Thursday, April 28, 2022
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
A New Horizon for Women's Rights and Education in Afghanistan
Virtual
Join Women Forward International's Light of Afghanistan Program, which brings together scholars from Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security; activists from the Afghan Institute of Learning; and social entrepreneurs from Lynn University's Social Impact Lab. Together they will present a toolkit on women’s rights in Islam that has been used by peacekeepers througout the country, including in their outreach to the Taliban, and an operational plan for a new university in Herat dedicated to Afghan women.
Find out how Afghan women are walking in the vanguard and dip into the paintings and poetry of a woman who carries the courage of the snow leopard.
Also featuring WFI Internship participants from Ygnacio Valley High School in California.
Presenters:
Masuda Sultan
Masuda Sultan was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan, raised in New York City, and returned to Afghanistan in 2001 just before the fall of the Taliban. Ms. Sultan is founder and board member of Women for Afghan Women the largest women’s organization in Afghanistan and the founder of All in Peace. In 2008 she was appointed as advisor to the Ministry of Finance in Afghanistan. Ms. Sultan currently serves on the Council of Foreign Relations Women and Foreign Policy Advisory Committee and is an advisor to the Afghan Business Council of Dubai. She is also a founder of American Chamber of Commerce in Afghanistan and the American Muslim Women Political Action Committee in the US. Her memoir, “My War at Home” was published by Simon and Schuster in 2006.
Zuhal Feraidon
Zuhal Feraidon was born in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. After the invasion of Afghanistan by the Taliban Zuhal and her family were forced out of their homeland. She immigrated to the United States in 2005 as a refugee and became a U.S. citizen in 2011.
In 2015 she traveled back to Afghanistan, as part of an independent study, with research focused on identity in one of the most difficult environments that women have to endure. In 2016 Zuhal was the recipient of the Aunspaugh Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship in Studio Art through the McIntire Department of Art at the University of Virginia. She received her MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2019.
Ygnacio Valley High School
Our WFI internship participants from Ygnacio Valley High School's English Language Development program.
Improving Women's Lives and Rights in Afghanistan
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service/Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Presenters:
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Jordyn Iger, MA Candidate, Global Human Development
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Zahra Wakilzada, Class of 2023, School of Foreign Service
Lead Researcher and Faculty Advisor: Professor Seniha Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana
Seniha Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana is an affiliate researcher with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and adjunct lecturer in the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service program. She previously served as associate director and assistant professor of the practice at Georgetown University’s M.A. Program in Conflict Resolution. Her work has addressed Muslim women’s peacebuilding initiatives, religion and conflict resolution, Islamic approaches to war and peace, and Islam and nonviolence.
A New Horizon for Women’s Education in Afghanistan: A Women's University Without Walls
Afghan Institute of Learning in collaboration with Lynn University’s Social Impact Lab
Presenters:
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Celia Lawrence, Doctoral Candidate, Educational Leadership
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Dani Lozzi, MS Candidate, Communication and Media Studies
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Katie Rodrigues, Class of 2023, Criminal Justice and Corrections
GLOBAL EVENTS
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, CEO of The Afghan Institute of Learning
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is an international speaker and the CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an organization she founded in 1995 in response to the lack of education and health care for the Afghan people. She is also the co-founder and President of Creating Hope International (CHI) and is a member of the U.S. Afghan Women's Council. Dr. Yacoobi has established four schools, a hospital, and a radio station in Afghanistan, and is the recipient of six honorary doctorates. She serves on the advisory boards for Feftzer, Kratitz, Women's Refugee Commission, and the Social Impact Lab at Lynn University. Dr. Yacoobi was honored in 2017 with the Sunhak Peace Prize, and, in 2016, was the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education awardee, the 2015 WISE Prize for Education Laureate and the 2013 recipient of the Opus Prize. Dr. Yacoobi is a Skoll Social Entrepreneur, Schwab Social Entrepreneur, and Ashoka Fellow, and was nominated as one of 1,000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Faculty Advisor: Professor Antonella Regueiro
Dr. Antonella Regueiro, assistant professor, teaches courses within the university’s core curriculum, the Dialogues of Learning, and within the social impact and justice minor. She also currently serves as the Social Impact Faculty Fellow for the Social Impact Lab. In this role, she acts as the bridge between the Social Impact Lab and other academic departments, including all six colleges at the university. In addition, she aids in the coordination of operational logistics for experiential learning programs such as Ambassador Corps, the UN Millennium Fellowship and others.
Faculty Advisor: Professor Valeria Fabj
Dr. Valeria Fabj is the former editor of "Women's Studies in Communication." Her research focuses on the public sphere as a forum in which traditionally marginalized groups can gain a voice and affect public praxis. She focuses on two primary areas: how marginalized groups, and especially women, can draw on the personal sphere to bring about significant changes in the public sphere (both in this country and abroad), and how issues can be argued in different spheres as in the case of medical activists who politicize issues traditionally relegated to the technical sphere.
Faculty Advisor: Professor Brittany Kiser
Dr. Brittany E. Kiser is a professor in the Ross College of Education at Lynn University. An award-winning educator, she earned her Master of Education degree, specializing in curriculum and instruction, from the American College of Education. Shortly thereafter, she advanced to the central district office at the School District of Palm Beach County, serving as a district administrator. While in this position, Kiser earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Lynn University. As part of her influential work in K-12 education, Kiser has been noted for building the second-largest SECME engineering design program in the nation and has been selected to present at numerous conferences.
