The Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas recently held its coming out party.
More than 100 people attended the group’s inaugural event at the Bellagio to learn more about its mission of networking, education, mentoring — and understanding.
The Southern Nevada Iranian community “tries to really get involved,” said Samira Knight, an attorney and co-founder of the chamber.
“We want to invite people from across the valley to work with us,” she said, adding that the chamber wants to help connect Iranian-Americans with the broader Las Vegas-area business community.
Paymon Raouf is a restaurateur and a chamber board member. He moved to Las Vegas 30 years ago and now owns two popular restaurants in Las Vegas.
He said when he first moved to Southern Nevada there were not many Persian people, but now many more have moved here.
He wants the chamber to help "everybody else understand how welcoming and positive Persian communities are and how supportive of the community we are."
Roya Khavari is a real estate agent and co-founder of the chamber. She said the chamber has already started to hold events like a non-partisan meet the candidates event, and they're looking to set up mentorship programs for recent graduates.
Samira Knight, co-founder, Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce; Paymon Raouf, restaurateur and chamber board member; Roya Khavari, chamber co-founder