Immigrant Conversations

She spent her wedding gift on moving to the states and fulfilling her dream of higher education. She faced many obstacles but she kept one motto in her life. My guest this week is Mastaneh Sharafi, an immigrant from Iran. Mastaneh has a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences and is a Registered Dietitian. She has received training in diet quality, ingestive behavior, and nutrition across life stages from the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Connecticut. She is an author of multiple papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her experience beyond the academic years includes working in scientific and clinical affairs for nutrition and fitness industries, as well as serving as an expert, and keynote speaker for scientific and leadership platforms. She is currently the senior director of scientific and clinical affairs at Ritual, a health and technology company dedicated to improving public well-being through evidence-based science.

With her ailing mother’s encouragement, she packed her two suitcases and moved from Colombia to an empty apartment in North Carolina. She struggled to gather her life before her daughters arrived, but she learned to dry her tears and move on with her life.

My guest this week is Maria Isabel Monsalve, who left her life as the dean of the school of education to live in her dream country. She faced many struggles during her citizenship journey, and finally, after 13 years she received her green card. In this episode, not only she talks about her journey, the struggles she and her daughters faced, the lessons she learned during her immigration journey, and the values she taught her daughters who are a diplomat and a Harvard student.

As a kindergarten teacher to minority students, Maria has valuable insight for immigrant parents and teachers in these trying times regarding teacher, student, parent triangle, and the importance of parent involvement in a virtual setting while helping teachers understand a valuable lesson.

If you are a parent concerned about your children’s virtual learning, this episode is for you. In this special episode, Mehran your host is providing you with research-backed information to help you make an informed decision regarding an In-person vs. Virtual learning. Additionally, she will provide you with 10 tips to improve virtual learning for your children.

Below are some of the resources we used in preparing the episode. We invite you to read and interpret the data yourself.

Also, please remember as our understanding of COVID19 expands, some of these articles might not be relevant. So we suggest doing your own research when making important decisions.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/06/02/virtual-charter-schools-and-online-learning-during-covid-19/

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/26/should-kids-return-to-school-20-medical-experts-weigh-in.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/us/virus-teachers-classrooms.html

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/school-openings-across-globe-suggest-ways-keep-coronavirus-bay-despite-outbreaks

https://www.ncld.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A-Parents-Guide-to-Virtual-Learning-4-Actions-To-Improve-your-Childs-Experience-with-Online-Learning.pdf

https://www.methodschools.org/blog/parent-tips-for-online-learning-success

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/coronavirus/most_parents_want_schools_to_reopen_in_the_fall

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/898584176/most-teachers-concerned-about-in-person-school-2-in-3-want-to-start-the-year-onl

https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/the-missing-link-children-and-transmission-of-sars-cov-2/

Coming from a high profile affluent family, she fled Afghanistan with nothing but a bag of clothes. Following the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, she first moved to Germany in 1979, and later to Chicago at the age of 17. Currently, she is residing in San Diego, CA where she works as a speech and language pathologist in Poway Unified school, one of America’s best public school systems.

My guest this week is Neda Olomi a refugee from Afghanistan. In this episode she shares her journey, her vision and her aspirations as an Afghan-American. Neda loves to paint on her spare time. She paints for herself, her clients and the charities she is involved in. you can visit her site at https://www.nedaokart.com/

The link to her charity is http://helpinghandrftp.org/ to donate to their winter drive using this link: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=234094...

To increase awareness please share the incidents where you felt discriminated against at [email protected] or fill out this form:

Coming from a high profile affluent family, she fled Afghanistan with nothing but a bag of clothes. Following the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, she first moved to Germany in 1979, and later to Chicago at the age of 17. Currently, she is residing in San Diego, CA where she works as a speech and language pathologist in Poway Unified school, one of America’s best public school systems.

My guest this week is Neda Olomi a refugee from Afghanistan. In this episode she shares her journey, her vision, and her aspirations as an Afghan-American. Neda loves to paint in her spare time. She paints for herself, her clients, and the charities she is involved in. you can visit her site at https://www.nedaokart.com/

The link to her charity is http://helpinghandrftp.org/ to donate to their winter drive using this link: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=234094...

