Afghanistan Policy Dialogue Building the Foundations for Afghanistan’s Future: Advancing Peace, Prosperity, and Stability Through Education

Mozhgan is an entrepreneur with a focus on economic empowerment, workforce development, and education. She is the Founder and President of Eagle Online Academy and a proud member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council (USAWC). Her entrepreneurial journey began in 2004, when she launched her first business—a café in Kabul Women’s Garden. This was the first café run by women for women in Afghanistan. In 2007, to expand opportunities for women entrepreneurs, she established the World of Women Business Market, the first women-led business shopping center in Kabul. 

In 2008, Mozhgan participated in the Peace Through Business® entrepreneurship program at Northwood University in Michigan. From 2010, Mozhgan served as a Master Mentor and Business Instructor for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program at the American University of Afghanistan. She also traveled to the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona to co-develop the program’s business curriculum. Over 11 years, she mentored more than 50 women-owned businesses and trained over 1,000 women across nine provinces in Afghanistan.
In 2016, Mozhgan launched her U.S.-based digital marketing company, My Impressive LLC, in Virginia. She has since led several successful projects and was named Best Leader of 2018 by the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) in the United States.

Mr. Azizi earned his M.A. in Global Affairs and Politics from Rutgers University as a Fulbright Scholar. He has worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), contributing to democratic governance and state-building efforts in Afghanistan. His expertise includes election management, public administration reform, and women’s empowerment.

Currently, he serves as a lecturer for the American National Government course and is pursuing a Ph.D. at Rutgers, with a research focus on institutional reform within state institutions.

Mirwais Balkhi is a scholar and former Minister of Education (2018–2020). He is currently affiliated with the Afghanistan Policy Lab at Princeton University and James Madison University. Balkhi was also a fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, and has authored several books on regional politics and international relations. He has lectured at universities across Afghanistan and abroad, and served as Chief Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Diplomacy & International Studies.

Seth is the Director of AESOP, which provides free online courses for Afghan girls and young women deprived of education in Afghanistan and across the diaspora. AESOP is a collaboration between Afghans and foreign volunteers to create a community of service. This community enables Afghan women to discover their interests and powers through the pursuit of education for a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their country.

He holds a Ph.D. in Classical Studies from Boston University, taught Classics and college writing at Boston College, Boston University, Tufts University, and Colgate University, taught Latin and Ancient Greek and served as department chair of Languages at an independent school in New Jersey where he met the Afghan student that helped start that first class.

As Board Chair, Dr. Holm helps to provide vision and strategy to enact AESOP’s mission to educate the current and future generations of Afghan girls and women in order, not just to help individuals, but to make Afghanistan a better place for Afghans—a place where he hopes to be able to visit one day.

As Director, Dr. Holm oversees operations and coordinates AESOP’s admin staff and volunteers as they do the daily work of delivering classes and creating a community that supports AESOP’s hundreds of students.

He enjoys reading and writing fantasy novels, owns 250 vinyl albums, and pretends to play the bass in order to keep up with his very musical family.

Dr. Lauryn Oates has worked in various leadership roles with the organization, lastly as the Programs Director, before becoming Executive Director in 2018. She holds a BA Honours in International Development from McGill University, an MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding from Royal Roads University, and a PhD in Language and Literacy Education from the University of British Columbia. She has worked with a variety of development organizations, multilateral agencies and governments designing, planning, evaluating or implementing programming in education and in gender equality, particularly in war-affected countries. She is the recipient of several awards and distinctions, including a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded by the province of BC.

Anh N. Pham is the Director of International Programs at the Central Asia Institute, where she leads education, livelihoods, and women's empowerment programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. With 18 years of experience in strategic planning and program management across Africa and Asia, Ms. Pham is a former development diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer with USAID. She has served in Uzbekistan, Liberia, Cambodia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan, leading multimillion-dollar portfolios in education, youth workforce development, health, and governance with a focus on equity and inclusion. Prior to USAID, she worked in the nonprofit and public sectors in health education, patient advocacy, and higher education capacity development.

where she leads initiatives focused on expanding educational and economic opportunities for Afghans, particularly women and displaced youth. Born and raised in Kabul, she holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees with honors in Political Science and Public Policy and Administration from universities in the United States.

Over the past decade, Ms. Sahar has led and scaled major education, workforce development, and research initiatives across Afghanistan and internationally. As former head of Afghanistan’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA), she oversaw a nationwide expansion of technical and vocational education programs, increasing student enrollment from 15,000 to over 68,000 across all 34 provinces.

She is also the founder of Soft Power Solutions (SPS), a research and development firm that partnered with national and international organizations on programs spanning education, governance, health, and economic development.

Ms. Sahar remains deeply committed to advancing education access, economic mobility, and long-term opportunities for displaced and marginalized communities.