About Cody Pourarien – L&I, Immigrant Story Speaker
Cody Pourarien works for the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). He grew up around music and going to the beach. He is a local musician and has worked as a state employee for over 17-years.
Cody was born in Los Angeles County, California and moved to Tacoma, Washington when he was a young child with his family. His father, Sasan Pourarien, is a first-generation Iranian immigrant and his mother, Candace (Schlosstien) Martin is a second-generation German American from Tacoma, Washington.
Cody is the eldest child of three boys and a girl and has lived in a multicultural family. Cody shared stories with members about his childhood growing up in California with his Iranian family and explained that the women had obtain their degrees in engineering and in the STEM field. He also shared his childhood being raised in California living in Tehrangeles, and was raised by his Iranian aunt, Mahroo (Pourarien) Pearson who was a well-known civil engineer in Los Angeles and Japan.
His father worked as an electrical engineer with the Navy until he retired in 2005. His mother retired from state service in 2017, and moved to Saint Augustine, Florida a few years ago.