RECAP: Our 10-year Anniversary Celebration at this year’s Annual RISE Gala was a huge success!
On Thursday Nov 13, 2025, we welcomed over 500 guests to our 10th Anniversary Celebration with our 6th Annual RISE Gala at The Manor House in Mason, Ohio.
Our MC Liz Bonis, from WKRC-TV Local 12 News, guided our evening with her grace and wisdom of her history with W3.
Our keynote, Macarena Cloninger, SVP from Cintas, and her story of persistence and strength, with humor and wit, brought the room to their feet!
Thank you to our Co-Chair presenter's Ivy Banks, M.Ed., J.D. of Xavier University, Ed Kuresman, CFA of MAI Capital Management, and to our entertainment during dinner: MUSE, Cincinnati's Women's Choir, Eunwha Lee, and Anupa Mirle and her Nrityarpana School of Performing Arts.
Dwight Packard told a great story and honored our Founder Dr. George Sehi.
Congratulations to our awards recipients:
Mentor of the Year - Marzieh Hatamzadeh, M.S.
Essay Contest Winner - Olga Klochkov
Beacon Award - Christopher Hubbard from Sinclair Community College
We graciously thank the following people and businesses for their efforts and contributions to help make this event possible:
Jane Johnson from Quality Publishing
Kris Chari with Rooted Grounds Coffee
Four Bridges Country Club
BAYSORE'S FLOWER SHOP, L.L.C.’s Flower Shop
Sage Hagstrom with Season’s 52
Jennifer Seifert
DJ Mavi
Rick Crockett
Laura Hicks
Sadia Khatri
This year we leveraged more digital tools to help execute our fundraising campaigns:
SPONSOR A MENTEE - A delicious sugar cookie from Julie McWilliams with Sweet Treats by Julie had a QR code that pointed donations for this campaign. During our Gala, we exceeded our goal by 20%! SWEET indeed!
SILENT AUCTION - This year we had 38 items to bid, and thanks to this digital solution, we almost TRIPLED our donations compared to last year!
ESSAY BOOK - This year we have published our first Essay Book with a collection of our ten best essay stories in the previous 10 years and donating online allowed us to give this book to many guests.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Presenting Sponsors — $15,000
MAI Capital Management & Mr. John Dovich
Gold Sponsors — $5,000
Gold Sponsorship includes 10 tickets to the event, priority placement on all event marketing materials, and social media mentions.
Butler TechCity of Mason
Deerfield Township Administration
Greater Ohio Virtual School
Mason Deerfield Lifestyle Magazine (Trade)
Saied Eyada Family Endowment
Silver Sponsors — $3,000
Silver Sponsorship includes 10 tickets to the event, placement on all event marketing materials, and social media mentions
Bricker Graydon LLP
Dr. Mehran Attari Family Endowment
Kings Mazda
Northside Bank
Peoples Bank
Sinclair College
Bronze Sponsors — $2,000
Bronze Sponsor includes 10 tickets to the event and mention on all materials at the event
Boutwell Family Endowment
Dr. Javad Salajegheh Family Endowment
Dr. Marian Glancy
Dr. William and Carol Faulkner
Peoples First Savings Bank
Performance Lexus
Table Sponsors — $1,000
Table Sponsors includes 10 tickets to the event and mention in the event program.
AES Ohio
Aligning Intimacy
Angel Munafo Apking--Coldwell Banker Realty
Baladi Family Endowment
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
Cintas
Courage & Covenant
Divine Mercy University
Dr. George Sehi
Dr. Hatamzadeh Family Endowment
Dr. Peyman Shirani & Dr. Pooneh Nabavizadeh
Dwight and Danielle Packard
Gabriella & Cameron Stansberry
Indian American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)
Jen & Carlos Perez
JLN Coaching
Macarena & Mathew Cloninger
Mason City Schools
Miami University Regionals
Northern Cincinnati Foundation
PALS
Renee Hevia & Nazanin Khodadad
Rick Casey--Fifth Third Bank
Sangita Vora
SK Designs (Sadia)
TEC Engineering
The Quigley Team
UC Waddell Center
Host Committee — $500
Host Committee includes 2 tickets to the event & mention in the event program.
Carrey and Jamie Curtis
Dan & Amanda Kommeth
Dr. Bi Awoskia
Mr. & Mrs Nick Bogan (One Digital)
Dr. Cathy Bishop-Clark & Greg Clark
Dr. Jonathan & Michelle Cooper
Mr. & Mrs Alok Garg
Amy Jones
Dr. Zaiba Malik
Host Committee Corporate— $500
Host Committee includes 2 tickets to the event & mention in the event program.
EC Council University
Flagel Huber Flagel
Innovative Vision
Kunimura Mitchell & Co.
Narwal Inc.
Sams Fischer LLC
Our MC Liz Bonis from Local 12 WKRC
Ed Kuresman, CFA of MAI Capital Management
Ivy Banks, M.Ed., J.D. of Xavier University
Our Keynote, Macarena Cloninger, SVP from Cintas
Mentee of the Year - Olga Klochkov
Mentor of the Year - Marzieh Hatamzadeh, M.S. with Dr. Sehi
Beacon Award - Chris Hubbard from Sinclair Community College
Fatemeh Hajihosseini with Essay Contest winners
Dwight Packard toasts Dr. Sehi
Eunwha Lee, Classical Pianist
MUSE Cincinnati Women’s Choir
Nrityarpana School of Performing Arts
