Business

David Dardashti UC Berkeley Alumnus and His Financial Career in Chicago

June 17, 2022

In today’s world, many people doubt whether the American Dream is still attainable. Millions have immigrated to the United States with hopes of creating a successful life for themselves and their family. One individual I came across in Downtown Chicago told me his story and what his plans for the future are. Let me introduce you to David Dardashti.

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1976, David grew up the child of two teachers. He lived a middle-class lifestyle in Iran, watching American movies and shows every weekend. While he had no original aspiration to move to the U.S. this changed with the Iranian Revolution. His family fled the racist regime, which was showing less and less tolerance to Jews living in the country. At the age of twelve, he along with his family fled to Chicago, where his parents worked long hours to support David and his education.

After years of studying, he got accepted to the University of California, Berkeley. David always had his eyes on UC Berkeley, as he had never seen the west coast up until this point and dreamt of studying there since moving to America. He graduated with a degree in economics with the class of 98’ moving back to Chicago right after.

David tells us “UC Berkeley taught me everything I know. I wouldn’t trade that education for the world”. He has since worked at a top performing firm in the city, moving up the corporate ladder year by year. David attributes his success to hard work and simply to desire to do well. He tells us that whenever presented with a task, regardless of his interest in it, would always put 100% effort in. He today advocates for people that were in similar situations as him, fleeing racist governments for safety in the U.S. “I still believe it could be done today”, he said. As long as people have the drive to work hard and prove themselves to others, success will shortly follow.