Born | Tehran, Iran; left with her family in fall 1978, at age ten |
Today | President, Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation; Vice Chair, ADL National Board |
Expertise | Global antisemitism, Iranian Jewish history, Israel studies, political science |
Education | BA, MA, and PhD, University of Southern California |
Speaks to | Universities, community audiences, policy forums, and government bodies |
Website | |
Dr. Sharon S. Nazarian was born in Tehran to an Iranian Jewish family. In the fall of 1978, when she was ten, her family flew out of Iran as revolution approached, never to return, and later settled in Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and international relations, and a master's degree and PhD in political science, at the University of Southern California, specializing in political economy and economic development.
She is president of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation in Los Angeles, which supports education and public policy work and has a regional office in Israel, and she founded and chairs the advisory board of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA. She has taught political science and global studies at UCLA as an adjunct professor and lecturer.
From 2017 to 2022 she served as Senior Vice President for International Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, leading its work against antisemitism and hate in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Israel. She testified before a joint House committee hearing in 2019, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2020, and a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee in 2023. She now serves as vice chair of ADL's national board.
Dr. Nazarian is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a trustee of Freedom House, and a senior fellow of the Moment Institute, where she reports on antisemitism around the world. Her 2023 essay for JIMENA's Distinctions journal reflects on viewing antisemitism through the lens of her Mizrahi experience. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.
One tragic aspect of my family story is its ordinariness when compared to Jewish stories throughout the millennia.
Dr. Sharon S. Nazarian, Distinctions, 2023
Speaking Topics
What Dr. Nazarian talks about
1. Leaving Iran
Her family's departure from Tehran in 1978 and the story of Iran's Jewish community.
2. Understanding Global Antisemitism
How antisemitism appears today in different regions of the world, and how communities respond.
3. A Mizrahi Lens on Antisemitism
What the experiences of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa add to the conversation on antisemitism.
4. A Sephardic Response to Antisemitism
Drawing on Sephardic and Mizrahi history and values to build resilience.
5. Philanthropy and Israel Studies
Building academic and civic institutions that support education and understanding.
Select Talks
Selected talks and appearances
2026 | Hadassah Magazine, interview Sharon Nazarian Isn't Done Fighting Antisemitism (April) |
2025 | Moment Magazine, Antisemitism: Dispatches from the Front Lines video series with editor in chief Nadine Epstein (from January) |
2025 | JIMENA interview (February) |
2024 | Temple Israel of Hollywood, Teach-in on Antisemitism, opening conversation with Dov Waxman, Understanding the Rise of Contemporary Antisemitism: Pre and Post Oct. 7 (February 4); Moment Magazine Zoominar, The New World of Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism on Campus |
2023 | U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs subcommittee, testimony on responding to global antisemitism |
2022 | The Algemeiner, interview on Iran and global antisemitism on leaving the ADL (July) |
2021 | JIMENA Sephardic Leaders Fellowship, the Sephardic response to antisemitism |
2020 | JIMENA webinar speaker (November 30) |
2020 | U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, hearing on global efforts to counter antisemitism |
2019 | Joint House committee hearing on white nationalist terrorism at home and abroad |
These are a selection of Dr. Nazarian’s talks. Dr. Nazarian has given many more, at Congressional and federal hearings, synagogues, policy forums, and national Jewish media and video series.
Publications and Media
Read, watch, and listen
Article
Viewing Antisemitism Through the Lens of My Mizrahi Experience
Personal essay on her family's departure from Tehran and antisemitism today, Distinctions (JIMENA), 2023. Read the essay
Video
Antisemitism: Dispatches from the Front Lines with Sharon S. Nazarian
Monthly reports on antisemitism news, including a January 2025 video conversation, Moment Magazine, 2025. Watch the conversation
Article
Sharon Nazarian on leaving the ADL after five years
Interview about her years leading ADL's international work, eJewishPhilanthropy, 2022. Read the interview
Article
Responding to the Threat of Global Antisemitism
Written testimony to a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, 2023. Read the testimony
Affiliations
Organizations
- Younes and Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation (President)
- Anti-Defamation League (Vice Chair, National Board; former Senior Vice President for International Affairs)
- Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, UCLA (Founder and Advisory Board Chair)
- Council on Foreign Relations (Member)
- Freedom House (Trustee)
- University of Haifa (Board of Governors)
- Moment Institute (Senior Fellow)
Book Dr. Nazarian
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