Mahvash Yazdi '74, Business Administration

Whenever Mahvash Yazdi ‘74 tackles a project, she will undoubtedly transform it into something remarkably different and better, not unlike the way electricity is made.

Before she became senior vice
president and chief information officer (CIO) for energy giant Southern California Edison, Yazdi started out as a Cal Poly Pomona student struggling to finance her education. And, before she became one of four female CIOs in the state, the Tehran native had to acclimate to a new language and culture in the United States.

She now works in a spacious office in Edison’s Rosemead headquarters, but Yazdi’s humble college years have not faded from memory. In fact, Yazdi is proud that she, like so many other immigrants in California, chose Cal Poly Pomona to help her realize her American Dream.

“I feel Cal Poly gave me the foundation in education,” says Yazdi who studied industrial management in the College of Business Administration. “It has always been a special place for me.”

Yazdi’s journey to this country began when she was 18 years old, and her parents decided to leave Iran, nearly a decade before the Islamic Revolution would change the government, culture and society for Iranians.

“My parents were visionary people who decided they could provide a better
life for their children in the United States,” Yazdi says. “But we came with very
limited means, and I come from a large family. All of us had to work to pay our way through college.”

Yazdi, a petite woman who goes to the gym every morning, was not afraid of hard work. She juggled several jobs, one of which required her to go to work sites and be a drill operator. Still, her salary could not fully fund her college education, and one time, she came dangerously close to dropping out of school. Yazdi, still new to the country, did not know there were people who could help her.

“Growing up in a different country, I didn’t know how to ask for help, and I was discovering everything on my own,” Yazdi says.

One day she walked into the university’s financial aid office and found that she
was eligible for some scholarships.

“When I won a $600 scholarship, it was like winning a million-dollar lottery,” Yazdi recalls. “I remember my knees felt weak because that scholarship meant I could continue the year and pay my room and board.”

With the scholarship money, Yazdi continued pursing a degree in business, an area of study where she naturally flourished. Over time, she realized that she had a unique gift for envisioning how change can better an organization and how to implement that change.

For instance, when Yazdi joined Edison in 1997, information technology (IT)
departments were being outsourced at most major corporations. It would have been easy for Yazdi to follow the status quo, but she did not. Instead, she created a powerhouse IT team that regularly works with other departments. Together, they think of ways that technology can improve the business.

Since she began her tenure at Edison, her IT department has ranked as one of the “100 Best Places to Work in IT” by Computerworld. The magazine recognized Yazdi’s initiatives that include rewarding talent and nurturing top staff to become managers.

Outside of the office, the grandmother is also devoted to change. She sits on advisory boards, offers scholarships and is passionate about making healthcare accessible to everyone. For her commitment to work, society and her heritage, she was awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, sharing it with six U.S. Presidents, various Nobel Prize winners and notable activists such as Muhammad Ali and Cesar Chavez.

Yazdi will be the first to admit that her laurels did not come easily and advises Cal Poly Pomona students to work hard for their accomplishments.

“Don’t think that somebody will open the door and ask you to be an executive,” Yazdi says. “Make your mark on an organization by working hard.”