A Place to Learn: Sustaining Girls’ Education in
Afghanistan, Post 2014
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Event Report: May 11, 2013
Afghan Girls, Their Time is Now
We held our ‘Afghan Girls: Their Time is Now’ event at Seattle University on May 11th. The event was a great success. We would like to give special thanks to our intern Halla Ahmed for her tireless efforts in organizing this event that highlighted the different aspects surrounding girls’ education in Afghanistan. We are extremely grateful to the many interns and staff who helped put on this event. Specifically, we want to thank our speakers: Serena Cosgrove of Seattle University, Farhana Ahmad of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and Catherine Gelband, president of our board of directors. We would also like to thank the many friends and family of Halla Ahmed who contributed to making this event possible. Thank you!!!
Please enjoy some photos of the night’s events.
Halla pictured on the left and one of our speakers, Farhana Ahmad.
We had authentic Afghan food inspired by the evening’s event, and it was fantastic!
Our Executive Director Ginna Breslford contributed to the evening by being our MC.
We were grateful to have our board member Eliza Hurlbut (left) in attendance
We were grateful to have our board members (from left) Margaret McPhee and Catherine Gelband
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May 11, 2013 Afghan Girls, Their Time is Now!
Ayni Education International is pleased to announce that they will be hosting “Afghan Girls, Their Time is Now” at Seattle University on May 11th at 7:00pm. This event is aimed at discussing girls’ right to education in Afghanistan and will include three speakers, Serena Cosgrove, Farhana Ahmad, and Catherine Gelband. Brief introductions to the speakers are included below. Please join us on this exciting evening to gain insights on girls’ education in Afghanistan and the Islamic perspective on the important of girls’ education. Remember Dinner will be free so RSVP at ahmadh@seattleu.edu
Serena Cosgrove
Serena Cosgrove is an assistant professor at Seattle University where she teaches such classes as Global Poverty: Causes and Solutions; Gender and Development; War & Reconciliation; and Women and Leadership in Latin America. Cosgrove also takes students to carry out research in the global south; she has traveled to Ghana, Zambia, and Chile with students.
Her book, Leadership from the Margins: Women and Civil Society Organizations in Argentina, Chile, and El Salvador was published in 2010 by Rutgers University Press and was the product of eight years of research throughout Latin America. Cosgrove spent 10 years carrying out human rights monitoring work in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala in the 1980s and early 1990s. She earned her masters in Social Anthropology and doctorate in Sociology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts where her research focused on the impact of microfinance programming in postwar El Salvador. Before starting teaching at Seattle U, Cosgrove spent 12 years working for the AVINA foundation where she created a Latin America-wide knowledge management program promoting knowledge exchange between leaders throughout the region.
Farhana Ahmad
Farhana Ahmad is a member of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. She works at Microsoft Corporation, and is responsible for Windows Phone strategy and planning. Over past decade, she has held a number of strategy and software engineering positions at Microsoft for products and services such as Bing, MSN and Visual Studio. Before joining Microsoft, Farhana worked as a software engineer for Schlumberger Technologies and Ford Motor Company. Farhana obtained masters in Computer Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, and an MBA from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Catherine Gelband
Catherine’s interest in educational issues and empowering girls defines her career and volunteer involvement. Catherine has served on the board of Pacific Crest School, a Montessori middle school in Seattle, since 1990. Her role with the school has included serving for ten years as its Assistant Director in charge of finance, human resources and admissions. Catherine currently serves as the school’s Admissions Director. Catherine is also a Board Member and President of the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. Catherine attended Yale College and Northwestern University School of Law. She began her legal career as a corporate lawyer at a large Seattle law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. After the arrival of her two children, she began a private practice advising post-IPO public companies on securities law compliance and reporting. Catherine retired from the practice of law in 2006.
