THANK YOU to all who helped make NIAC’s May 3rd Chicago fundraiser a huge success, for the sake of peace and diplomacy with Iran! Thanks to our generous Chicago supporters, we beat our $45K fundraising goal — and enjoyed a wonderful evening of inspiring words and delicious food!
During this special event, guests enjoyed hearing insightful remarks from our incredible Keynote Speaker, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell). Colonel Wilkerson discussed the risks involved for US national security and global peace, if Congress blocks an Iran deal this summer. He also shared lessons he learned from personally being involved in the Iraq war, and emphasized his profound commitment to ensuring that the U.S. not sabotage a historic chance at peace with Iran.
Of course, the event could not have happened without the leadership and hard work of our amazing Host Committee! Major thanks to Ali Fatemi, Lyric Hughes Hale, Kaveh Mirani, Karim Pakravan, Parviz Pakravan, and Mark Zivin — and to the team at Mirani’s restaurant for catering a fabulous feast! We also are incredibly grateful to our hosts, Marc & Tracy Whitehead, for so generously hosting us at their absolutely beautiful, historic home — which houses one of the largest collections of American folk art in the country.
Last but not least, many thanks to our talented photographer, Cyrus Dowlatshahi; our dear volunteers, Ali Tarokh and Ala Hashemi-Haeri; and our wonderful musical guest Mehran Jalili!
We greatly appreciate NIAC’s Chicago supporters for investing so generously in peace and diplomacy – especially during this critical historical moment in US-Iran relations — and we hope to be back soon!
We hope you’ll enjoy checking out our event photos on our Facebook page!
