Our Team
At Daanish, we are driven by a powerful belief that every girl in Afghanistan deserves the chance to learn, dream, and shape her own future. We work to break down every barrier that keeps them out of the classroom. 

Founder

Humaira Rahbin 

Rahbin is a researcher, analyst and social entrepreneur. She previously served as the Gender Adviser for the Dutch Diplomatic Mission in Afghanistan and as Policy Adviser for USAID’s Promote: Women in Government programme. Rahbin is a former Afghanistan Observatory Scholar at New America and holds an MPhil in Public Policy from the University of Cambridge. Humaira’s research and articles, focusing primarily on women in Afghanistan, have been published by The Diplomat, The Intercept, the LSE Human Rights Blog, and others.

Board Member

Eileen Scully 

Scully is the Founder and CEO of The Rising Tides consulting firm, and the author of In the Company of Men: How Women Can Succeed in a World Built Without Them. She is an international keynote speaker and has served on the Steering Committee for the Fund for Women and Girls at the Fairfield County Community Foundation. Scully is also a former Chair and board member of the Get In Touch Foundation, as well as a former adviser to the Innovadores Foundation.

Board Member

Dr Omar Sharifi

Dr  Sharifi is the Senior Research Fellow and Kabul Director of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies. He is also an Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at the American University of Afghanistan. In addition, Sharifi is an Asia Society Fellow and a member of the Afghan 21 Young Leaders Forum. He graduated from Kabul Medical Institute in 2003. Following his medical studies, he worked as Head of Research and Publications for the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society in Kabul, and as Director of the Open Media Fund for Afghanistan. From 2006 to 2008, Sharifi studied Cultural Anthropology at Columbia University in New York under a Fulbright Fellowship. He also received a fellowship through the Rumsfeld Foundation at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Sharifi completed his PhD in Anthropology from Boston University in 2019 and his postdoc at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.

Board Member

Nina Mohanty

Nina Mohanty is the CEO of Bloom Money, an app that builds tools for diaspora communities to build generational wealth. Before Bloom Money, Nina worked at Klarna making payments smooth. She has also worked at Open Banking start up Bud, Starling Bank, and Mastercard.

She has been recognised for four years by Innovate Finance on the Women in FinTech Power List, most recently as a Standout in the Senior Leaders category. She is recognised on the Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list under the Finance category as well as a finalist for the Veuve Clicquot Bold Future Award. In her free time she volunteers her time with charitable organisations on their financial access strategy for their refugee candidates and is an advisor for Talent Beyond Boundaries, who place highly skilled refugees in industries facing labour-shortages.

Board Member

Shaharzad Akbar

Akbar is the Executive Director of Rawadari, an organisation that monitors and reports on the human rights situation in Afghanistan. She previously served as Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Akbar is currently an Honorary Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. She holds an MPhil from the University of Oxford.

Board Member

Dr Marissa Quie

 Dr Quie is a Lecturer at the University of Cambridge and an expert in migration, peace and conflict studies. She is a Fellow and Director of Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) at Lucy Cavendish College, and Director of Studies in HSPS at Magdalene College. Dr Quie also leads an initiative at the Cambridge Crisis and Refugee Hub, supporting Afghan girls in accessing education.