Azita Raji is an Iranian-born American investment banker, financial analyst and philanthropist.
Education
Born in Tehran, Iran, Raji completed her high school education in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she competed nationally as a downhill skier and chess player, before moving to the United States at the age of 17. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1983 in architecture and French from Barnard College, Columbia University, followed by an Master of Business Administration in 1991 in Finance from Columbia Business School.
Career
She was nominated by President Barack Obama in October 2014 to serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Kingdom of Sweden, and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate in February 2016. Raji will serve as the first female United States ambassador to Sweden, as well as the first Iranian-American to be a United States ambassador. Raji became a naturalized United States. citizen in 1988.
Earlier in her career as an international investment banker, she held senior positions at firms including Justice of the Peace Morgan, Salomon Brothers and Drexel Burnham Lambert.
By 2008 Raji had left the financial sector to focus on national politics. In 2012 she served as National Finance Vice Chair and Chair of Swing State Victory Fund for the Obama campaign.
In 2013 President Obama appointed Raji to serve as a Commissioner on The President's Commission on White House Fellowships. In addition, Raji was appointed as a Commissioner of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Membership
Raji is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has been a member of the Institute for Chartered Financial Analysts since 1991. She is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, an elite organization which supports international finance institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Raji was a national advisory board member of the Democratic National Committee and a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee from 2008-2012.
Raji"s philanthropic activities include numerous active leadership roles in the nonprofit sector: Trustee and member of the Executive Committee, Barnard College, Columbia University.
Advisory Board, Columbia Business School Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. Founding Company-Chair, Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University.
Economic Advisory Council, Center for American Progress. Director, National Partnership for Women and Families.