2018 Speakers
STORYTELLING: OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Maz Jobrani
Comedian & Actor Mr. Jobrani is a world-renowned comedic performer and actor. He is currently starring in the CBS comedy Superior Donuts. He also recently recorded the Netflix special Immigrant at the Kennedy Center and has filmed three Showtime specials and starred in numerous film, TV, and other stage appearances.
|
Davar Ardalan
Author, Strategist, Virtual Reality Storyteller Ms. Ardalan is the founder and storyteller in chief of IVOW with extensive international experience in storytelling campaigns and social impact solutions. IVOW is an AI-powered storytelling agency. IVOW stands for Voices of Wisdom and a vow to design the next generation of artificial intelligence storytellers to be culturally conscious.
|
Narges Bajoghli, PhD
Anthropologist, Director, Writer Dr. Bajoghli is an award-winning anthropologist, filmmaker, and writer. She is the author of two books and the director of The Skin That Burns, a documentary film about survivors of chemical warfare in Iran. She is currently in pre-production on a feature-length documentary, America Held Hostage, about the ways in which coverage of the Iran Hostage Crisis was the precursor to the advent of the 24-hour news cycle in the U.S. In addition to her academic and filmic work, Narges has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, The Washington Post, among others.
|
INVESTING: FROM TEHRAN TO WALL STREET
Behzad Aghazadeh, PhD
Managing Partner & Portfolio Manager, venBio Dr. Aghazadeh is Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of venBio Select, a Long/Short Equity hedge fund focused on development and early commercial-stage biotechnology companies. He more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, and over 10 years of experience as an institutional investor. Dr. Aghazadeh was also a consultant at Booz Allen, and currently serves as Chairman of Immunomedics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing monoclonal antibody based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and other serious diseases.
|
Behdad Eghbali
Managing Partner & Co-Founder ClearLake Capital Group Mr. Eghbali oversees Clearlake, an investment firm focused on private equity and special situations in sectors including technology, energy & industrials, and consumer. Prior to co-founding Clearlake, he was an investor at TPG and Venus Capital Management, VP of Business Development at Terbolinux, and worked in the investment banking groups of Jefferies & Co. and Morgan Stanley.
|
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani
Chief Investment Officer, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management Mrs. Mossavar-Rahmani is responsible for overall strategic asset allocation and tactical investment strategy within Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. She is also involved in various non-profit boards including New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Harvard's Committee on University Resources, and the Trinity School.
|
Ali Partovi
CEO, Neo | Co-Founder, Code.org Mr. Partovi (Harvard '94) is a prominent Silicon Valley investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Having backed airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, and Uber, he now runs Neo, a community and VC fund for awesome engineers.
|
FIRESIDE CHAT: MASTERS OF MODERN IRANIAN MUSIC
Yahya Alkhansa
Drummer Mr. Alkhansa began his musical education at age 9, first by learning the “tonbak” and playing traditional Persian music for 7 years before turning to drum set at the age of 16. He has toured with many Iranian underground rock musicians and joined 127 Band in 2002. He has performed in numerous world festivals, including Italy’s Arezzo Wave and SXSW in Austin, TX. He began collaborating with Mohsen Namjoo for world tours and studio projects in 2011. Mr. Alkhansa is a graduate of Azad University of Tehran and New York City’s Collective School of Music.
|
Mohsen Namjoo
Musician Mr. Namjoo is an Iranian artist, songwriter, singer, music scholar and setar (traditional Persian lute) player based in New York City. Hailed as “the Bob Dylan of Iran” by the New York Times, Namjoo is a visionary artist who seamlessly blends the Classical Persian setar with electric guitar, and rock and blues vocal techniques with Persian avaz (singing). Namjoo has been touring the world with sold-out concerts at prestigious halls such as Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco; Conservatorio Sala Verdi, Milan; Disney Hall, Los Angeles, and many more.
|
FASHION IN IRAN: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Bahador Adab
Co-Founder, Aassttiinn Mr. Adab is the co-founder of the online shop AASSTTIINN alongside Kimia Salehi. Founded in 2016, AASSTTIINN is an online shop dedicated to promoting and selling the works of Iranian designers/brands with the goal of making Iranian products cool, for both Iranians and non-Iranians. AASSTTIINN features more than 70 designers and ships worldwide. He holds a degree in Business Marketing from York University and a degree in filmmaking from London Film School. He is based in Tehran, Iran.
|
Kimia Salehi
Co-Founder, Aassttiinn Ms. Salehi is the co-founder of Aasstiinn, a Tehran-based online marketplace dedicated to promoting and selling the works of Iranian designers/brands with the goal of making Iranian products cool, for both Iranians and non-Iranians. Aasstiinn features more than 70 designers and ships worldwide. Prior to working in fashion, Ms. Salehi worked in health technology. She holds degrees in Business Management and Marketing.
