About Us
Iranian-American Cultural & Educational Center (IACEC) is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation in the greater Sacramento, California region. IACEC provides a platform for professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners in the Persian-speaking community to become familiar with and access locally available resources, knowledge, and advice to improve their personal and professional lives. We welcome collaboration with other organizations and successful entrepreneurs who can share their experiences, information, and resources to help us achieve our mission.
Our Story
The Iranian American Cultural and Educational Center (IACEC) was established as a nonprofit organization in 2011 in Northern California, in the City of Sacramento. IACEC founders believe that the Iranian-American community will be more prosperous and productive by celebrating traditional Persian culture and ancient rituals while integrating into the larger society in which they live. IACEC has, since its inception, been focused on hosting large events for the Northern California Iranian-American community. Every year, IACEC has drawn thousands of people to celebrate Yalda (Winter Solstice) and Nowruz (Persian New Year, Spring Equinox) from dozens of cities and towns in Northern California.
IACEC also recognizes the Iranian-Americans in California and other US States as one of the most educated communities in the country and acknowledges their contributions in the fields of education, business, commerce, medicine, law, environment, science, and entrepreneurship, and overall positive contributions to the greater communities in which they lived, including achieving high-ranking positions in a variety of fields such as academics, finance, high-tech industries government, and entertainment. For these reasons, IACEC is proud to cooperate and partner with as many of these accomplished individuals as possible to provide educational and professional opportunities to the community through a variety of means, including Professional Networking Monthly Meetings that began in 2019 and later were suspended during the pandemic, but set to resume in the near future.
To further expand the organization's mission, the leadership of IACEC has decided to acquire and operate the only Persian-language radio station in Northern California, Bamdad Radio, which was initially established in 2008 and quickly became one of the most prominent media channels in the United States. In 2020, Bamdad Radio resumed operations and became the official communication channel for Iranian-Americans, as well as Afghans, Tajikistanis, and Armenians living in the United States, who share very similar cultural and linguistic heritage. Our studios are located in the headquarters of the Iranian Scientific and Cultural Center in Sacramento. Our volunteers are located all over North America including Los Angeles, Arizona, San Francisco, Toronto, and Melbourne; and they produce a significant portion of the radio's programming. By the end of 2020, our volunteers had donated more than 11,520 hours of educational and entertaining programming time to the organization.
Today, Bamdad Radio reaches out to an audience of approximately 200,000 individuals across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe; broadcasting 24 hours a day, covering a variety of topics that are presented by professionals and experts in the fields of arts, entertainment, sports, business, environment, science, and psychology amongst others, complete with 26 exclusive programs on various topics, and 16 live programs produced every week. Thus, creating a special place for Farsi-speaking audiences to connect, learn, and grow.