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Shamim Jawad
Founder, President

Shamim Jawad has over 18 years of experience as a seasoned financial consultant, an accomplished fundraiser and a diligent human rights activist.  She is the Founder and President of Ayenda Foundation, a non-profit public charity established in 2006. Ayenda Foundation funds, manages and operates schools for orphans and underprivileged children in Afghanistan. Shamim is a longstanding advocate for access to education for children and economic empowerment for women with proven ability to serve in challenging environment and create synergy between organizations to enhance efficiency and deliver timely services in fragile societies. 

She is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, established by Mrs. Laura Bush in 2005.  More globally, she serves on the Board of Trustees of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).  Shamim’s national and international board membership and affiliations include prestigious women’s organizations in Washington, DC such as International Women’s Forum (IWF), The Council on Women’s Leadership at the Meridian International Center, International Neighbor’s Club, Capital Speaker’s Club.  She is the recipient of the prestigious Liberty Award from Dialogue on Diversity for her efforts to defend women’s rights and advocate social welfare for women in Afghanistan.

She started her career with TIAA-CREF in New York City and eventually moved to the San Francisco office where she worked her way up as a Financial Consultant serving prominent academic institutions and high net value individuals. She moved to Washington, DC in October of 2003 to support her husband as the newly appointed Afghan Ambassador to the United States.

Shamim studied at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Human Relations and completed fellowship programs at the Harvard University, as the International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellow, as well as the University of Cambridge, England. She currently lives in London, UK with her husband who recently appointed as Afghan Ambassador to the Court of St. James.