nellie kargar

Nellie is a graduate of Harvard Business School.

 Nellie is a Certified Public Accountant and currently works as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for ICI Homes in Daytona Beach, FL. Previously Ms. Kargar held positions as a Senior Financial Analyst for Amazon and Division Controller / Financial Analyst for ICI Homes. 

 Nellie currently serves as Vice Chair of the Food Brings Hope Executive Board, Treasurer of the Hope Place Building Committee, Board Member of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of the Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation, Board Member and Treasurer of Harvard Iranian Alumni, Vice-Chair of Operations of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans’ Emerging Leaders and Board Member of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s Eagle Athletic Association. In 2013 and 2017, Nellie was selected by the Volusia Flagler Business Report as a “40 Under 40” business leader. 

 Nellie currently resides in Ormond Beach, FL and enjoys life as an avid foodie and aspiring golfer.

ario keshani

Ario is a graduate of Harvard Business School.

Ario Keshani is an experienced entrepreneur, angel investor, and technology executive. Most recently, he was CEO and co-founder of Split Technology, Inc., a transportation technology startup that was acquired by Volkswagen in 2017. Prior to being acquired, Split delivered a revolutionary shared rides transportation service that utilized advanced technology to instantly connect people traveling in the same direction. Today, Split’s original algorithms and technology underpin all of Volkswagen’s ridesharing and ridepooling projects. 

Prior to Split, Ario was Vice President of Business Development at Transdev On Demand, responsible for building Transdev’s business in North America. In that role, Ario’s work resulted in the launch of businesses in markets all around the US. Earlier in his career, Ario launched souschef meals, a ready-to-cook food delivery startup in New York, built two taxicab companies, and spent time as a Business Designer at IDEO, the world’s leading design firm, and as a strategy consultant at Capgemini, a leading technology and strategy consulting firm.

Ario has been featured in numerous publications and interviews, including the Washington Post, Forward Thinking Radio at SiriusXM, and Vox.com. He received a B.S., cum laude, in International Political Economy from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Services.

Layla kousari

Layla is a graduate of Harvard College. 

Layla is currently a Henry Shaw Travel Fellow, exploring Flamenco singing in Southern Spain. During her time at the college, Layla graduated with college honors studying Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology. Outside of the classroom, she worked as a research assistant in a genetics lab at Harvard Medical School, ran Harvard’s largest pre-orientation program, the First-Year Outdoor Program, competed on Harvard’s Mock Trial Team, and played soccer with the Women’s Club Soccer Team. 

Layla is the recipient of the Endicott Peabody Saltonstall Prize and will be attending Harvard Law School in the Fall of 2021. 

Layla dedicated much of her college career to support the Iranian community at Harvard. Layla was the co-chair of the Harvard Iranian Gala for two years, presiding on the team that brought the Summit’s first Iranian-American scholarship to fruition. She is excited to continue her commitment to her heritage as a member of the Harvard Iranian Alumni Board.

ava nasrollazadeh

Ava is a graduate of Harvard College.

She is a Consultant the the Boston Consulting Group, where she focuses her work on clients in the Consumer Goods and Healthcare industries. At BCG, she is grateful for the opportunity to partner with local organizations and global NGOs to support arts and gender equality initiatives.

At the College, Ava graduated with honors  in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Global Health & Health Policy. She was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant recipient, and her research at Fudan University focused on Type II diabetes. Outside of the classroom, she focused her time on building the communities that meant the most to her. In the undergraduate community, she served as Student Body President, where she led policy work to address campus sexual assault issues and introduced 2 mobile apps--Omni and Ventfull--to centralize campus resources for students.

Within the Iranian community, Ava co-founded the Harvard Iranian Gala, and is excited to continue being a part of its growth through the annual Harvard Iranian Weekend. Born and raised in the midwest, Ava now spends her time between New York and California. She attributes her constant tahdig cravings to her Iranian heritage!

arta tabaee

Arta is a graduate of Harvard Business School.

Mr. Tabaee is a Principal at Clearlake Capital Group where he focuses on private equity and special situations investments in the consumer and industrials sectors.  Prior to joining Clearlake, he was an investment professional at H.I.G. Capital. Before that, Mr. Tabaee was a Senior Associate at TPG in the North American Buyouts Group. Prior to TPG, he was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Morgan Stanley & Co. 

Mr. Tabaee graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. in Economics and a minor in Spanish from Duke University. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.  

Mr. Tabaee grew up in New York and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Sherry Hakimi

Executive Director of genEquality
Sherry Hakimi is the Executive Director of genEquality, a nonprofit organization on a mission to activate people to achieve gender equality. genEquality leverages behavioral insights to develop and implement nudges everywhere from corporate lobby spaces to high school hallways. In addition to her role at genEquality, in 2019 Sherry was appointed to serve as Commissioner for the NYC Commission on Gender Equity.

Sherry’s professional work has spanned the public, private, and nonprofit sectors on five continents. Sherry has worked with an array of companies, clients, and institutions, such as Reebok, Harvard Business School, Fidelity Investments, and the United Nations. For the last seven years, she has served as an independent advisor to various United Nations entities, with a particular focus on gender equality and foreign policy initiatives.

Sherry is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations, National Security Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. As cofounder of Harvard Iranian Alumni, Sherry served two terms as HIA Co-President. She spearheaded the annual Harvard Iranian Weekend, which has now evolved into the Iranian Summit at Harvard. She holds a B.B.A. in Marketing and B.A. in International Development from University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and an M.P.P. from Harvard Kennedy School.

Roy Mottahedeh

Gurney Professor of History, Harvard University
Born in New York City on July 3, 1940, Professor Mottahedeh received his primary and secondary education in Quaker schools in New York and Pennsylvania. Professor Mottahedeh graduated magna cum laude in history from Harvard College, undertook a second B.A. in Persian and Arabic at Cambridge University, and received his PhD in 1970 from Harvard University.

Professor Mottahedeh began his teaching career at Princeton University in 1970, and joined Harvard’s faculty in 1986 as Professor of Islamic History in the History Department. In 1994 Professor Mottahedeh was appointed Gurney Professor of History. He also served as the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University from 1987 to 1990, and as Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University from 2006 to 2011.

Professor Mottahedeh's publications include Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society (1980); The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran (1985); The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World, co-edited with Angeliki Laiou (2001); and Lessons in Islamic Jurisprudence (2003).

Roxane Zand

Deputy Chairman at Sotheby's, Middle East and Gulf Region
Harvard- and Oxford-educated, Roxane Zand began a career in museum and arts administration after three years in UNESCO. She left Iran after the Revolution to resume professional activities in London in the field of education and the arts, and as one of the founding members of the Harvard Club of London.

Ms Zand was an officer of the Iran Heritage Foundation before moving to Asia House, as well as a freelance consultant for numerous projects for the British Museum and elsewhere in the art world before joining Sotheby’s in 2006 where she is now Deputy Chairman for the Middle East. Currently she sits on the Advisory Council of the Pictet Art Prize, the Development Board of the University of the Arts London, and has been appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London for her services to Middle Eastern art and culture. She is also arts editor for the Encyclopedia Islamica.

At Sotheby’s, Roxane has played an instrumental role in developing and contributing to sales of Arab and Iranian art, and has conducted a number of charity auctions to benefit causes in the MENA region.