Samira Panah Bakhtiar: NYCTV Week 40 under 40 2019

Samira Panah Bakhtiar is attuned to the powerful relationship that can be forged between digital media and technology. As Senior Sales Manager, North East Cable & Media at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Samira leads a team of highly passionate engineers and sales team members who evangelize this every day. Over the course of the last decade, her work at AWS and at Cisco (where she served as Managing Director for their Media Operation) has led to strategic alignment and business transformation, with some of the world’s largest media conglomerates—focusing on introducing innovation and enhancing operational efficiency in the areas of production, contribution, post production, and primary & secondary distribution.

Samira’s humanitarian work focuses on the abolishment of human trafficking and she has worked as an advocate with the Half the Sky Movement, sits on the board of Together1Heart, and helped to organize the first Global Citizen Festival in 2012. Her philanthropic work has always been a strong personal driver, and as a result, Samira launched Bridge2Act in 2015, a venture which was focused on transforming the giving landscape through the use of technology.

Samira graduated Summa Cum Laude in Finance from the University of Arizona with her B.S., and Magna Cum Laude with her MBA from Fordham University. In her spare time Samira loves traveling, practicing Muay Thai Kick Boxing, Hot Yoga, and hitting up the culinary scene with her husband, Koorosh, who is a restaurateur in Manhattan (Jajaja Plantas Mexicana, Gelso & Grand). Samira also has a 1.5 year old Son, Dariush who she adores.