Grow the Azita Raji ’83 Memorial Fund
Barnard's purpose is to amplify women’s power to change the world, and leadership is core to that mission. Our students are innovators, activists, and leaders in their fields, and generations of them have gone on to make history, break boundaries, and lead the way.
Azita Raji ’83 was one of those Barnard women. She broke barriers as the first female US ambassador to Sweden and the first Iranian-born American ambassador; served a wide range of organizations dedicated to important social issues; and was the recipient of numerous honors for her work. To celebrate her contributions to the Barnard community, and her lifelong commitment to women's empowerment, the Azita Raji ’83 Memorial Fund has been established as a permanent resource that supports the Athena Center for Leadership, of which Azita was a founding co-chair.
Grow the Azita Raji ’83 Memorial Fund
The Athena Center meets students where they are, with an approach to leadership development that uncovers connections, fosters collaborations, and recognizes the complex nature of challenges that lie ahead of us—within our diverse communities at Barnard, inside Columbia University, and in New York City. With your support, Barnard can expand this amazing hub for changemakers.
Hear from Azita Raji ’83's daughter, Elena Syman ’18
"My family and I wanted to cement something in my mom’s memory and feel that supporting the Athena Center for Leadership is the most meaningful way to honor her life and legacy."
– Elena Syman ’18
My mom was a natural leader. Obviously, as her daughter, I experienced her leadership in a different way growing up than many of her colleagues did yet, as I grew older, her leadership in my life changed, and she showed me the importance of curiosity, life-long learning, self work, and reflectiveness.
She also taught me about Barnard—growing up, Barnard came up in our house all the time, and even though my mom and I had very different college experiences, once I went there I completely understood why she loved Barnard so much.
My mom and her parents immigrated to the US two years prior to her attending Barnard, moving first to Seattle and then settling on Long Island, where my mom lived during her first year at the College. She commuted to campus every day and oftentimes would call my grandma to ask her for a ride home after falling asleep on the train and ending up at the last stop.
Barnard empowered my mom to discover her potential. The College and the community helped her develop so much, both personally and intellectually, and allowed her to grow the qualities she already had inside her. Because of that, she always felt like she had so much to thank Barnard for, and it was invigorating for her to stay connected to the Barnard community.
The Athena Center for Leadership, of which she was a co-founding chair, is core to who she was in so many ways. She was integral to the vision and creation of this amazing resource for women who are on the road to becoming exactly what she was—a leader, trailblazer, mentor, and changemaker.
My family and I felt that the most fitting way to cement her memory and celebrate her contributions to the Barnard community was to establish a permanent source of support for the Athena Center for Leadership: the Azita Raji ’83 Memorial Fund. The Fund will continue to uplift women, as my mom did, and have an impact on future generations of leaders at Barnard.