ATIA ABAWI

Atia Abawi is a foreign correspondent and author now based in Los Angeles, California after spending more than a decade living in Afghanistan and the Middle East. She currently serves as an International Affairs analyst for NBC News. 

Abawi was born a refugee to Afghan parents in West Germany and was raised in the United States. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Communications and International Studies, and was awarded the school’s Outstanding Alumna honor. Abawi went on to work for CNN, NBC News, and Al Jazeera English as a foreign news correspondent. She has covered stories from all over the world. Abawi was stationed for almost five years in Kabul, Afghanistan, before moving to Jerusalem in 2013. She has won numerous awards for both her journalistic achievements and written, including The George Foster Peabody Award and The duPont-Columbia Awards. 

Her first book, “The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan” was published by Penguin Books in 2014. Her next novel, “A Land of Permanent Goodbyes” based on the Refugee Crisis was released by Penguin Random House in 2018. Atia’s latest book released in March 2021 and is a part of Chelsea Clinton’s ‘She Persisted’ Series in which she profiled Sally Ride. 

FARHAT HANIFI

Farhat Hanifi serves as the Director of Philanthropy for the Waterford Foundation where she oversees the implementation and execution of domestic and international projects that serve under-resourced communities.

She is a founding board member for the Valley Health Education Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting access to higher education in health sciences and related fields in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Farhat was a founding committee member of the Afghan-American Conference and served as the Finance Co-chair for the first three years of its inception. She is also a proud Bruin and graduated from UCLA with a degree in Anthropology. Farhat presently lives in Fresno, California with her wonderful husband and amazing son.

HOMAIRA HOSSEINI

Homaira Hosseini was born in Herat, Afghanistan and raised in Fremont, California. Currently, she is Litigation Counsel for Lyft in San Francisco.

Previously, she was a Litigation Associate at Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Homaira is barred in both California and Texas. Homaira completed a Coro Public Policy Fellowship in San Francisco. She received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Public Affairs from UCLA and a J.D. from Berkeley Law School where she was honored as a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. Homaira served on the AAC Organizing Committee for 3 years as the Professional Networking Coordinator and Community Initiatives Chair. She now proudly serves as Chair of the Afghan-American Community Organization Board of Directors. 

MADINA NOORISTANI

Madina Nooristani was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and raised in New York. Madina has worked on Wall Street at AIG as an Actuary for 12 years and as a Finance Manager at S&P Global. Currently, she is a Sr. Director product manager for VisaNet +AI at Visa. She graduated from New York University, Stern School of Business with a major in Actuarial Science, Finance and minor in Mathematics.

Madina has served on the AAC Organizing Committee for 6 years as the Finance Lead and on the Executive Team. She now proudly serves our diaspora and Afghanistan on the Afghan-American Community Organization Board of Directors.

MOHAMMAD ALI AZIZ-SULTAN, MD

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dr. Mohammad Ali Aziz-Sultan embarked on his lifelong commitment to health and innovation after receiving his Medical Degree at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Sultan proceeded to complete his Neurosurgical Residency with an in-folded Radiology Fellowship at the University of Miami, followed by two Fellowships at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix Arizona (one in Endovascular Neurosurgery and the other in Cerebrovascular and Skull Base Surgery). Respected among peers and understanding the importance of innovation, Dr. Sultan quickly advanced to the position of Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Endovascular Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Opportunity giving way to present day, Dr. Sultan currently holds the title of Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the Harvard Medical School, and Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, all the while pursuing a degree in Master of Business Administration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which he completed in the Spring of 2019.

Dr. Sultan’s most impactful contributions have been in the field of education. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and is an ad hoc editor for several of the most prominent neurosurgical publications. He has been involved in training of over 60 residents 25 fellows in neurosurgery and currently serves as the associate program director for the residency at Brigham.  Most of the fellows that have trained with him have gone into academic programs and are now training other physicians. He is an invited speaker at most of the national and international cerebrovascular conferences.  He has also used his platform at Harvard to tell his story as a young Afghan refugee who fled a war torn country at the age of six to eventually come to the United States. The opportunities afforded by education has allowed him to practice medicine in an unparalleled environment. He has given these stories of hope and resilience of the Afghan people as invited professor at Universities and to the Afghan-American Conference aimed towards youth empowerment.  He has also returned to his homeland on a few occasions to help collaborate with neurosurgeons in Kabul Afghanistan in service to the Afghan community. 

SPOJMIE NASIRI

Spojmie Nasiri is the principal attorney at the Law Office of Spojmie Nasiri, PC in Pleasanton, California. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, in 1998 and her Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University, School of Law, in 2003. Mrs. Nasiri is a member of the California State Bar and is admitted to practice before the California Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Mrs. Nasiri is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and currently serves on AILA's Afghan Response Task Force, advocating for recently evacuated Afghans. She has extensive experience representing clients in family-based immigration matters before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and handling complex deportation matters.

In addition to her legal work, Mrs. Nasiri served as the Board President of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, she was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to immigration law and community work. Mrs. Nasiri was also awarded the AILA President's Commendation Award in 2022 and 2023 for her extensive pro bono work related to Afghan refugees.

In addition to her legal practice, Mrs. Nasiri served as Board President of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, she was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame for her significant contributions to immigration law and community advocacy. In recognition of her outstanding pro bono work on behalf of Afghan refugees, Mrs. Nasiri was awarded the AILA President's Commendation Award in 2022 and 2023.

Mrs. Nasiri currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Afghan American Community Organization (AACO), the Alameda County Bar Association, and on the Board of Directors for CAIR National, the largest civil rights organization serving American Muslims, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Nasiri is fluent in Pashto and Dari.

RYHAN FUTURI

Ryhan Futuri is Director and Head of the U.S. Centurion Card (The Black Card) at American Express. Ryhan leads a team that manages all aspects of the portfolio including value proposition, benefits, customer experience and marketing, finance, and the long term strategy of Amex’s most premium, luxury product.

Prior to this role, Ryhan has served in a variety of leadership positions at Amex including roles in strategy, marketing, and customer experience. Prior to American Express, Ryhan worked as a strategy consultant servicing Fortune 500 brands in the U.S, Europe, and Africa.  Ryhan has an MBA from Georgetown University, a BBA from The George Washington University, and a Continue Education Certification in Economics and Luxury Brands from Bocconi University in Milan. Ryhan is from Fairfax, Virginia and resides in New York City. He proudly serves as Board of Director of the Afghan-American Community Organization.