To increase awareness please share the incidents where you felt discriminated against at [email protected] or fill out this form: https://forms.gle/c2h6DLbjxa7aGXqQ6

With 35 years of experience as a healthcare executive, he is a board member to CVS Health and 7 other companies. Being involved in acquisitions and mergers up to a billion-dollar in the states and around the world, he an advisor and consultant to many new ventures in the US and Europe especially during early development. My guest this week is J.P Millon, an immigrant from France who talks about his immigration journey, his learnings in the area of cross-cultural communication, and his vision on leadership development among minorities.

Turkey’s got talent semi-finalist Temi Hason joined Empowering conversationZ podcast this week to share her taxing immigration journey. Temi traveled between the United States and Turkey 4 times in a short time to maintain lawful status. Being betrayed by lawyers and sponsors, she learned a painful lesson: to only trust herself and have everything in writing. She didn’t hesitate to clean the bathrooms, live in undesirable conditions, or stand in lines for 16 hrs to showcase her talent in 30 seconds. Her tireless attitude ultimately led her to live in the United States, play in her dream shows, and owning her personal business. This episode is an inspiring tale of an immigrant who reached her dream.

Temi provided us with pictures of her shows that you can find on our YouTube channel @ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1hYCLVWaNShHu0482IqP1A/

You can also connect with Temi through her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amusicalhome/

Cultural awareness plays an essential role in one's professional growth. In this special episode, Mehran educates her audience on different aspects of culture that impacted Layla’s growth and how the new awareness lead her to become an effective leader.

In this episode, she talks about

-Communicating with Low vs. high context cultures

-Hierarchy and its role in one’s leadership development

-Different ways trust can be built

My guest this week is president and CEO of LogicBio Therapeutics. With 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, he is an immigrant from France. In this episode, Frederic Chereau talks about his journey, his cultural differences as a team leader, and how his English affected the opportunities presented to him as an executive. He also shares many tips and lessons with Empowering conversationZ audience.

You will enjoy this episode, especially if:

-You have a strong accent wondering how it impacts your professional growth.

-You have a multicultural team and looking for ways to improve communication

-You are lacking a little motivation in life

Azita Khatami’s story is an empowering tale of a typical stay home mother from the middle east. Back home, her husband provided financially while she was responsible for everything kids and house related. After they won the green card lottery and moved to the States, they happily maintained their culture until the accident. The tragic accident that killed her husband. Losing her husband, Azita had to make a major decision, leaving the states knowing financial and emotional support is readily available back home or to keep her late husband’s promise and fight her way through life’s obstacles. She stayed. And not only mothered her two young boys but also learned English, attended college and found a job.

Looking back Azita tells her story and hopes to inspire other women from similar cultures to be more independent. To her, this is real life!

San Diego business journal names her one of the architects of the local life science sector. As the first woman inducted into the Connect Entrepreneur Hall of fame, Dr. Magda Marquet is an accomplished immigrant from France.

In this interview, you will hear

-Magda's immigration story

-Her path to success

-Her insights on why women don’t grow in leadership positions

-Her suggestions on how to grow in leadership positions regardless of gender, ethnicity, and …

To know more about her

Dr. Magda Marquet has built, led, and commercialized multiple life science companies. She is the co-founder of AltheaDx, a commercial-stage, precision medicine company with the world’s leading pharmacogenomics test for anxiety and depression, and ALMA Life Sciences, LLC, an early-stage investment firm creating and growing innovative healthcare companies. Dr. Marquet co-founded Althea Technologies and, as its co-CEO with full P&L responsibility, led the company to become a leader in the field and a highly profitable, commercial company. As a result, she guided Althea to a successful acquisition by Ajinomoto, a global Japanese company and leader in amino acid technology.Prior to starting Althea Technologies, Dr. Marquet held several positions in pharmaceutical development in companies such as Vical and Amylin Pharmaceuticals.She currently serves on the following Boards: Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT) (Compensation Committee Chair, member of the Audit Committee). She also serves on the Board of Pfenex (PFNX) (Nomination and Governance Committee) and she serves on several private companies boards such as Senté, Micronoma, and HUYA Biosciences International.As a former founder and CEO, Dr. Marquet has broad operational, fundraising expertise including venture, private equity, and venture debt. She also brings expertise in M&A, global commercial development, regulatory strategies, and building a winning culture of innovation and strategic growth.Dr. Marquet holds a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from INSA/University of Toulouse, France. She has received numerous prestigious awards throughout her career including the 2005 Regional Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Life Sciences category, the Athena Pinnacle award, the Director of the Year award (Corporate Governance) from the Corporate Directors Forum and has been inducted into the CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.