We have a number of current and pending projects through other non-profit organizations and educational institutions. All of these projects contribute to advancing the status and care of women in or from West Asia, as well as promoting understanding of West Asian and Muslim communities. Further, our partners work directly in the communities served in order to identify needs and maximize community involvement and support.
We also provide small grants to promote both women’s health and Iranian cultural activities in our own Bay Area community.
Current Partners and Funding Recipients:
Iranian-American Scholarship Fund
IASF is a national scholarship fund. With 75 scholarships awarded to date, they are proud to have taken on this task and with the support and help of the community throughout the nation have reached a decade of community service at its best.
Creating Hope International/Afghan Institute of Learning
We are working with Dr. Sakena Yacoobi to help her continue her work in educating and providing health services for women in Afghanistan. We are also working with Dr. Yacoobi to build a private school for girls in Kabul, Afghanistan.
www.creatinghope.org/ailprograms
NLSCA/AGAPE
National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA), is an organization dedicated to ensuring the human rights and dignity of Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (MEMSA) peoples. NLSCA was founded by Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Esq. in order to promote: (1) legal defense of civil rights; (2) responsible media coverage and depiction; (3) proactive collaboration with governmental and non-governmental institutions; and (4) education and community outreach.
The Translation Project
Founded in 2003, The Translation Project is a nonprofit (501(C)3) organization. Their mission is to promote contemporary Iranian literature to a worldwide audience in multiple languages and media.
www.thetranslationproject.org.
Iranian Scholarship Foundation
Provides scholarship funding for low-income Iranian-American students to continue their studies.
The HAND Foundation
Through the HAND Foundation we are sponsoring The Bita Daryabari Scholarship for Women in Economics. This scholarship will provide financial support, in the form of tuition, fees and a stipend, to an Iranian woman working toward her Ph.D. in Economics.
www.wghi.org
Women's Global Health Imperative, University of California, San Francisco The Women's Global Health Imperative's mission is to develop public health interventions that prevent HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies, and maternal mortality through collaborative research, academic and clinical training, community education, and the study of gender inequity. With Unique Zan Foundation funding, WGHI will be able to sponsor one Iranian woman, who specializes in Women's Health and HIV/AIDS, to come to the UCSF campus for a seminar on Women's Leadership Training.
Promises Film Company
"Global Moms" project, with Justine Shapiro, is a documentary film project focusing on how kids are raised around the world. For the first documentary Justine Shapiro, a single mother, will travel to Iran and live with Iranian families for three months.
Baivoter Norouz Project
Baivoter is an Iranian American Voters Association working to encourage and facilitate the informed and active participation of Iranian-Americans in the democratic process. Baivoter also organizes the annual spring Persian New Year (Norouz) Festival in Vasona Park, located in Los Gatos, California, in order to celebrate and promote Persian community and culture.
The Rostam Project
This project is designed to utilize the medium of the traditional American comic book genre in order to introduce an important Iranian/Persian literary work - The Shahnameh to a western audience. The intention is first, to rekindle the knowledge and serve as a quick and easy to read reminder of how great and valid the Shahnameh lessons are even today to adults. Second, to provide Iranian youth, a character and story presentation that is just as cool and attractive as the best comic book heroes, and finally, to provide non-Iranians with access and introduction to one of the true cultural gems of Iran. This exposure to the positive and fascinating aspects of Persian storytelling, will do much in educating and advancing the understanding of what contributions Persians have made to society at large.
Turquoise Bridges
is an Iranian cultural organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding through the arts and literature.
Community Breast Health Project
is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing information and support to people dealing with breast cancer or with breast health issues.
Current Projects:
Unique Zan Foundation/Relief International, Palestinian Women's Institute-We are working with Relief International to establish a Women's Institute in Hebron, in the Palestinian territories. The purpose of this institute is to provide women with education on a variety of subjects including: literacy, job training skills, health awareness, and peace promotion. The goal of the institute is to provide women with the necessary skills and confidence-building measures to become leaders and change-makers in their communities and to promote learning in order to enhance social justice. This project was initiated in March of 2008, and will be one of our main areas of focus in the coming years. We will also be incorporating a research component to the project in order to measure the impact that the center has on women's lives and the lives of their families.
Writing HerStory-We recently partnered with IASF, the Iranian American Scholarship Foundation, to sponsor an Iranian Women's Essay Prize. Students at major universities have been solicited to compete in an essay contest. The focus of these essays is "inspirational women," women applicants are to write the story of their mother or grandmother, including their migration to the United States, and how the special woman in their lives inspired them to become who they are. Please check back in the fall of 2008 for the announcement of our essay prize winners. Interested applicants should refer to the grants section of our webiste.
