Shayan Modarres (born May 15, 1984) is an

Iranian American Iranian-Americans, also known as Persian-Americans, are Americans, United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian peoples, Iranian ancestry, or who hold Iranian Multiple citizenship, citizenship. Most Iranian-Americans arrived in the U ...

civil rights activist Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

and attorney in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He is originally from the Washington, D.C./Maryland metropolitan area. He has assisted in the representation of the family of

Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was killing of Trayvon Martin, fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic an ...

since 2012. He was a Democratic candidate for

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for

Florida's 10th Congressional District Florida's 10th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It was reassigned in 2012, effective January 3, 2013, Central Florida. Before 2017, the district incl ...

in the 2014 midterm election.

Early life

Modarres was born in Silver Spring,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

to immigrant parents who moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in the 1970s. His father worked as a statistics professor before retiring from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in 2013. His mother works in IT/security for one of the nation's largest healthcare providers. Modarres graduated from American University with a degree in pre-law and political science, and later graduated cum laude from

Florida A&M University College of Law Florida A&M University College of Law or FAMU College of Law is an ABA-accredited law school in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is part of Florida A&M University. History On December 21, 1949, a division of law was established at the then ...

Political career

Modarres is a former Democratic candidate for United States House of Representatives for Florida's 10th Congressional District. He was attempting to unseat the incumbent, Republican

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

, in the 2014 midterm election. Modarres was endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel in the Democratic primary.
Orlando Sentinel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modarres, Shayan 1984 births Living people Activists from Silver Spring, Maryland 21st-century American lawyers American civil rights activists American politicians of Iranian descent Florida Democrats Lawyers from Silver Spring, Maryland