions of the Iranian Diaspora” to celebrate the individual and creative voices of young diaspora members all around the world. Some of you may be familiar with IAAB’s past essay contests which gave young Iranians the opportunity to express themselves through the written word and also compete for a scholarship to our increasingly popular Camp Ayandeh. Well, we are taking the essay contest several steps further!

We believe that there are artists amongst us all with fascinating and worthwhile stories to share. If you are a high school, undergraduate or graduate student we invite you, through our newest project, to share your personal perspective and unique vision with the world through your art, be it written expression, visual art, music, film, or all of the above! Through Bayaan, we hope to bring together the creative voices of the Iranian diaspora and include these artistic works in a print publication that can be read, shared, referred to for years to come and that will showcase the talent and critical awareness of our young diaspora community.

So please do stay tuned for “Bayaan”; we cannot wait to see your work and wish you a joyful and delightful start to the new year!