WHO WE ARE
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Executive Director Co-founder Dr. Sakena Yacoobi Co-founder Carolyn Dunlap (retired). |
Mission |
Executive Director
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Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is founder and Executive Director of Creating Hope International (CHI), a 501 © 3 organization. She manages grantor and donor relations and fundraises for CHI and the Afghan Institute of Learning, raising awareness about Afghanistan in the USA and the world.
Each year, Sakena speaks at numerous events, conferences and at institutions such as the UN, Stanford University and Oxford University. She particularly enjoys engaging with youth at schools, inspiring them to be globally minded citizens. She is a respected expert and speaker especially on the subjects of girls' education, life in Afghanistan, health, refugees and women’s empowerment. |
Sakena serves on a number of boards and panels including, the Women’s Refugee Commission, New Global Citizens, the Advisory Council for the Center for Social Impact Learning at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and is a former board member of the Global Fund for Women. She is an advisor to the Fetzer Institute, and a member of the US-Afghan Women’s Council.
Sakena has 6 honorary doctorates from US universities including Princeton University. She has been honored with: 2017 Sunhak Peace Prize Laureate, 2016 Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education, 2015 WISE Prize for Education Laureate and 2013 Opus Prize. She is both a Kravis Prize and Gruber Prize awardee. Sakena is a Skoll Social Entrepreneur, Schwab Social Entrepreneur, Ashoka Fellow and was nominated as one of 1,000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sakena is the founder and CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL). Under her leadership, AIL provides education, health and training services to the underserved in Afghanistan. Sakena has also established private facilities in the country , four schools, a hospital and TV and radio stations both in Herat.
For more information on Sakena see links below.
Sakena has 6 honorary doctorates from US universities including Princeton University. She has been honored with: 2017 Sunhak Peace Prize Laureate, 2016 Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education, 2015 WISE Prize for Education Laureate and 2013 Opus Prize. She is both a Kravis Prize and Gruber Prize awardee. Sakena is a Skoll Social Entrepreneur, Schwab Social Entrepreneur, Ashoka Fellow and was nominated as one of 1,000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sakena is the founder and CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL). Under her leadership, AIL provides education, health and training services to the underserved in Afghanistan. Sakena has also established private facilities in the country , four schools, a hospital and TV and radio stations both in Herat.
For more information on Sakena see links below.
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CHI Board of Directors |
CHI Advisory Board |
Our Team
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Ra'Ven Miller has worked in the CHI office since 2019.
She has a BA in political science. |
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Elizabeth Appleyard has worked with CHI since 2004. She has a BA in English and qualified as a lawyer in the UK. |
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Nancy Mendicki is President of SBB Tax & Accounting Services LLC. We have been fortunate to have had Nancy provide her accounting and financial skills to both CHI and AIL. We have been a client of Nancy's Michigan based firm since 2003. |
Photography credits
Ginna Fleming
William Marshall of WKM Photography - Eighth National Role Model Award
William Vazquez - Photographer "Maternal Health Initiative" supported by a grant from the Abbott Fund
Afghan Institute of Learning
Christine Olsson - World Children's Prize
Alissa Everett
William Marshall of WKM Photography - Eighth National Role Model Award
William Vazquez - Photographer "Maternal Health Initiative" supported by a grant from the Abbott Fund
Afghan Institute of Learning
Christine Olsson - World Children's Prize
Alissa Everett
