FEZANA’s 10th president

"Change is necessary and allows new ideas to germinate and the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) has always benefited from this changing of the guard every four years,” remarked outgoing president Arzan Wadia of New York when welcoming his successor Ervad Kayomarz Sidhwa of Houston as the 10th president of FEZANA. Sidhwa, who has just completed his four-year tenure as FEZANA vice president, was unanimously elected as president for 2024-2026 at the 37th annual general meeting (AGM) of FEZANA hosted by the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago from April 26-28, 2024. He is the first priest to serve as FEZANA’s president.

FEZANA executives (from l): Xerxes Commissariat,

Zenobia Damania, Ervad Kayomarz Sidhwa,

Khodarahm Partovi, Farzin Avari;

below: Arzan Wadia

"I am immensely grateful to Arzan for the foundation we have built over the past four years, and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to strengthen and advance FEZANA’s interests and make a difference in the lives of Zoroastrians throughout the diaspora,” acknowledged Sidhwa when addressing Association members at the AGM. The new president is known to have strengthened FEZANA with his organizational and fundraising experience.

In his first two-year term as president, Sidhwa’s executive committee will include vice president Xerxes Commissariat who has been serving as FEZANA treasurer, secretary Khodarahm (Cody) Partovi, and assistant secretary Farzin Avari, noted an email from Wadia, introducing Parsiana to the new team.

Active in community affairs, Sidhwa had served on the executive boards in Sydney and Florida and was treasurer of the Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH) and is currently serving on their Web and Finance committees. Keen on youth development and empowerment, he has been instrumental in developing and running since 2013 the Z-Camp program at ZAH (bringing together Zarathushti youngsters between five and 22 years over a weekend). He is co-chair of the 18th North American Zoroastrian Congress (NAZC) to be held in Houston in December 2024.

Like Wadia, Sidhwa too hails from Bombay, having grown up in the same moholla of Wadia Street on Tardeo. He came to the US in 1991 and after completing his Masters in Business Administration (MBA), he started his journey in South Florida. Currently he works for a software company in client delivery and relationship management. Kayomarz and his wife Farzana have two children, Friyana and Yazad.

Commissariat’s journey with the FEZANA executive committee began as assistant secretary in 2018. He subsequently served as treasurer. After serving as registration chair for the Seventh World Zoroastrian Youth Congress (WZYC) in Los Angeles, California in 2019, he was on the Audiovisual/Technology Committee for the 12th World Zoroastrian Congress in New York in 2022 and is currently on the Audiovisual/Technology Committee for the upcoming NAZC in Houston.

Holding an MBA degree, Commissariat works for the University of Southern California. A life member of the Zoroastrian Association of California (ZAC), he serves as the co-chair of the Association’s maintenance committee, a position he has held for the past decade, and has contributed to the expansion sub-committee. He resides in Southern California with his wife Diana and two children, Zane and Zara.

Treasurer of the 7WZYC Partovi was involved in planning the Congress in Los Angeles and for seven years assisted in different capacities at the California Zoroastrian Center. After moving to the Sacramento area in Northern California in 2021, he has been active with the Sacramento Zoroastrian Association and is currently a board member.

Tehran born Partovi moved to California in 2013, completed his master’s in Geotechnical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and is currently working as an engineer in the California Department of Transportation.

Avari hopes to be a bridge between FEZANA and the Zoroastrian Youth of North America (ZYNA) where as co-chair she has been inspiring youngsters to involve themselves in community activities. As a first-generation Indian-American immigrant, she understands the importance of empowering kind, compassionate and thoughtful youth leaders to create more inclusive and supportive spaces within their communities. The Atlanta based educator who teaches science and Zoroastrianism has been focusing her efforts on community building.

In his last communique Wadia stated, "It has been an immense honor to lead FEZANA, an experience that has enriched my life profoundly… Together, we have strengthened FEZANA’s outreach, increased youth engagement, enhanced our systems and launched initiatives that have fortified our community and our ancient faith. The connections I’ve made, the diversity I’ve witnessed and the collective spirit of our 27 member associations, 14 small groups and over two dozen committees have truly embodied the richness of our Zarathushti faith.”

"Arzan has been the most motivational and inspirational president that FEZANA has ever had,” stated the editor of FEZANA Journal Dr Dolly Dastoor in the Editorial in the spring issue of 2024 that was dedicated to him. More than 25 pages in the 90-page issue have been filled with paeans from members of the erstwhile FEZANA executive, committee heads, youngsters from ZYNA and the Zoroastrian Return to Roots program commending his leadership. The front cover bearing his visage carried an acrostic poem to signify the alphabets in his name stood for "Assertive, Resourceful, Zealous, Analytical, Nurturing.” Summed up Dastoor, "He goes out of his way to help in all projects not only with his ideas and suggestions but always finds solutions to all problems. The future of our community is in good hands thanks to Arzan for training such a vibrant, responsible, energetic generation of leaders to follow you.”