Recording Secretary-Melahat Rafiei Khwaja
I was born in Tehran and came to the United States in 1983. My family has always lived in California. I attended Cal Poly Pomona where I studies Philosophy with an emphasis in Law & Society and Biology. I am very active in Orange County politics. I am a member of the Orange County Democratic Central Committee, Orange County Young Democrats, Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club, West Orange County Democratic Club, National Women’s Political Caucus and Arab American Caucus. I was a delegate to the State Democratic Convention this past April. Currently I am the Campaign Director for Jim Brandt (www.brandtforcongress.com) who is running for congress in the 46th Congressional District. I also run the Democracy for America Group in Orange County (www.dfa-oc.org); this group is a spin-off of the Howard Dean Presidential Campaign. Beginning during the presidential primary of 2004, I coordinated fundraisers for the greater Los Angeles area and was responsible for over $1 million in fundraising; Coordinated of Orange County volunteers and established and run monthly meetings of up to 120 attendees; Organized and hosted fundraising event for L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti; Coordinated for DSCC fundraiser which raised over $500,000 with Senators Clinton, Boxer, Harkin, Corzine, Senator Obama and Governor Dean.
I believe that it the time for Iranian-Americans to have a voice in US politics is long over due. My hope for IAD is to bring that voice to our community.