Speaker Kit
Full Biography:
Mana Kharrazi is a community leader and organizer with over 10 years of experience in racial justice, identity-based, and youth leadership movement work. Mana currently serves as the Rapid Response Campaign Director for MoveOn, and as the Director of the No War Campaign. Mana is the former Executive Director of IAAB, an Iranian-American grassroots organization that aims to strengthen the Iranian diaspora and empower its youth. Since first joining as a student in 2006, Mana has trained and developed over a thousand young leaders and worked alongside hundreds of parents, educators, student organizations, and community leaders to improve the lives of Iranian Americans in a demonized climate.
Mana led IAAB during its legal battle against the Muslim Ban, IAAB v Trump, which was the first legal challenge to Muslim Ban 3.0. The lawsuit succeeded in obtaining an injunction in October, 2017 and won in the Fourth Circuit in February, 2018 until the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the Ban in June.
Prior to leading IAAB, Mana was a Field Organizer at Amnesty International USA, leading the organization's work in Alabama, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Mana served in AIUSA's Southern regional office, which focused on combatting counter-terrorism measures, immigrant detention, the death penalty, and maternal mortality. Mana also served as Educational Director of a Greek refugee organization and co-developed the first comprehensive educational program for youth at Elpida camp, a model camp featured on Huffington Post and Elle.
Mana and her work have appeared on BBC Worldwide, BBC Persia, Huffington Post, ABC Frontline, CNN, and CNN International. She has also written for The Guardian and The Washington Post. Mana and Camp Ayandeh, IAAB’s celebrated high school leadership camp, were also featured in The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race, a groundbreaking work about shifting racial status in the United States.
Mana is a ‘Progressive Women’s Voice’ of the Women’s Media Center and a 2018 Ford Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project. Mana was also featured in Neda Nobari Foundation’s ‘West of Middle East’ podcast series as a changemaker in education. Mana received her B.A. in International Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, along with a minor in Persian, from Emory University.
Shortened Biography:
Mana Kharrazi is a community leader and organizer with over 10 years of experience in racial justice, identity-based, and youth leadership movement work. Mana currently serves as the Rapid Response Campaign Director for MoveOn, and as the Director of the No War Campaign. Mana is the former Executive Director of IAAB (Iranian Alliances Across Borders), an Iranian-American grassroots organization that aims to strengthen the Iranian diaspora and empower its youth. Since first joining as a student in 2006, Mana has trained and developed over a thousand young leaders and worked alongside hundreds of parents, educators, student organizations, and community leaders to improve the lives of Iranian Americans in a demonized climate.
Mana led IAAB during its legal battle against the Muslim Ban, IAAB v Trump, which was the first legal challenge to Muslim Ban 3.0. The lawsuit succeeded in obtaining an injunction in October, 2017 and won in the Fourth Circuit in February, 2018 until the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the Ban in June.
Prior to leading IAAB, Mana was a Field Organizer at Amnesty International USA, leading the organization's work in Alabama, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Mana also served as Educational Director of a Greek refugee organization and co-developed the first comprehensive educational program for youth at Elpida camp in Northern Greece.
Mana and her work have appeared on BBC Worldwide, BBC Persia, Huffington Post, ABC Frontline, CNN, and CNN International. She has also written for The Guardian and The Washington Post. Mana received her B.A. in International Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, along with a minor in Persian, from Emory University.
Short Bio:
Mana currently serves as the Rapid Response Campaign Director for MoveOn, and as the Director of the No War Campaign. Mana is the former Executive Director of IAAB, an organization that strengthens the Iranian diaspora and empowers youth. Mana led IAAB during its legal battle, IAAB v Trump, the first lawsuit against Muslim Ban 3.0, blocking the Ban and winning in the Fourth Circuit. Mana was a Field Organizer at Amnesty International USA, leading in Alabama, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Mana was also Educational Director of a Greek refugee organization, co-developing the first comprehensive educational refugee youth program. Mana and her work have appeared on BBC, CNN, Frontline, and Huffington Post. She has also written for The Guardian and The Washington Post.