About Peyvand

Peyvand is a Non-profit, Non-Religious & Non-Political Organization

Our Mission

Peyvand is committed to elevate underrepresented multicultural and immigrant youth and their families to realize their potential through community building, education opportunities and enrichment resources.

Peyvand (Persian for “Union”) works at the intersection of culture, identity and belonging, building bridges in diverse communities through arts and cultural engagement.

Peyvand is dedicated to sharing SWANA (Southwest Asian/North African) arts and culture with Greater Seattle. Our work connects youth and their families in the diaspora with the broader community through art workshops, concerts, film screenings, and more.

Particularly because SWANA culture is often unknown in the general public, we believe that art is one of the best ways for people of all backgrounds to experience these cultures, investigate their own, and to make space for inclusion, deeper relationships, and a more tolerant community.

Peyvand's Core Values:

  • Altruism

  • Equity

  • Diversity

  • Inclusion

  • Knowledge

Pride in Heritage -Peyvand is dedicated to creating spaces where underrepresented immigrants and the general public together can celebrate and learn about the cultural heritage. We believe that heritage should be shared with the Greater Seattle community and welcome people from all walks of life at our community events.

Artistic Expression- Arts are a critical form of personal and cultural expression. The arts tell the stories of our ancestors and celebrate our identities. Peyvand is dedicated to the proliferation of SWANA (southwest Asia/North Africa) arts and artists.

Peyvand's Main Objectives

Meaningful Inclusion and Representation- We recognize that representation without a voice at the table is tokenism. We actively fight for intentional inclusion and diversity to build a strong community. Diversity includes but is not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexuality, disability, and age.

Individualized Scholastic Achievement- We recognize that education is not freely provided across the world and is a tool for socioeconomic growth. We support students of all ages pursuing self defined success in academics.

Community Development and Mutual Aid- In the absence of systems of support, Peyvand is committed to cultivating a community of support to empower each other. We are creating a community where all members can express themselves, learn from each other, and develop strong genuine connections.

Personal Development- Peyvand supports individuals in finding self defined success in many areas including but not limited to social emotional skills, leisure activities. Peyvand believes that all community members have the potential to become authentic, effective, leaders and should have the opportunity to explore their potential. We believe that all individuals should have access to the tools they need to become the people they want to be.

Peyvand's History

In 2011 the Near Eastern Languages and Civilization (NELC) program at UW initiated an advisory board program under the leadership of Dr. Joel Walker, Director, to coalesce the Iranian American community to support the Persian and Iranian Studies Program at UW. With the encouragement of UW, we formed an ad-hoc committee which eventually grew into Peyvand. This committee functioned both as a UW advisory board as well as present day Peyvand. For several years Peyvand hosted a sold out Nowruz event at UW. This group organized a successful fundraiser at Mercer Island Community Center on behalf of Persian and Iranian Studies that netted over $130,000. Eventually, some of the advisory board members formed a nonprofit entity by the name of Peyvand.