Sharmin Meymandi Nejad
Sharmin Meymandi Nejad (/ʃɑːrˈmiːn meɪmænˈdi neˈʒɑːd/ born March 30, 1970 in Tehran) is a popularly acclaimed Iranian writer, playwright, director and researcher of social sciences. Meyamandi Nejad is mostly known for being the founder of Society of Students Against Poverty. An NGO which is mainly dedicated to children's and women's right. Early life and academic background. His father, Professor Mohammad Hossein Meymandi Nejad, was a famous scientist and author of more than 100 books and his mother was Fateme Lord. After finishing Highschool, in 1991 Maymandi Nejad attained a perfect score on the universities entrance  exam and was admitted to the Faculty of Fine Arts at University of Tehran, from which he gained a B.A in dramatic arts. Following this, he continued his graduate studies at the same university in dramatic literature. He eventually graduated in 1998. Works. Plays. Since the beginning of his academic education, Sharmin took an interest in writing plays and soon he became one of the most acclaimed young playwrights in Iran. Sharmin made his writer-director debut in 1993, with the critically well-received play called Mehr-e-Giah. This play was held for 45 days in Charsoo Hall in  City Theater in Tehran (Shahr Theater). At that time, Charsoo Hall was only allocated to recognized directors. Therefore, this very first job made Maymandi Nejad very famous among his colleagues. Sharmin wrote and directed several other plays including: University lectures. He held theatre-therapy classes from 1996 to 1999 in Alzahra University and workshops on hypnosis and its application in helping children diagnosed with cancer. Sharmin lectured from 2004 to 2006 at Islamic Azad University of Art & Architecture. At the same time, he taught Basics of Acting at University of Tehran's Fine Arts College. Humanitarian Works. Sharmin is the  founder of an NGO called Imam Ali Popular Students Relief Society, also known as the Society of Students Against Poverty. This NGO is now (2021) active all around the country with more than 10 thousand volunteers serving more than 6800 women and children. Imam Ali Society is also active in Iraq and Afghanistan. Society of Students Against Poverty. Society of Students Against Poverty(Imam Ali Society), is the first nonpartisan, student NGO in Iran. It was founded in 1999 and had its first official office in Sharif University of Technology in 2000. The major activities are focused on social issues, especially  ones affecting children. It has 44 centres in deprived areas and slums all over the country where working children and underprivileged women benefit from medical and educational services, including literacy, languages, art and music, sports, etc. There are also different projects and seminars held frequently designed based on the national and religious ceremonies. These projects are trying to create a tie between ceremonies and social volunteering movements. Rahyaft. In 1996, Sharmin started teaching a series of classes called ""Rahyafti Be Daroun"(Acceding Inside)" in Sharif University. The main goal of these classes is to help other people with the knowledge, experience  and exercises in the process of studying these syllabuses in order to train altruistic, committed and pragmatist social activists who are effectively active in solving social issues. This class is now being held as a course for new members to help them integrate with Imam Ali society as a smart charity. Sharmin Meymandi Nejad is the initiator of Smart Charity in Iran. A Smart Charity Organization refers to a system in which all members act with a holistic approach where they consider the issues as symptoms and evaluate the real causes. Finally, they present solutions to lead charitable activities towards  eliminating the root causes in every case. These solutions are given by university students with case-related expertise and are developed based on students' theoretical and experimental researches. Rahyaft covers the following syllabus: Saving teenagers sentenced to death. Since 2006, Sharmin has actively helped young offenders. In this regard, he started collaborating with Tehran Penitentiary Center and reviewed the judiciary cases of children and teenagers in that centre. During a period till 2008, 70 teenagers were released through "Teflan-e-Moslem" program of the Society of Students Against Poverty some of whom were arrested on felony charges and were sentenced  to death. later, Sharmin trained some social workers of Imam Ali Society and formed a team for "Teflan-e-Moslem" program. This team has saved 50 teenagers from execution ever since. Theater for disadvantaged children. Sharmin has written and directed plays with social themes in order to raise awareness about social issues. These plays have been Performed by underprivileged children. Some of these plays are: "Teymour": 2011, writer-director, House of arts of Imam Ali Society "Haftomin barkhoon khane Rostam (7th bloody passage of Rostam)": 2013, writer-director, Social and Cultural Student Center of University of Tehran "Tasmime jome siahe  Kobra (The decision of Kobra on the Dark Friday)": 2014, writer-director, House of arts of Imam Ali Society "Ejdeha bar doush (ِSerpent on shoulder)": 2015, writer-director, Milad tower Conference Hall "Gharibkhani": 2016, writer, University of Zanjan, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Artistic forum of Sari, and University of Isfahan