CEO
Ariannejad, Mehrdad
(MEng.)
Holding a Masters degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto and a full time employee of IBM Canada since 1998, Mehrdad has been actively involved in preserving and reviving Iranian culture, a subject that is close to his heart. Over the course of years of volunteer work, he has served as chair and board member of many organizations devoted to promotion of Iranian culture and intellectual heritage within academia, Iranian community and Canadian society.
Highlights of his roles include founding of the first Iranian Book Club in Toronto, serving as chair and board member for Iranian Association at the University of Toronto, Chief Organizer of Bam Earthquake Relief Concert, a remarkably successful fundraising event held at the Toronto Centre for the Arts for earthquake victims in Iran; board member and finance director of Under the Azure Dome festival held at Harbourfront Centre and a member of the organizing committees for Canadian Federal Election Debate and Cheharshanbeh Suri (Iranian Fire Festival).
Marketing Director
Ahmadi, Nima
(Bachelor of Architecture)
A recent graduate of Department of Architectural Science at Ryerson University, Nima has been actively involved with Iranian Students Association of Ryerson University (ISARU) since 2003. As the president of ISARU for two consecutive years, he had tremendous success in promoting Iranian heritage amongst forty-four other associations at Ryerson University. During this time, he also made ISARU a prominent association in Iranian community to reflect young intellectual Iranians in Toronto. He has also been active as a link between senior and junior fellow Iranian-Canadian immigrants. Nima is a pioneer in incorporating fresh and innovative ideas joined with the notion of Iranian youth living in Canada as their second home. Nima has organized diverse activities such as Contribution to Iranian Professors in Canada (www.IranianProfessor.com), Contribution to Iranian Film Directors, and Educational Fairs for Iranian Community, Second Vision Art Exhibition, and Iranian Fire Festival in collaboration with City of Toronto since year 2006.
Finance Director
Dadfar, Hosseinali
M.B.A.
Hosseinali graduated from Tehran Business Collage and achieved B.B.A.degree in general business in 1972. Later, he completed a Master's program (M.B.A.) in the area of finance and management at Saint Edward’s University at Austin, Texas in 1976. He has over 36 years of experience in Finance, Management, Accounting, and International Business in Iran and Dubai.
Hosseinali has always been involved in social, business and cultural activities. He served as one of the board members and the head of public and social relations of Iranian Business Council of Dubai (IBC) from 1999 up to 2005.
Artistic Directors 
Visual Arts Director
Aghdashloo, Firoozeh (Aghdashloo)
Born in Tehran, Iran, Firoozeh Athari has contributed as an artist and a supporter of contemporary Iranian artists on an international level.
Firoozeh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture from Tehran and a master’s degree in Interior Design from Toronto. Her experience in architecture and design goes back to 1985. She established her expertise in Tehran with her multi-disciplined design studio and one of her most celebrated projects is the design and renovation of the “Calligraphy Museum of Mir-emad” in 1999. She also directed a documentary about an early 18th century painter, “Agha-Lotfali Shirazi”, in 1997. Firoozeh has worked as a mixed media artist and has exhibited her work in Tehran, Toronto, and Paris.
Infatuated with art, artists, and everything in between, she is now the owner and director of Arta Gallery located in Toronto’s Distillery District. In 2003 Arta was the first gallery to introduce and showcase the works of renowned artists such as Bahman Mohasses, Naser Assar and Aydin Aghdashloo to Toronto’s art scene. Firoozeh has curated several collective exhibitions, namely, the “Under the Azure Dome” festival hosting works by Iranian and Canadian artists at the Harborfront Centre in 2006.
Delzendeh, Setareh
Setareh is a graduate in set & costume design from Azad University in Tehran, Iran. She has designed several film productions including Protest by well-known Iranian film director Masoud kimiaei. Setareh has also directed a short film, I Have Become, based on Peter Handke’s Self Accusation. Her professional experience in film editing includes a documentary project, "non-stop," by Afshin Liaghat. This film won the audience prize of the Milan Film Festival in 2002. After her arrival in Canada , she has been working with great theatre directors and designers including Soheil Parsa (Modern Times Stage Company), Astrid Janson (Canstage, Pacific Opera), Martha Henry (Canstage), Jon Mickelson (Mercury Theatre), Anita Majumdar (Theatre Passe Muraille) and Sandy Macdonald (Theatre Muskoka). Setareh was also the artistic director, production manager, décor designer and visual arts coordinator of Under the Azure Dome Festival in Harbourfront Centre (2006) and Décor designer (HFC, World Routes Festivals /2006). Currently Setareh is working on directing a new play written by herself( Less than a half).
