The FEZANA Executive is happy to announce the first set of new appointments.
Ana Verahrami joins as Co-Chair of ZYWB (Zoraoastrian Youth Without Borders)
Freyaz Shroff shall be FEZANA’s Ambassador to India. This is a first of it’s kind role and we welcome Freyaz in this new initiative.
Parshan Khosravi shall chair ZYNA (Zoroastrian Youth of North America)
Sanaya Master joins FEZANA Unity and Welfare Committee as Co-Chair.
Homi D. Gandhi returns as Co-Chair of FEZANA’s Interfaith Activities Committee.
You can read more about each one of them below. Please join us in welcoming all of them in their new roles and positions. FEZANA is grateful to all of them for taking the time and effort to step up to the plate. We look forward to their dedication and passion in the years ahead as they serve our community.
Ana Verahrami is a conservation biologist with a passion for storytelling, photography, and protecting the natural world. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 2017 and is currently completing her Masters in Ecology at Colorado State University. In addition, she is a researcher with the Elephant Listening Project (ELP), a research lab at Cornell University that uses acoustic monitoring to conserve and protect forest elephants throughout Central Africa. Through her graduate work and ongoing collaboration with ELP, Ana is using sounds from the Congo Basin to explore the complex relationships between forest elephant abundance and activity, poaching pressure, and logging intensity.
Ana is a member of ZAMWI and can be reached at akv27@cornell.edu
Freyaz Shroff began her journey with FEZANA about 20 years ago with the Critical Assistance Committee known today as the Unity & Welfare Committee. She went on to serve as FEZANA Co-Chair and under her tenure not only represented Fezana at the World Youth Congress held in Pune, but also co-hosted a successful North American Youth Congress in Miami, Florida. She has assisted with cases of domestic violence, poverty relief and medical aid. She represented FEZANA at the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women and has also been honored with FEZANA’s Jamshed Pavri Humanitarian Award. With her now settled in Mumbai, India we would like to announce that she will be serving as FEZANA’s Ambassador to India. In this capacity she will represent FEZANA officially at local events, and liase on behalf of FEZANA with India based institutions, organizations and individuals. Freyaz will also work in fostering cross-continent collaboration on various projects with special emphasis on youth and welfare.
Parshan Khosravi is the chair of ZYNA and the immediate past Chair of the 7th World Zoroastrian Youth Congress. He is a double alum of the University of California, having received his undergraduate degree from UC Irvine and his Master’s Degree in Public Policy from UCLA. His policy focus areas include voting rights, higher education, and immigration. In his professional life, Parshan serves as the Government Relations Director for the University of California Student Association, where he leads the organization’s state and national advocacy efforts in Sacramento and Washington DC. Parshan believes that one of the key elements to the preservation of the Zoroastrian faith and way of life is by establishing an active and unified presence of Zoroastrians in the sociopolitical global landscape, and he has set it his mission to create and preserve a voice for Zoroastrians and especially Zarthushti youth across the nation and abroad.
Parshan is a member of CZC and can be reached at parshankhosravi@gmail.com
Sanaya Master is Comms and Engagement Specialist originally from New Zealand, now living in Vancouver, Canada. She conceptualized and organized the first World Zoroastrian Youth Leaders Forum at the ASHA Centre in the UK in March 2018. She has been a speaker at global and local Zoroastrian events including the 7th World Zoroastrian Youth Congress in LA, USA and the Jamshed K Pavri Seminar in Vancouver, Canada. She has also guest-edited of the FEZANA Journal twice. In August 2019, Sanaya attended the 68th UN Civil Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah and compiled the Rapporteurs Report on behalf of FEZANA. She was also selected to be a Panelist and Moderator at the 64th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Conference in March 2020 at the UN headquarters in New York. Due to the pandemic, the conference was cancelled; however, the presentation was recorded and shared online. Sanaya looks forward to joining the FEZANA Welfare Committee, reaching out to those in need and doing her bit to contribute towards the welfare of her local and gobal community.
Sanaya is a member of ZSBC and can be reached at sanaya.master@xtra.co.nz
Homi D. Gandhi is FEZANA’s immediate past president. He returns to the interfaith committee where he was the Co-Chair before he stepped down to take over the FEZANA President’s duties. Homi is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. Homi retired from active corporate life after working for 20 years in public accounting over 4 continents and for 25 years in market regulation at the NYSE & FINRA. He served as President of ZAGNY (2002-2008) and President of FEZANA (2016-2020). Homi has represented Zoroastrian community in Interfaith Activities at many national and global events and was the first Main Representative of FEZANA NGO at the UN. Currently, Homi is Co-President on the World Council of Religions for Peace International. Homi also Co-Chairs Zarathushti Entrepreneurship Development Foundation (ZEDF).
Homi is currently an active member of ZAC LA but retains his decades long membership at ZAGNY, besides IZA and CZC. He can be reached at homidgandhi@gmail.com
