Who is Lily Sarafan?

How the American dream can help the Ayatollah's dream come true

May 22, 2022

On the surface, she’s the embodiment of the American dream come true:

An Iranian American who is co-founder and Executive Chair of TheKey, where she serves as chief executive and led the company from startup to industry leader with 15,000+ employees across 150 markets.
As a nationally known expert on digital health and innovation in aging, Lily has been invited to the White House and to conferences around the world.
Lily has been honored as Women Health Care Executives’ 2016 Woman of the Year, Ernst & Young’s 2016 Services Entrepreneur of the Year, and a Silicon Valley 40 Under 40.
A member of YPO and Chatham House, Lily is also active in civic life as an appointed city commissioner and campaign finance committee member.
She holds an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering and B.S. in Science Technology and Society with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies from Stanford University, where she was Eben Tisdale Fellow and Class President. She is a member of Standford’s Board of Trustees, the Freeman Spogli Institute Council, and the Stanford Undergraduate Cabinet and even has her own department in Standford.
Lily is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Lily is also a board member and investor for innovative companies, serving as a board director at Thumbtack, Instacart, Kyo, and Counsyl through its acquisition by Myriad Genetics.
Lily Sarafan once made it on Fortune’s 40 under 40 in Healthcare.

The list just goes on and on. Her achievements, coverage, and titles will fill your google search under her name.

Though there is one problem: Lily Sarafan is also actively and publicly committing to a cause that is not giving back to the American society per se.

Pars Equality Center Board of Directors

Joe Cirincione @Cirincione

Fascinating panel on Iran's economy @AtlanticCouncil w/ @barbaraslavin1, @cmschroed, Namereh Chamlou & @lilysarafan

NIAC website, Dec. 13, 2019: “Past NIAC Congressional fellows have included Yasmine Taeb, the first Iranian American elected to the Democratic National Committee. Other fellows have gone on to serve in government, run for public office, and work in fields shaping policies that impact Iranian Americans. Lily Sarafan, who served as one of NIAC’s original fellows, generously helped re-launch NIAC’s Congressional fellowship program.”

NIAC website, Jan. 15, 2015: “NIAC is excited to announce to its members that the producers of the highly acclaimed TEDxOrangeCoast, a top ten TED conference globally, are currently planning the first globally attended TEDx in Iran: TEDxKish. NIAC’s very own Lily Sarafan is on the organizing committee and several NIAC members have already made plans to attend the event.”

NIAC website, Feb. 16, 2012: “This program is an important opportunity for motivated Iranian-American students to contribute their talents to Congressional offices as they learn first-hand how government functions while developing the skills and knowledge necessary to become the leaders of tomorrow. It’s due to the support of the Parsa Community Foundation and former NIAC fellow Lily Sarafan that these opportunities are made available.”