World’s First Persian Community Foundation Announces Funding For U.S. Nonprofits
World’s First Persian Community Foundation Announces Funding For U.S. Nonprofits
PARSA CF Awards $100,000 to Mehregan Grant Recipients
SAN FRANCISCO (December 12, 2007) – The PARSA Community Foundation has announced that it will award $100,000 in gifts to 11 nonprofit arts, culture, leadership, and civic integration organizations across the United States, 10 of which are first time PARSA CF grantees. The nonprofit groups will be the recipients of PARSA CF’s 2007 Mehregan Grant, named for the widely-celebrated Persian festival that marks the autumn harvest and one of two annual grants in the foundation’s giving cycle. The Mehregan Grant awardees range from a Persian cooperative preschool where children learn about Iranian culture and language, to an international film festival providing filmmakers from around the world an opportunity to showcase their works.
PARSA CF’s Mehregan Grant awardees include: Eastern Arts in Salt Lake City; The Translation Project and Child Family Health International (CFHI), both based in San Francisco; Afsaneh Arts & Culture Society of Woodacre, Calif.; the 2008 Iranian American Student Summit and Camp Ayandeh, two projects of the Springfield, Virginia-based organization Iranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB); the 2008 Tiburon International Film Festival of Tiburon, Calif; Golestan Kids Preschool in Berkeley, Calif; the Iranian Students Cultural Organization at UC Berkeley; the Institute of International Education (IIE) based in New York City; the Persian Cultural Center (PCC) of San Diego; and the Iranian Studies Group at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. All the organizations are receiving PARSA funding for the first time, with the exception of IAAB.
"PARSA CF strives to grow public service in the Iranian-American population,” said PARSA CF co-founder and director Dr. Camran Nezhat, a laparoscopic surgeon at Stanford University Medical Center, in regard to PARSA CF’s contribution to Child Family Health International. “We hope that this grant will encourage lifelong personal involvement among Persian medical students in promoting the health and well-being of the world community." The award to CFHI will enable the health organization to offer merit-based scholarships to two Iranian-American students interested in traveling abroad to learn about and participate in public healthcare projects.
PARSA CF is the first Persian community foundation in the world, and is building the largest endowment fund dedicated to Persian philanthropy. PARSA CF’s mission is to increase philanthropic activity within the Persian Diaspora. Combining Persian traditions of charity with cutting edge philanthropic practices, PARSA CF encourages strategic giving and active civic participation through education, tax-efficient vehicles, and recognition of community service. PARSA CF awards semi-annual grants to enterprising non-profits in the United States focused on preservation and advancement of arts and culture, leadership development, and civic integration.
“As PARSA CF heads into its third year, it is committed to continuously improving its grant application, evaluation and approval process,” noted PARSA CF founder and chairperson Noosheen Hashemi. “PARSA CF's national, competitive grant cycle – the first of its kind within the Persian Diaspora – now leverages a diverse group of respected community members who serve on PARSA CF’s independent grant advisory committee. Their willingness to give of their time and expertise in evaluating applications according to rigorous and objective criteria, such as the applicant’s ability to raise funds from diverse sources and the project’s ability to scale and have widespread impact, not only results in a democratic and transparent process, but also ensures that community representatives themselves are selecting the projects they feel are most worthy of support.”
About PARSA Community Foundation:
PARSA Community Foundation is the first Persian community foundation in the United States and the leading Persian philanthropic institution practicing strategic philanthropy and promoting social entrepreneurship around the globe. Managing the largest independent endowment fund dedicated to Persian philanthropy, PARSA CF provides tax-advantaged vehicles to donors and makes grants to nonprofit organizations. PARSA CF provides a platform to enable collaborative giving, philanthropic education and purposeful networking. The organization is a nonpartisan, nonreligious, and nonprofit, registered as a 501(c) (3) entity in the United States . PARSA Community Foundation does not make grants in Iran. More information about PARSA CF is available at www.parsacf.org.
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