Reinvesting in Our Communities: An interview with Azadeh Hariri
Hamid Karimi
March 14, 2006
iranian.com
Azadeh Hariri was born in Iran, went to boarding school in England and pursued her higher education in Lausanne, Switzerland and Indiana, USA. She spent her early years in Iran and belonged to a rather traditional family. Since 1979 Hariri has lived in California, creating and managing the state’s second largest food distributor, which was later sold. Her humble attitude and appearance is in contrast with her business acumen and sharp sense of presence.
More importantly, Hariri is busy making a positive difference in the lives of academically gifted yet financially constrained Iranians who wish to further themselves in America. She has been an active philanthropist for years and now Hariri is taking on a new challenge by establishing the Iranian Scholarship Foundation to give away scholarships to young Iranian students. I recently spent an hour with her at a café in Menlo Park, California to talk about her vision and perspective on Iranian American philanthropy. Read more.