Our Team

  • Megan Ortagus Ahmed

    CO-FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

    Megan Ortagus Ahmed is the co-founder and President of Uplifting Afghan Girls. She is also a veteran senior intelligence officer with experience tackling the world's most pressing global challenges in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Megan is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Johns Hopkins University where she received a Master of Arts in Global Security Studies. She resides in New York City and is a proud host mom to an Afghan teenager. 

  • Fareeda Pasha

    CO-FOUNDER & SECRETARY

    Fareeda Pasha is the co-founder and Secretary of Uplifting Afghan Girls. She works as a NYC-based business strategist and theater artist, and serves on the boards of two non-profit arts and activism organizations. She advises leading media/entertainment and tech companies on strategic innovation. Fareeda holds a BA from Barnard College (Summa Cum Laude), and an MBA from Stanford University.

  • Dr. Joseph Chuman

    BOARD MEMBER

    Dr. Joseph Chuman is a distinguished professor and long-time human rights activist. He taught at the graduate level at Columbia University and at the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. As an activist, Dr. Chuman has worked on behalf of human rights and civil liberties; he founded the Northern New Jersey branch of Amnesty International. Dr. Chuman was also the leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, NJ from 1974 to 2020, and has served as a part-time leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture since 2008.

  • Stacia Teele

    BOARD MEMBER

    Stacia Teele is a documentary filmmaker, playwright, improv actor/instructor, and college admissions coach. Her dedication to Afghanistan began when she lived there as a teen, attending The American International School of Kabul. Stacia filmed an award-winning documentary, Afghanistan: Defying Silence, about performing artists in Afghanistan. She also produced two half-hour specials, which aired on ABC Nightline, about a critically-ill Afghan girl. Stacia recently authored BONUS LIFE, a dramatic play that debuted Off Broadway at the New Circle Theatre Company. Stacia also teaches improv to Fortune 500 clients and at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

  • Bina Khan

    TREASURER

    Bina Khan is an entrepreneur and start-up angel investor with experience in Silicon Valley, New York City, Europe, and the Middle East. She serves as an advisor to startups and accelerators focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and high growth companies. She is also the Co-Founder of SUMMIT – a boutique accounting and tax advisory firm. Bina holds a Dual MBA with a concentration in Accounting & Taxation from Pace University Lubin School of Business and a B.S. in Business Administration from Fordham University in New York City.

A message from our founders

Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans girls’ education. Let that sink in.

We saw despair in the eyes of Afghan girls after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021 and barred young women from attending schools and universities. It wasn’t enough to be a witness to this incredibly tragic event. We had to take action. As co-founders of Uplifting Afghan Girls (UAG), we set out to change the destiny of Afghan girls through education.

Using our combined experiences (Megan served in Afghanistan with the US Government and Fareeda was a tutor to Afghan children) we formed UAG in late May 2023. The full UAG team moved at lightning speed to do what many said was impossible: we brought five Afghan teenage girls to the US and they were enrolled in private school by September 2023.

The Taliban destroyed the artwork and musical instruments of our girls in an attempt to silence their voices and crush their spirits. Today those same girls are thriving in America—they have new instruments, new art, and a new life thanks to the UAG team and all of our many supporters.   

Bringing Afghan young women to the US to study is just the first step in a long journey and it takes ongoing physical, emotional, and financial support to ensure they flourish and grow. Your continued support to UAG makes this all possible and we can’t thank you enough.

—Megan & Fareeda 

Our Partners

The Afghan Child Education and Care Organization

The Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) is an Afghan non-profit organization that provides access to quality education for children, with a particular emphasis on young girls, in defiance of the Taliban's ban on female education. AFCECO maintains safehouses where these girls can live securely and have access to schooling and educational resources. Founded by Andeisha Farid, AFCECO started a sustainable child sponsorship program in 2004, bringing thousands of Afghan children from remote areas to its orphanages in major cities, where they receive specialized education alongside their regular schooling. With the resurgence of the Taliban, AFCECO has been compelled to transition from its previous public operations to a clandestine mode of functioning.

The New York Society for Ethical Culture

Founded in 1876 by philosopher and educator Dr. Felix Adler, The New York Society for Ethical Culture is a non-theistic, Humanist community dedicated to ethical relationships, social justice, and democracy.