Azizullah Royesh

Co-founder of Marefat High School, the first co-educational school in Afghanistan promoting women’s rights and democratic values. Featured by NY Times, NPR, CNN, and London Times, among others, the school gained recognition for its curriculum promoting critical thinking and civic education, especially for girls. Authored textbooks on humanism, human rights, and democracy. A Yale World Fellow, Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy, 2015 Global Teacher Prize finalist, and the recipient of the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Champion of Education Award. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, contributed to the evacuation of 500 Afghans, mainly schoolgirls and Marefat faculty, in partnership with the 30 Birds Foundation and the National Endowment for Democracy. Also, the program director of the Sheesha Media and the Cluster Education initiative for Afghan girls providing education and Empowerment programs for over 4200 girls through 16 clusters in Afghanistan and Pakistan.