Board of Directors:

Jeffrey E. Stern (Vice President):

Jeffrey E. Stern is an author and journalist. His first book, The Last Thousand, was called “a beautiful, meticulously reported debut” by the New York Times. His second book, The 15:17 to Paris, became a major motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood and released by Warner Brothers Entertainment; most recently he wrote a book with Congressman Steve Scalise about an attempted assassination attempt and the diverse group of people that came together to save the Congressman. Stern’s work has taken him from Yemen to the Oklahoma prison system to the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, from Guantanamo Bay to war zones across the globe, and his work has appeared in the The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times Magazine. He has lived and worked in Afghanistan, where he helped launch the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Stern earned his B.A. in Public Policy from Duke University and an M.A. in International Policy Studies from Stanford University.

Feroza Yari:

Ms. Yari earned her B.A. Degree in Government and International Relations from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She earned her M.A. Degree in International Security Studies from King's College London, UK.  Ms. Yari has worked with non-profit organizations with programs focused on supporting women and girls in Afghanistan. Her involvement with non-profit organizations includes working with the Feminist Majority Foundation to support Afghan women and girls since 1996 and Women for Women International to assist women in countries affected by conflict and war. In 2011, Ms. Yari transitioned to a career with the Department of Defense while remaining committed to promoting education and development for Afghan women and children through volunteer work with non-profit organizations.   

Khatera Alizada:

Khatera Alizada is an adjunct faculty in the Social Science and Policy Studies Department and a visiting researcher at the System Dynamics Program at Worcester Polytechnic University (WPI). She teaches political science and international studies courses. She regularly taught courses on American Political Government, Introduction to World Politics, Comparative Political Systems, Latin American Politics. She earned her doctoral degree in International Studies from Old Dominion University. She earned her MA Degree in international peace and conflict resolution at American University, Washington DC in 2012 and her B.S. Degree in political science at Old Dominion University. She wrote her MA thesis on "Women and education in Afghanistan". She has interned and worked for organizations including Feminist Majority Foundation, Middle East Institute, and Alvarez & Associates. With the fall of the Taliban and the establishment of the Afghan interim government, Alizada joined the Norwegian Refugee Council to help with the repatriation of Afghan refugees in coordination with the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees. When returned to Afghanistan, Alizada worked for Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which was established based on the Bonn Agreement and later mandated by the Afghan Constitution to monitor, protect and promote human rights in Afghanistan. 

Timor Karimy, Founder & President:

Born in Afghanistan and raised in the Afghan refugee communities in Pakistan, Karimy worked at the US Embassy in Islamabad and arrived in the Washington DC area after a stint in Malaysia.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and works at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Bamyan Foundation is the culmination of Karimy's long-held goal to establish a U.S. based nonprofit organization with focus on education, humanitarian aid, gender equity, and youth programs in the marginalized and underserved Hazara-inhabited areas of Afghanistan, and community development initiatives among the Hazara diasporas in the United States.           

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Zahra Yagana, Director of Community Development:

Zahra Yagana is an author and human rights activist who has been advocating for women’s rights, victims of war and terrorist attacks in Afghanistan for the past 14 years. Yagana has worked with various organizations including Armanshahr Afghanistan Studies Organization and the International Federation for Human rights on human rights issues in Afghanistan. Prior to the collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021, Yagana was heavily involved in working with the victims of terrorist attacks in the marginalized Hazara communities in Kabul, such as the attack on the Enlightenment Movement protest, the attack on the maternity ward of a hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières, the attacks on Kawsar-Danesh and Mowud academy and the attack on Sayed-ul-Shuhada girls school. Yagana found treatment for the victims and educational opportunities for students who survived the attacks in coordination with charitable organizations both within and outside Afghanistan. She is the founder of the Green Home (IWYGHO) https://www.greenhome.org.af/, and authored a book, “The Light of Ashes”. Following the Taliban takeover, Yagana fled Afghanistan in search of safety to the United States. Despite the challenges of resettling in the United States, Yagana still maintains contacts with her network in Afghanistan. She obtains regular updates on the ongoing struggles that women and minority groups are constantly confronted with in Afghanistan. Her most recent efforts included reaching out to the minority and underserved communities across Afghanistan and particularly outreach to women and the Hazara minority communities to gather information on the distribution of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. In the United State, she works as an Afghan-immigrant Coordinator with the Domestic Violence Unit at the Muslim Community Center’s Medical Clinic in Maryland.

Mahnaz Akbari:

Born and raised in Iran, Mahnaz always had a great passion for art. After completing high school, her first job was working as a calligraphy teacher. In her spare time, she volunteered to help educate deprived women in order to empower them and alleviate the poverty in her community.  She returned to her homeland of Afghanistan in 2011, where she joined the Afghan National Army. She quickly excelled as a soldier and was selected to command the first Female Tactical Platoon (FTP) of the Afghan Special Forces. She worked alongside US soldiers to enable special operations across Afghanistan for ten years. After the withdrawal of US military in August 2021, she had to flee Afghanistan and assisted more than 30 FTPs to safely arrive in the United States. She now serves as Project Manager for the Afghan Allies Program, helping her FTP colleagues start a new chapter while continuing to overcome challenges as they once did while serving together in uniform.

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Board of Directors: Feroza Yari, Khatera Alizada, Jeff Stern and Timor Karimy

Scholarship Committee: Feroza Yari, Khatera Alizada, Zahra Yagana and Timor Karimy

Afghanistan Country Representative: Anonymous for safety reasons

Humanitarian Assistance Committee: Zahra Yagana and Timor Karimy

Sister Cities Committee: Zareen Taj, Azra Jafari, Sakhi Hasani and Timor Karimy (for more, please see the sister cities’ page)

Former Members: Hugh Allen, Abdullah Jaghori, Sayed Madadi, Mohammad Ali, Naeem Hasanyar, Don Goodrich & Maryam Laly