Name Mahdis Keshavarz | ||
Mahdis Keshavarz (born September 7, 1976) is an Iranian born New York based media strategist, journalist, socio-political media liaison, human rights activist, and former youth television host. Keshavarz parents immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1979.
Contents
- Early Work
- Work
- Individuals
- Films and Festivals
- Organizations
- Books
- Special Events
- Causes and Philanthropy
- Former Groups and Associations
- Honors
- References
A 1998 graduate of the University of Washington, she studied communications and international studies. She is currently the principal of The Make Agency and works as a liaison between prominent NGO’s, cultural figures and artists. Keshavarz is the wife of business mogul Shaahin Cheyene.
Early Work
As a teen in the early 1990s Keshavarz worked at a former Mayor Rosemary Ives Office Youth Liaison in the City of Redmond where she was one of the founders of the Old Fire House. She was a teen host of Get Real, a public access television show in Seattle. Keshavarz acted in Edge of Quarrel (2000), a drama about a Straight Edge Punk kid who returns to his hometown after college to discover the local Punks and Straight Edge kids involved in a conflict with one another.
Work
Keshavarz launched her public relations career in 1998 upon college graduation. As a marketing coordinator for the Atrieva Corporation she began working in design, writing, branding, analysis, and editing. By the following year relocating to New York City, Keshavarz helped organize the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace Conference as a consultant and program assistant. She worked directly with senior members of the United Nations, including the office of Secretary General, and various governments.
Her career fast tracked, landing her in the position of Vice President of Riptide Communications beginning in 2000. While there, Keshavarz continued to cultivate her strong interest in addressing social justice and human rights issues. While at Riptide she worked on high-profile cases for organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights. At the forefront of the media efforts against the war she was a central PR figure around cases at Guantanamo and anti-war [] and anti-death penalty efforts.
She is a board member of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association.
Keshavarz works on behalf of select clients and for her companies and offers crisis communications in politics as well as media strategy on arts and cultural issues.
Mahdis Keshavarz has taken the lead media position on select human rights issues concentrating on Middle Eastern matters. She has placed thousands of news stories and op-eds with various media outlets – including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, BBC, The Village Voice, and Al Jazeera – on behalf of her clients.
Her client roster includes international dignitaries, Hollywood stars and numerous film festivals and events focusing on the Middle East community for both a domestic and an international audience.
An accomplished advocate of human rights and social justice issues, Keshavarz has written for the online magazine Slate and has appeared as a commentator on BBC and Democracy Now! She serves on the advisory board for the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association.
Today Keshavarz oversees numerous national and international accounts addressing political, artistic, and cultural issues. Her best known work includes the representation of: