Voices of Afghan Businesswomen
Five women. Five ways of refusing to stop. None of them sell on this site — their stories stand for the wider fight every maker here is part of.
Never give up
Forced to close her beauty salon of two decades, Mahmooda sold her own jewelry to start a tailoring center — and now employs hundreds of women, including girls denied an education past sixth grade.
A story of courage and action
A former head teacher who opened an underground school for over 800 students after the Taliban closed girls' schools. Arrested twice, she grew a $200 investment into an enterprise employing 750 women.
I'm not going to give up
A former government employee and aspiring writer, Samira has survived Taliban rule twice. Now she manufactures goods to fund a secret school where girls learn maths, English, and science.
Building hope through education
Exiled to Iran as a child during the 1990s civil war, Fatemeh worked her way through university — only for the Taliban to close it to women. She now runs an underground school for girls in her community.
Supporting widows and girls
Forced into marriage at 13, widowed at 19, Amina sold her jewelry to open a tailoring and literacy center that became a lifeline for girls when the Taliban closed their schools.
