Sharon S. Nazarian is the president of the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation, with a regional office in Israel called the Ima Foundation. She is the founder of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at University of California, Los Angeles, housed at UCLA’s International Institute, which provides a systematic, academic study of contemporary Israel.
In 2017, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) appointed Nazarian as senior vice president in international affairs. She served in this role for five years, acting as chief diplomat and policymaker of ADL, meeting with heads of state, foreign ministers, and leaders of Jewish communities around the world and advancing ADL’s initiatives for fighting antisemitism and racial hatred globally. She also oversaw ADL’s Israel office.
Nazarian currently serves as a member of ADL’s national board of directors, a trustee of the board of Freedom House, and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. She also chairs the board of the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA and sits on the board of governors of University of Haifa.
Nazarian studied journalism and international relations at the University of Southern California, where also received her master’s and doctoral degrees in political science, specializing in political economy and economic development in newly industrialized countries.
She is an integral member of Nazarian Enterprises, a thriving family investment office with a diverse portfolio of holdings across a broad spectrum of industries, including real estate, hospitality, manufacturing, technology, and clean energy. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.
