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City Club LA
555 S. Flower St 51st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Friday, Nov 8, 2024 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM

Pouria Abbassi has been the CEO of large companies in three distinct industries – hospitality, health care, and higher education. In each capacity, he has led organizations through business and cultural transformations to unprecedented results while giving back to the communities they serve.

In 2018, Pouria rejoined his alma mater as the CEO and Executive Director of the Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA), the largest organization of its kind in the world. Pouria leverages his executive experience and his passion for “all things Bruin” to work with the ASUCLA Board of Directors, its 1,800+ family of employees, campus partners, and other stakeholders. In doing so, Pouria leads ASUCLA to serve the student body through a multifaceted set of businesses and on-campus services and extend the UCLA brand globally through operations in over 100 countries. Pouria has previously led four mental and behavioral health companies amid health care reforms (ACA) through 17 facilities as the President of the Phoenix Houses of California, Inc. (PHC). Prior to PHC, he was the CEO of Los Angeles Convention Center, leading the sports and entertainment district’s unprecedented development and revitalization of Downtown LA’s South Park area. In prior capacities, Pouria has led teams in project engineering, debt financing, financial modeling, environmental analysis, and information technology implementation. He also has done research and published in the areas of cryogenics and high-temperature superconductivity.

A registered mechanical engineer in the State of California and a graduate of UCLA School of Engineering and UCLA Anderson School of Management/Executive Management program, Pouria sits on various boards, including the Los Angeles Business Council, Providence Hospital Foundation Board of Governors, Beyond Vision Music Foundation, PAAIA/IA 100, and the Norooz Celebration Foundation. He also works with various other community organizations, including PARS Equality Center, KCIS, and Farhang Foundation. Pouria is also an active member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and is engaged with various policy and think tank groups at local and national levels. Pouria frequently gives presentations on leadership to student groups and mentors young professionals in their careers. Among more than 30 community, business, and service awards, Pouria has also been awarded the 2022 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, in recognition of his contributions towards the betterment of all the communities he has served throughout his distinguished career. Pouria lives in Los Angeles with his wife, whom he met when they were both studying at UCLA, and their two children.

Directions to the club: https://rotaryla5.org/city-club-how-get-here 

Dress Code

The City Club maintains a dress code.

Attire can certainly elevate or diminish the experience of others. They consider ball caps or beanies, tank tops, flip flops, distressed denim, shorts, team athletic attire, and t-shirts with no jacket as too casual for City Club LA. Their staff takes pride in their appearance, so they ask their members and their guests to respect their dress code at all times.