Children Activity Director
Ghavami, Parisa
Parisa Ghavami has a Bachelor degree in English Literature from Iran
and also a Bachelor of Education degree from York University in
Toronto. She taught English (ESL) in Iran for 7 years where she
had an opportunity to teach both children and adults. She also
organized and supervised the English program of an Iranian
Private School.
Currently Parisa is employed with the Toronto District School
Board where she has worked as an elementary teacher
(kindergarten- grade 8) for 8 years. During this time, she
has had the opportunity to work with children of all ages and
abilities. She has also taken some specialized courses in Reading
and Writing which gave her the title of the Reading Specialist.
The knowledge that Parisa has acquired from these series of
courses have helped her to assist students who are at risk
with their reading and writing skills. Parisa has also designed
and presented different workshops for teachers regarding
implementation of the Ontario Curriculum expectations into
teaching practice.
Music Director
Moghaddas, Reza
A musician, producer, and sound engineer, Reza studied Mathematics Applied in Computer at Azad University in Iran and Computer Graphics Animation at Cavendish College in 1996. He started playing piano at the age of nine and entered the world of sound engineering at age of 15. He was the founder of Bamahang Studios - the first digital recording studio in Iran - in 1998 and registered Bamahang Productions in Canada in 2005.
Reza has been involved in various movie, theatre and music productions in Iran and Canada and has worked with many masters of Persian music, cinema, and theatre such as Shajarian, Hossein Alizadeh, Keyhan Kalhor, Kamkars, Dastan Ensemble, Mohammad Nouri, Juan Martin, Bahram Beizaei, Kamal Tabrizi, Rasool Mollagholipour, Helena Waldman, Iraj Karimi. Googoosh, and Babak Amini.
He recently worked as a free-lance sound engineer, musician, and producer with Small World Music, Cherry Beach Sound, TARA Audio Recording Academy, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto Centre for the Arts, London Sun Festival, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Omni TV, and many universities in Canada. Reza specializes in world music, ethnic and traditional and has had various performances with Toronto Beat Map, Reza Derakhashani and Mamak Khadem in Canada.
Dance Director
Sabaye Moghaddam, Maria
(Ph. D.)
A scientist by profession, Maria has initiated, organized, and performed in many events committed to promoting Iranian art and culture in Canada. She has performed in over fifty charity, cultural, and artistic events and appeared on Roger’s Television. Her literary contributions cover a wide range of articles and essays on Iranian literature and art, establishing a literary column in the most widely read Persian newspaper in Toronto (Shahrvand), conducting interviews with artistic and literary figures, and translating books and articles. Maria was on the board of directors of IAUT (2004) and acted as an artistic director, organizer, and a spokesperson for Under the Azure Dome (2006, Harbourfront Centre).
Literature Director
Shaker, Farya
(Ph. D.)
A researcher by profession, Farya has been very much involved in the life of Iranian Community in Toronto. He was a member of the board of Under the Azure Dome and acted as the media coordinator of this cultural festival. He has collaborated with many Iranian Organizations such as Iranian Association at University of Toronto (IAUT) in many different ways. His fluency in English and Persian has led to invited lectures on culture in various community and cultural events. He has also been collaborating with international organizations such as Amnesty International for many years.
Operation Director
Lili Nabavi graduated with a Masters degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from National University of Iran. She later obtained a second degree in Landscape Architecture from Ryerson University. She has worked in Ministry of Municipal Affair and Housing in Toronto as Urban Planner and as a freelance designer in building and landscaping. Lili has been very active in the community and served on the board of directors of many organizations including the Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects (1992-1994), Center for Iranian Artists of Ontario (1992-1995), and Iranian Women Organization of Ontario (since 2007). Her dedication to education has led her to run about 30 workshops and courses for Self Esteem and Meditation since 1998 and teaching Persian literature in Toronto Farsi School. She has been an active volunteer for Children’s Aid Society and ran workshops for Iranian Cancer support group in Toronto as well. Lili has been involved in the media in many contexts including hosting a weekly radio program for Radio SIT (since 2000) and a TV program called Image of Iran TV which is about Women’s social difficulties in the world and Iran (since 2006). She is an avid researcher and writer in poetry and different areas of Mysticism and has published Rumi’s poems in Sufi Magazine (published in London, England).
