The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, PAAIA, Inc., is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, nonreligious 501(c)(4) membership organization that aims to "serve the domestic interests of Iranian Americans and represent the community before U.S. policymakers and the American public at large."[1] PAAIA Inc. and its affiliated 501(c)(3) organization, PAAIA Fund, were founded by a group of Iranian-Americans including many notable individuals such as Goli Ameri, Rudi Bakhtiar, Firouz Naderi and Omid Kordestani.[2] The term PAAIA, however, is used to refer to both entities without distinction.[1]
PAAIA also has a connected Political Action Committee, IAPAC, that promotes and contributes to the election of Iranian-American and American candidates for political office.[1]
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Approximately 70 Iranian-Americans participated in the founding of this organization. As a result, PAAIA was born in August 2007 as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit bipartisan, non-sectarian, national membership organization together with an affiliated 501(c)(3), PAAIA Fund, with the goal of "representing and advancing the interests of the Iranian American community." PAAIA publicly launched in April 2008.[1]
PAAIA's activities range from promoting legislations such as Nowruz Resolution[3] to holding seminars featuring keynote speakers such as Senator Shucmer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.[4]
In 2008, PAAIA commissioned Zogby International to survey the Iranian-American community's attitudes on important issues. A follow-up survey was also conducted in 2009. These surveys were the first of their kind and have been presented to the United States Congress, the media, and the general public.[5][6]