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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 148-07
May 16, 2007

MAYOR BLOOMBERG APPOINTS NAZLI PARVIZI AS COMMISSIONER OF MAYOR'S COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE UNIT

Mayor's Volunteer Center to Combine with CAU

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the appointment of Nazli Parvizi, currently the Executive Director of the Mayor's Volunteer Center, as Commissioner of the Mayor's Community Assistance Unit (CAU). The Mayor also announced that CAU and the Mayor's Volunteer Center will be combined into a unified operation under the CAU name. CAU maintains liaisons with community groups, neighborhood associations and Community Boards, and under Parvizi's direction and with Volunteer Center staff, the agency will expand its role to liaison with the City's non-profit community and volunteer groups as well. Parvizi replaces Patrick J. Brennan, who is leaving the Administration to pursue other opportunities.

"Nazli has been with our Administration since 2002 and over that time has worked with hundreds of non-profit groups in communities throughout the city. Now, as the leader of  CAU, she will bring together those groups with the Community Boards and civic organizations to help us continue improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers," Mayor Bloomberg said. "A tireless worker and dynamic leader with superb people skills, I am confident that Nazli will excel in her new role. I am grateful to Patrick for all of his hard work, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

"Mayor Bloomberg's leadership by example encouraged us at the Mayor's Volunteer Center to innovate and find ways to make a great office even better," Parvizi said. "I look forward to continuing that work with CAU to ensure that City government works for every New Yorker."

"I am grateful to Mayor Bloomberg for giving me the opportunity, first on his reelection campaign followed by the last year and a half in the Mayor's Office, to be part of his team that is successfully working every single day to improve the lives of New Yorkers," Brennan said. "It has been an amazing run."

CAU maintains liaisons with community groups, civic and neighborhood associations, and public and private agencies in order to address, and bring to the attention of the Mayor and appropriate City officials, issues and problems of concern to communities. In addition, the agency is responsible for coordinating activities of City agencies with respect to community boards, and exercises duties related to street activity permits. 

As Executive Director of the Mayor's Volunteer Center (MVC), Parvizi served as the liaison between the Mayor's Office and the City's volunteer community. Since her appointment in 2002, Parvizi has worked to create an infrastructure at MVC that would allow both non-profits and volunteers to have access to City services including VolunteerNYC.org, an online database created in partnership with United Way of NYC that allows people to search for meaningful volunteer opportunities in New York. Using 311 and other City services, Parvizi brought non-profits, corporations, and non-profit partners together to help New York City and to encourage New Yorkers to volunteer their time and energy to strengthen their communities.

Prior to MVC, Parvizi served as a Program Assistant at the Social Science Research Council, working for the Program on Philanthropy and the Program on the Middle East and Central Asia. Parvizi also began a catering business, Night Kitchen, six years ago that provides affordable and ethnically diverse foods to the City's non-profit community. Her own volunteer interests include working with young students in public schools and educating them on food and nutrition.  Parvizi graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Barnard College and lives in Fort Greene.







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