Shiva Khamsi-Farivar, one of IAD’s Founding Members, was born in Tehran, but spent ten years of her childhood in Germany with her family. After returning to Iran in 1972, she attended the German High School in Tehran, and received her diploma with an emphasis on Humanities and Foreign Languages. She came to the United States in 1978, and attended the University of California in San Diego, where she finished her undergraduate studies, and received her Bachelor’s Degrees in Political Science and German Literature. She continued her graduate studies at the University of California in Irvine, and received her Master’s Degree in German Literature. Throughout her graduate years, she taught undergraduate courses in English and German.
After graduating, she entered the banking industry, and for over eight years, she assumed diverse responsibilities ranging from Foreign Exchange to Operations to Investments.
Mrs. Farivar has been living in Irvine with her husband and her two children (ages 16 and 9) for the last ten years. With both her children attending Irvine schools, she has, throughout the years, volunteered at both her children’s schools, serving on various School Site Councils, working in the classrooms, and organizing various school activities.
She joined fellow Iranian Democrats residing in Orange County to form IAD. Having always been interested and passionate about politics, she saw the need for Iranian-Americans to have a political voice, and to pave the way for Iranians to enter the political stage. She is also active in other Community activities, and with various elections on the local and national level coming up, will devote more time to the different campaigns.