The 2020 Iranian Summit has been postponed due to COVID-19

The Iranian Conference @Harvard is a global conference that will convene students, academics, and professionals with an interest in better understanding Iran and Iranian culture, showcasing perspectives and insights on topics of interest including the arts, science, and business.
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The Iranian Conference @Harvard is presented by Harvard Iranian Alumni (HIA) in partnership with Harvard students, faculty, and affiliates.
Theme: Framing the Future
This year's theme is Framing the Future. As we enter a new decade, we seek to explore what's next across a range of industries in disciplines, from media & retail to policy & inclusion. The day's conversation will focus on the key challenges and opportunities in each of these areas, highlighting how Iranians are working to propel us towards a better future.
2020 Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Shez Partovi
Worldwide Lead: Healthcare, Life Sciences & Genomics, Amazon Web Services
Dr. Shez Partovi obtained his medical degree from the prestigious McGill University, in Montreal, Canada and completed his neuroradiology subspecialty training at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ. He is a serial entrepreneur and has launched a number of health IT companies, one of which was a telehealth company built on AWS. After a decade of clinical practice, Dr. Partovi transitioned into executive rolesat Dignity Healthwhere he served as its Chief Health Information Officer and,subsequently,as Chief Digital Officer/SVP of Digital Transformation. As the CHIO, Dr. Partovi oversaw the deployment of Cerner across the enterprise in both inpatient, outpatient and oncology settings. As the CDO, Dr. Partovi was responsible for the digital experience of consumers, patients and providers across Dignity Health. Shezjoined Amazon Web Services in 2018 as the Worldwide lead for Healthcare, Life Sciences and Genomics.He is currently working on over a dozen large scale initiatives across the globe and has a unique perspective of the opportunities to transform healthcare worldwide. Dr. Partovicombineshis clinical, entrepreneurial and AWS experience to help theaudience Think Big and imagine the Art of the Possible. 
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Lily Sarafan 
Co-Founder & CEO, Home Care Assistance
Lily Sarafan is CEO of Home Care Assistance (HCA), where she has led the company from startup to sector leader with nearly 10,000 employees across North America. HCA is consistently recognized as a best-in-class healthcare company, and Lily as a featured expert on digital health and the future of aging at the White House and global conferences. Lily is also a board member, investor and advisor for innovative companies, serving as a board director at Thumbtack and at Counsyl through its acquisition by Myriad Genetics (MYGN).

An active Stanford alum, Lily serves on the Stanford Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Freeman Spogli Institute Council, and the Stanford Undergraduate Education Cabinet. She is also Founding Partner of Project BIG: The Stanford Brain Immune Gut Initiative. Lily's board service extends to other high-impact nonprofits including the Women's Alzheimer's Movement and the BerkeleyHaas Center for Innovation Economies, where she is board chair. An appointee to the California Governor’s Alzheimer's Task Force, Lily serves in various leadership roles to advance economic development, civic engagement, and precision health.

Lily holds an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering and B.S. in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University, where she was Eben Tisdale Fellow and Class President. She has been named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Women Health Care Executives Woman of the Year, and a Silicon Valley 40 Under 40. Lily is a Member of Young Presidents' Organization, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
The Future of Identity & Inclusion
Iman Hariri-Kia
Writer, Editor, Musician & Activist
Iman Hariri-Kia is an Iranian-American, New York-based writer, editor, musician, and activist. A 2017 recipient of the Annabelle Bonner Medal and a nationally acclaimed journalist, she currently works as the Sex & Relationships Editor of Bustle, where she specializes in sex, dating, relationships, singledom, sexuality, gender identity, sexual health, and consent, and a columnist for Man Repeller. You can also find her work published in Teen Vogue, Elite Daily, HuffPost, and other outlets.

She’s a speaker, panelist, and performer, appearing on the TODAY Show, CBS News, DailyMailTV, NY1 News, Voice of America, Persian Girl Podcast, The Conversationalist, Results May Vary, the Miss Manhattan Reading, the Lit Salon, and more. Iman is also working with lawmakers to pass Bill Int-1485, which would ban the sale of non FDA-approved products made with senna (laxatives or appetite stimulants) from being sold to minors.You can often find her performing songs about those who wronged her in Middle School and writing about her personal life on the Internet — much to her parents’ dismay. 
Sam Alavi 
​Sr. Development Analyst, UC Davis
Sam Alavi has been working in the field of diversity and equity for over 10 years. Starting out working for a racial and gender justice nonprofit focusing on the LGBTQ community, she was able to make an impact on both state-wide and federal LGBT educational policy before taking her intersectional knowledge and passions to the Iranian American community. Sam has been leading educational and advocacy efforts in the Iranian community in institutions of higher education, as well as through Iranian Alliances Across Borders as a facilitator and director of Camp Ayandeh since 2013. Sam has her Master's in higher education leadership and policy from Stanford University and is currently a Senior Development Analyst at UC Davis.
Mahdi Ehsaei
Photographer & Designer
Mahdi Ehsaei is a German-Iranian photographer and designer based in Germany. Born on the 6th of June 1989 in Germany to Iranian parents, Ehsaei is no stranger to living life between different cultures and navigating his dual heritage identity within these worlds. He grew up in a bicultural environment with an influence of Persian culture and tradition within the context of German society. 

In 2015, his photo book entitled Afro-Iran was published in cooperation with Kehrer Verlag in Germany. So far, the Afro-Iran project has been exhibited in Germany, Colombia, Italy, Kenya, the United States, the Emirates, Norway and the United Kingdom.
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Ehsaei currently works as a creative director in Darmstadt and passionately pursues capturing undiscovered beauties and unique memories in his art and photography.
The Future of Entertainment & Media
Arash Sobhani
​Lead Singer & Guitarist, Kiosk
Arash Sobhani is an Iranian musician and television host. He is the lead singer and guitarist of underground rock band Kiosk and the host of OnTen, a satirical news program that airs on VOA Persian.

Sobhani was born and raised in Tehran, and attended Isfahan University of Art from where he earned a MA in Architecture. He moved to the United States in 2005 to release Kiosk's first album, Ordinary Man. ...since then Kiosk has release 9 albums and has toured in various parts of the world.

​He has been an active advocate of human rights and democracy in Iran and has been invited to give speeches about Iranian cultural and social issues in various Universities including Harvard, Stanford, UCI etc.
In 2019 Arash Sobhani produced the hit series Persia's Got Talent for MBC Persia network. His other projects in TV includes Nowruz Special, OnTen for VOA and Studio 13 for Iran International.
​Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
Filmmaker 
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh got her BFA in film from Tehran University of Art and her MFA in studio arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. When the Kid was a Kid (2011, Iran), Needle (2013, US) and In the Trees (2015, US) form her trilogy of short films with children as main characters. Her other short film What Remains (2016, US) is part of a collective international project, Break the Silence, aiming to increase knowledge and action against child abuse.
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Anahita is the winner of the First Cinéfondation Award at Cannes Film Festival and the Silver Hugo at Chicago International Film Festival among other awards, and has showed her films in numerous festivals and exhibitions.

Anahita is currently an Assistant Professor of screenwriting and film production in the department of Cinematic Arts at the University of Iowa