NYC’S Chicest Salonnière AFSANEH “SUNNY” AKHTARI
Businesswoman
Philanthropist and investor Afsaneh Akhtari is New York’s newest salonnière, inviting inspirational guests from a wide array of fields to her East Side home for stimulating discussions. In April, Akhtari’s first salon, a talk with Steve Forbes, Nathan Lewis, and Elizabeth Ames on their new book, Inflation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, and How to Fix It, drew business and political types like Larry Kudlow, John Catsimatidis, WSJ editor-at-large Gerald Baker, Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo, and musician/singer/songwriter Tommy James.
Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing
In May, French fashion house Balmain tapped Akhtari to host a private soiree for creative director Olivier Rousteing, who was in town to open the brand’s new Madison Avenue flagship. Fashion industry folks and VIP clients, known as the “Balmain Army,” took in a fashion show in her living room.
Salon Series
“To me, art and culture and fashion are equally important,” says Akhtari. “I love beautiful things; I love to be surrounded with beauty, and I find beauty in a lot of things.” She enjoys
hosting people at her art-filled apartment, and at 6,000 square feet, the place can accommodate a crowd—the Forbes book event was originally planned as dinner for 12, and they ended up having 150 people.
When she came up with the idea for the salon series, people advised her to have a niche, in art or politics or music, but she let her broad scope of interests dictate the programming. Inspiration comes from everywhere, from an extraordinary young Julliard-trained pianist she came across named Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner to Laurence des Cars, the Louvre’s first female president, whom Akhtari met recently. “I’m all about empowerment of women and girls,” she says.
The plan is to hold 8 to 12 salons per year. “If it sounds interesting and I like the people, absolutely, I’ll host it. And I have a really spectacular apartment with panoramic views of New York and the
East River, so it’s just really a fun place to throw parties.” Life on her own terms Akhtari grew up in Iran, the youngest of five children in a very affluent but protective Per-Afsanehsian family. “Despite my privileged upbringing I decided to take my own journey and live my own way,” says Akhtari.
Leaving her family’s home at age 17 for short stints in Barcelona and Montreal, she then headed to Vancouver, where she put herself through college, eventually earning a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of British Columbia.
She raised her daughter, Jazmin, now 19 and studying at NYU, as a single mom. This life trajectory was unusual for a woman from a conservative Iranian family.
All her siblings were also educated in North America, and are successful professionals living in the U.S., all are married with their own children born in this country.
Pillar of San Francisco Society
After completing her studies, a successful career in San Francisco followed, first at Bristol Myers Squibb and then at Merck & Co., where Akhtari worked for 18 years. She became a pillar of San Francisco society, serving on the boards of the SF Opera Guild and the Modern Art Council. Former California Assembly speaker and San Francisco mayor Willie Brown Jr. attended her 50th birthday celebration.
Move to New York City
In 2017, Akhtari made an unexpected move to New York after a whirlwind romance and marriage to financier Donald Smith. His death from pancreatic cancer in 2019 was followed by the pandemic, and she’s finally beginning to emerge from this period of mourning and social distancing to take on New York. “Now I want to do things. I’m ready. I’m a social person, I love to be active, and I love to be involved.”
Avid runner
An avid runner, Akhtari has done four halfmarathons, and hopes to run the New York marathon. She’d planned to do that in 2019, but her husband passed away just days prior.
“I am in a brand-new chapter in my life, at 54,” she says. “It’s a chapter I didn’t ask for, but I love change. I’ve lived in three different continents and many different cities. I think
you have to evolve as a human being. You constantly have to change to become a better version of yourself.”
Akhtari hopes that as a woman and a minority from a very protective Muslim Persian family, she can be a role model and show others that anything is possible. “I think I am like a poster child of the American dream.” Hers is an inspiring journey that’s beginning its next chapter.
