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Iranian American Organizations Unite to Form Iranian American 2010 Census Project Coalition

Mindful of events in Iran following the June 12th presidential election, your voice as an Iranian American will matter even more. Decision makers and Americans nationwide are looking to our community for advice and direction. We the undersigned organizations have joined forces in a show of unity to promote the importance of civic participation among Iranian Americans so that our voices are heard. A critical component of empowering the Iranian American community is securing an accurate count of the total number of Iranian Americans residing in the United States. The upcoming 2010 Census will provide a significant opportunity for Iranian Americans to stand up and be counted.


Stand Up and Be Counted
The census is a count of everyone living in the United States. This includes people of all ages, races, and ethnic groups, as well as both citizens and non-citizens. The census occurs every ten years and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the next one being undertaken in 2010.

Like many ethnic groups, Iranian Americans have traditionally been undercounted, leading to a diminished sense of representation within American society. According to the 2000 Census, there were only 338,000 Iranian Americans at the time, while the actual number is believed to be at least two or three times larger. By taking a proactive role in the 2010 Census, our community can strive to have the statistics represent reality.

With an accurate reflection of our population, Iranian Americans would stand to benefit from a variety of public, civic, and private sector services that rely on census data for economic and social assessments. For example, many local and state agencies, health organizations and social service organizations rely on racial and ancestry information to identify and meet the needs of their constituencies. Researchers in many fields, from journalism to social science, rely on census statistics to study trends concerning educational and economic mobility and cultural assimilation.

The Iranian American 2010 Census Coalition includes a number of national and regional organizations: Bay Area Iranian-American Voter Association (Baivoter), Iranian American Bar Association (IABA), National Iranian American Council (NIAC), Network of Iranian American Professionals of Orange County (NIPOC), PARSA Community Foundation, Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), Shabeh Jomeh, and the U.S. Census Bureau. The specific goals of this project are to reach every Iranian American household in the country to educate them about the importance of participating in the 2010 Census, to assure them that the information provided to the Census Bureau will by law be confidential, and to urge them to respond to questions relating to race, ethnicity, and national origin in a consistent manner.

The Iranian American 2010 Census Project cannot truly achieve its goals without coordinated action by a broad based coalition of Iranian American communities and organizations, be they national or local. To that end, initial coalition members are reaching out to and welcome the participation of other Iranian American organizations.

Numbers count! Showing the growth of the Iranian American community will translate into increased influence and recognition within American society. By uniting Iranian Americans behind this worthy goal, our community will be well on its way to gaining greater prominence, while at the same time gaining a better understanding of our own unique needs.

For more information or to join the Iranian American 2010 Census Project please contact any of the coalition partners.

Bay Area Iranian-American Voter Association
http://www.baivoter.org/

Iranian American Bar Association
http://www.iaba.us

National Iranian American Council
http://www.niacouncil.org/

Network of Iranian American Professionals of Orange County
http://www.nipoc.org/

PARSA Community Foundation
http://www.parsacf.org/

Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans
http://www.paaia.org/

Shabeh Jomeh
http://www.shabehjomeh.com/

Contributed by Leyla Serway, IAAB Staff Member

The fourth installment of Camp Ayandeh, Iranian Alliances Across Borders’ annual summer leadership camp for high school students, was held June 28- July 5, 2009 in Hinsdale, Massachusetts at Duquette Sports Academy. In alignment with the mission of Camp Ayandeh, students spent the week engaged in a number of different activities that encouraged them to explore their Iranian-American culture and identity, as they discovered the importance of the Iranian-American youth as our community’s future leaders- all while having fun along the way. Activities for each day of the week were structured around five main themes, including Building Trust, Understanding Self, Understanding Others, Teambuilding, and Aspects of a Leader.

The energy was high from day one when campers arrived at Duquette Academy, over half of which were new to Camp Ayandeh this summer. Campers, new and old alike, happily greeted one another and participated in various “ice breakers” and games of the “Human Knot”. As the week began, fun team names were eagerly created among counselor groups and each team crafted their own team chant, which were performed at any given opportunity and often brought all the groups together in unison! With high morale and an excited group of campers, counselors, and staff, the week was off to a great start.

The week progressed with a number of diverse activities. Throughout the week, three Iranian holidays were celebrated including Shabe Yalda, Chahar-shanbe Soori and Norouz. During the day, campers participated in a various cultural booths, including Iranian cinema, literature, games, music, life in Iran and public speaking; college workshops focusing on high school academics, SATs, the college application process, and college life and majors; and daily culture discussions among counselor groups. The annual Ta’arof Tournament was an exciting even for all, as well as the much- anticipated Talent Show on the last evening. Once again, a memorable Camp Ayandeh proved to be the “highlight of the summer” for everyone.

For more detailed footage from throughout the week at Camp Ayandeh, including daily blogs, podcasts, video and pictures, please visit their interactive camp website at http://www.campayandeh.org.

The PARSA CF Service Fellows internship, a program funded by PARSA Community Foundation at Relief International (RI), comprises of training for three Iranian-American students attending college in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. areas. The program was created by RI with the following objectives:

- To provide Iranian-American students with an opportunity to gain work experience with RI, a humanitarian nonprofit that provides emergency relief, rehabilitation, development assistance, and program services to communities worldwide
- To allow students to gain new skill sets and field experience in an international relief and development setting, while introducing them to global issues
- To foster research, project management and leadership skills to Iranian-American students and the opportunity to enter an exciting and rewarding career in international public policy and development

RI is proud to introduce the selected 2009 PARSA CF Service Fellow interns to work in RI offices in Los Angeles, D.C. and abroad:

- Alexander Reza Shams, a third-year International Relations and International Urban Development student at the University of Southern California
- Melody Tehrani, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, pursuing International Relations
- Adam Pourahmadi, a sophomore at American University majoring in International Studies with a special interest in Iranian economic development

Congratulations to the 2009 PARSA CF Service Fellow interns! To learn more about Relief International's programs, please visit ri.org.

In today’s world, there remain places in which some youth remain deprived of pursuing higher education and are barred from this right due to some form of discrimination, such as their financial status, political views, religious affiliation or social standing.

The mission of Borani Global Education, a nonprofit association based in Toronto, Canada, is to open new portals to educational attainment by bringing accredited on-line solutions to every deserving youth who is unable to pursue university education as a result of human rights violations.

Borani Global Education arranges for their supporters to become "Educational Guardians," each adopting one or more deserving youth to foster through higher education. There are many in need, and their intention is to help as many youth as possible worldwide. For more information, please visit www.boraniglobal.org.