I’d like to welcome you all to the 2024 year ahead at the Iranian American Democrats of California as we look ahead to an important fourth year.
IADC is a statewide organization dedicated to engaging, educating and empowering our community. As such, in the years since our establishment, we have made important endorsements supporting impactful candidates through a now finely honed endorsement process. These candidates have represented a broad cross section of American identities in politics with progressive points of view and new ideas that lend to the Democratic discourse.
Additionally, we have taken positions on impactful legislation that mattered to the communities we represent across California, and supported a concurrent CA legislative Resolution that gave voice to the woman, life, freedom movement for civil rights in Iran. We proposed and advocated for the “Allyship Act”, which was introduced on the occasion of Yalda by Representatives Barbara Lee on December 21, 2022. In addition to all this, we’ve collaborated with other advocacy organizations on important laws at the State and Federal level, which benefit our community. These include the Temporary Family Visitation Act (TFVA) and Middle East or North African (MENA) Addition to the Uniform Racial Classification Act.
To ensure our priorities and values are representative of the Iranian American community in California, we coordinated a first of its kind, independent non-partisan poll of the Iranian Americans who live in California. The project was 100% community funded and the results have been well received by policy makers and candidates, shedding light on the priorities of this important community.
Earlier this year, we were formally recognized by the CA Democratic Party as a state chartered organization, and with many CADEM members in our midst, we are now very much an integral part of the State Democratic Party representing Iranian-Americans for the first time in a formal way, statewide.
2024 promises to be even more important, as we lay out our priorities and continue to set our sights on increasing the voice of Iranian Americans on the political stage and in policy circles. Our endorsements continue to have an impact on races for elected positions across California cities and counties, as well as State and congressional districts.
Throughout the course of this activity, we remain mindful that our community increasingly relies on IADC to strengthen the voice of Iranian-Americans across California. This is a state where Iranian-Americans have made great strides across every major economic and social platform, and we are poised to become an important political voice.
IADC is committed to strengthening our presence and policy narratives and improving our ability to impact legislation that affects our collective future as Americans. I welcome you all to join us by becoming a member, donating to support our projects, and taking part in our leadership opportunities so that we can add strength to our collective voice and represent the widest possible cross-section of Iranian-American interests. We are excited to embark on the year ahead and hope you will continue to take part in and follow our work.
