A Middle East scholar, foreign policy adviser and commentator on international relations whose most recent book, The Dispensable Nation, deals with the implications of the Obama administration’s foreign policy on American strategic interests. His earlier books, Forces of Fortune and The Shia Revival, examined the postwar sectarian violence in Iraq and the uprisings known as the Arab Spring and contributed to US policy formulated in response to those events; prior to being named Johns Hopkins SAIS dean, was a professor of international politics at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; from 2009 to 2011, was special adviser to the president’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; served on the faculties of the Naval Postgraduate School, Stanford University, the University of California, San Diego and the University of San Diego; was a Carnegie Scholar and a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, an adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution; currently a member of the US Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations; PhD, political science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cyrus Mehri is a founding partner of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC. He litigates cases involving discrimination, civil and consumer rights, and corporate fraud. Fast Company says, “He is something of a one-man army in the battle against business as usual… His impact – both in terms of penalties and remedies – is undeniable,” while the New York Times says, “Mr. Mehri’s vision for corporate America involves sweeping change, not the piecemeal kind.”
Mr. Mehri’s reputation is well-earned. He has led and co-led some of the largest and most significant race and gender cases in U.S. history, including Roberts v. Texaco Inc., which resulted in a $176 million award for discrimination, and Ingram v. The Coca-Cola Company, which resulted in a $192 million settlement. Both the Texaco and Coca-Cola settlements included a Court appointed Task Force overseeing sweeping improvements in promotion, compensation, evaluation and other HR systems. Mr. Mehri also spearheaded the Robinson v. Ford Motor Company case, which resulted in the creation of 279 apprenticeship positions for African-American employees and a $10 million payment, as well as creation of new state-of-the-art testing protocols for apprenticeship positions. Mr. Mehri achieved similar settlements involving selection procedures with other companies such as Alcoa and Visteon. Mr. Mehri also played a lead role in the $24 million settlement against John Hancock Life Insurance Company, resolving claims of decades-old discriminatory practices in the sale and marketing of life insurance policies to African-Americans, including a $15 million cy pres component to be distributed to organizations that benefit African-American communities.
The “Women on Wall Street” project, which Mr. Mehri launched with the National Council of Women’s Organizations to end discrimination against women in financial institutions, has achieved settlements with Morgan Stanley & Co. ($47 million), Smith Barney ($33 million) and Wells Fargo/Wachovia ($32 million), exceeding $114 million in total, along with transforming the opportunities available to women on Wall Street.
As co-founder of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an affinity group for NFL minority coaches, front office and scouting personnel that advocates for the hiring and promotion of minority candidates within the NFL ranks, Mr. Mehri has worked to dramatically change the face of NFL management—and level the playing field.After he wrote, with Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities, the NFL adopted the “Rooney Rule,” a comprehensive diversity program under which the NFL has reached historical numbers of black management personnel, including head coaches. For seven straight years after the 2006 season, one or both clubs in the Super Bowl featured an African-American General Manager or Head Coach.
The NFL also looked to Mr. Mehri to implement a new Player Assessment Test (PAT), an innovative tool to capture the non-physical attributes of a successful NFL player and to reduce socioeconomic bias in the drafting process. The PAT was unveiled at the 2013 Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and has been used by most of the NFL Clubs.
For his advocacy, in 2014, Mr. Mehri was given the Cornell Law School Public Service Award. Hartwick College chose Mr. Mehri as its 2009 Commencement Speaker and inaugural alumni hall of fame. The Detroit City Council passed a testimonial resolution honoring Mr. Mehri and wishing him “continued success in changing the fabric of America, and the Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. awarded Mr. Mehri its Award of Excellence and the City of Miami gave him the Distinguished Visitor Award.
He was named by Regardie’s Power magazine as one of “Washington’s Ten Most Feared Lawyers” and by Workforce magazine as “Corporate America’s Scariest Opponent.”

As PAAIA’s Executive Director, Dr. Leila Golestaneh Austin provides operational direction for the organization, ensuring that PAAIA’s three pillars of influence-building, leadership-building, and bridge-building are met.

A Professorial Lecturer in Global Theory and History and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (“SAIS”), Dr. Austin served as deputy director of Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute at SAIS. She also manages a multi-year grant that launched the Global Politics and Religion Initiative at SAIS. In addition, Dr. Austin teaches in the Global Security Studies department of Johns Hopkins University’s Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the American University’s School of International Service. She has previously taught at Georgetown University’s Center for Arab Studies and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Dr. Austin received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University and her M.A. in International Affairs from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

Shayan Modarres is civil rights activist and trial lawyer. Over the course of his career as a civil rights attorney in Florida and the Washington Metropolitan area, Mr. Modarres has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases and has successfully held bad actors in law enforcement accountable for civil rights violations and misconduct. Most notably, Mr. Modarres served as legal counsel to the family of Trayvon Martin.

Inspired by his work as a civil rights attorney, Mr. Modarres decided to run for Congress for Florida’s Tenth Congressional District in 2014. Stories of disparity and inequality across the nation fuel his commitment to civil rights and social justice reform.

Mr. Modarres holds a B.A. in Law and Society from American University and a J.D. from Florida A&M University College of Law, where he graduated cum laude and served on the Editorial Board of the Law Review Journal

Navid Haghighi is executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for XO. In this role, he leads the XO legal and regulatory department, and serves on the executive management team. Haghighi manages all aspects of legal and telecommunications regulatory functions at XO, including complex transactions, litigation, employment, corporate, real estate, procurement, intellectual property, state and federal regulatory compliance and legislative affairs. Haghighi has more than 20 years of wide-ranging experience in telecommunications and web services, including technical and management positions at AT&T where he began his career in the technical ranks. His law firm and in-house positions have allowed him to practice at the intersection of law and technology. Prior to joining XO in 2004, Haghighi held legal and business positions at MCI and AOL, and worked as an associate in a Washington, D.C. law firm.

Haghighi holds an undergraduate degree in computer science from Louisiana State University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Virginia, and is a graduate of the University of Maryland School Of Law. Haghighi serves on the board of directors for the Washington Metropolitan Area Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel.