P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

Wazhma Sadat was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in a setting where her educational opportunities were severely limited by the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education. When the Taliban’s stringent policies threatened the lives of Afghan civilians, Wazhma’s family joined the millions of displaced Afghans who crossed multiple borders in search of peace and education. As a refugee in Pakistan, Wazhma attended a school for displaced Afghans during the day and wove carpets with her six siblings at night.

After the fall of the Taliban, Wazhma’s family returned to Kabul permanently where she finished high school and travelled to the United States for the first time as a high school exchange student. Upon her return to Afghanistan, Wazhma worked on various initiatives across the country that improved women’s access to education and furthered the economic empowerment of Afghan women.

Wazhma would subsequently be the first Afghan woman to graduate from Yale College. Soon after college, she cofounded Firoz Academy, an ed-tech startup that aims to provide educational and e-employment opportunities for the less privileged in war-stricken countries such as Afghanistan.

Currently, Wazhma attends Yale Law School by day and teaches students in Afghanistan by night. She believes her life’s work will be to advocate for and provide educational opportunities for the less privileged in the Muslim world.