|
Ali Rouhani
Founder & Designer, Jordy Design Mr. Rouhani is the founder and designer behind Jordy design, a Tehran-based fashion and accessories line. After working at Johnson & Johnson and a number of Middle East-based organizations, Mr. Rouhani returned to Iran in 2011 to found Jordy design. As the creative head of Jordy design, Mr. Rouhani creatively integrates populist modern art and ancient dynastic historic Persian designs to produce one-of-a-kind fashion pieces and accessories. Mr. Rouhani is a graduate of Stanbridge College.
|
Naghmeh Kiumarsi
Fashion Designer Ms. Kiumarsi is one of the leading designers in the industry of women’s ready-to-wear fashion in Iran. She started sketching at the age of 5, learned embroidery at 12, and very quickly began learning the concept of fashion and design. A third-generation designer, she launched her Tehran-based business and her first fashion line of scarves and manteaux in 2003.
|
IRANIAN FILM & SOCIETY
Ahmad Kiarostami
CEO and Co-Founder, Koantum Mr. Kiarostami is the co-founder & CEO of Koantum. Before moving to the US in 2001, he founded three companies in Iran, and had a leadership role at Microsoft Middle-East. Ahmad has worked with several Iranian directors, and served on the boards of San Francisco Cinematheque and The Roxie. In 2016, Ahmad was named a Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Ahmad studied Math and Computer Science at Sharif University.
|
Gelareh Kiazand
Filmmaker Ms. Kiazand is based between Tehran and Toronto. Her short films have toured festivals such as Toronto, Montreal and the NY Independent. She worked in Iran's film industry for six years, initially working as a film photographer for Iranian feature films and later as a Director of Photography for documentaries. During her time in Iran, she has been nominated 3 times for Best Film Photographer, won best cinematographer at the Basij film festival as well as best documentary at the Tehran Film Festival. Her TEDxTehran talk can be found online.
|
TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FUTURE
Arshya Vahabzadeh
Chief Medical Officer, Brain Power Dr. Vahabzadeh is the Chief Medical Officer at Brain Power, a neurotechnology company building intelligent wearable systems for people with brain differences and disorders. Dr. Vahabzadeh is trained in family medicine, psychiatry, and child psychiatry by the Royal College of General Practitioners, Emory University, and Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital respectively. He has been widely published in authoritative texts on cognitive enhancement, neurobiology, neurocircuitry, neuromodulation, and psychopharmacology, and peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has served as faculty at Harvard Medical School, and featured by numerous media outlets.
|
Falon Fatemi
CEO and Founder, Node Ms. Fatemi is the Founder and CEO of Node, the first people-based AI platform revolutionizing how people and businesses discover new opportunities. At age 19, Ms. Fatemi was the youngest employee at Google and has since spent over a decade focused on go-to-market strategy, global expansion, and strategic partnerships at Google, YouTube, and in the startup world. Ms. Fatemi and Node have been featured in Forbes, Marie Claire, CNBC, Bloomberg, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Inc., and Fast Company.
|
Payam Banazadeh
CEO and Founder, Capella Space Mr. Banazadeh is CEO & Co-Founder of Capella Space, a venture-backed Silicon Valley company building satellites capable of imaging earth in all weather and light conditions. Payam holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. While at NASA JPL, he received the NASA Mariner Award and NASA Discovery Award for his leadership and outstanding performance. Payam was selected to the 2017 “Forbes 30 under 30” list, and Capella has been recognized by New York Times, Bloomberg, and Inc Magazine as one of the top 25 disruptive companies in the world.
|
Mina Bissell, PhD
Distinguished Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Dr. Bissell is one of the world's most highly-acclaimed cancer researches. Having received her undergraduate education from Harvard College/Radcliffe and PhD from Harvard Medical School, she has since been based at UC Berkeley. In 2012 she gave a TED talk on her work.
|
CLOSING REMARKS
Navid Negahban
Actor
Born in Mashhad, Iran, Mr. Negahban caught the acting bug at the age of eight, when his portrayal of an old man drew laughter from a large audience at an elementary school play. His passion for acting led him to Germany where he spent eight years honing his theatrical skills prior to arriving in the United States. Sometimes called “the man of a thousand faces,” Navid’s credits include Showtime’s Emmy-winning original series Homeland, Legion on FX, American Sniper, Baba Joon, The Stoning of Soraya M, 12 Strong, Brothers, Powder Blue, Charlie Wilson’s War, and Words and Pictures, as well as countless other television, film, and theatrical productions including the upcoming live action adaptation of Aladdin.
Actor
Born in Mashhad, Iran, Mr. Negahban caught the acting bug at the age of eight, when his portrayal of an old man drew laughter from a large audience at an elementary school play. His passion for acting led him to Germany where he spent eight years honing his theatrical skills prior to arriving in the United States. Sometimes called “the man of a thousand faces,” Navid’s credits include Showtime’s Emmy-winning original series Homeland, Legion on FX, American Sniper, Baba Joon, The Stoning of Soraya M, 12 Strong, Brothers, Powder Blue, Charlie Wilson’s War, and Words and Pictures, as well as countless other television, film, and theatrical productions including the upcoming live action adaptation of Aladdin.
