Leila Rahimi

Leila Rahimi, the anchor, host and reporter for NBC Sports Chicago, is heading to Harvard University this weekend to participate in a global conference on Iranian culture and its impact on the arts, science and business.

Rahimi will be among panelists discussing “Iranian Americans Shaping the Game” at Harvard's fourth annual summit of influential Iranians. With her will be attorney/author Cyrus Mehri, who created the “NFL Rooney Rule” to promote diversity for head coaching jobs, NBA agent Mayar Zokaei, and entrepreneur Shar Pourdanesh, who was the first Iranian-American player in the NFL.

“This is a huge honor for me, not just to represent as an Iranian-American woman in sports, but also to represent NBC Sports Chicago,” she said.

Rahimi joined Comcast SportsNet Chicago (forerunner of NBC Sports Chicago) in 2015 from MLB Network where she had been a host and anchor. She previously worked for regional sports networks in Philadelphia, Houston and San Diego.

She was born and raised in Denton, Texas, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Texas with a degree in journalism.

Rahimi was to have hosted “White Sox Pregame Live” on NBC Sports Chicago for the team’s home opener today. But with the weather-related postponement of the game to Friday, she’ll miss the opener to attend the event at Harvard. Chuck Garfien will handle hosting duties in her place.

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