CANCELLED
Born in Tehran, Iran, Nina Ansary left her country of birth at the onset of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has not returned since. An avid philanthropist, she serves on the Middle East Institute Advisory Board at Columbia University, on Columbia University’s Global Leadership Council, the Board of Trustees of the IAWF (Iranian American Women’s Foundation), and the Advisory Board of the Pacific Youth Foundation. Since establishing a social media presence in Ansary’s work has found support in a rapidly growing fan base of over 200,000 journalists, feminists, politicians, scholars, filmmakers, women and men of all ages, from diverse religions and backgrounds, who have joined her Facebook and Twitter platform to share, discuss, and promote the accomplishments of Iranian women. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post and Women s eNews, an award-winning news website which recently honored her as one of the 21 Leaders of the 21st Century. In her book Jewels of Allah: The Untold Story of Women in Iran (Revela Press), Ansary shatters the stereotypical assumptions and the often misunderstood story of women in Iran today.