For many Qatar Scholarship for Afghans Project (QSAP) scholars, education has become a starting point for work that reaches far beyond their university campuses.
Some are building organizations. Others are taking on leadership roles in their communities or bringing their perspectives to international forums.
Afsana Ahmadi, a student at George Mason University, is one of them. Her work with young people now extends to more than 15 countries.
Ahmadi, a QSAP scholar, studies government and international politics with a minor in business analytics at George Mason University, founded and leads Amanah Foundation, a nonprofit focused on youth development and leadership.
Through Amanah Foundation, she supports young people through leadership development, skills training, educational programs and advocacy. The organization has reached participants from more than 15 countries.
One of its initiatives, Amanah Leadership Week, received more than 1,000 applications across its first two cohorts. The third cohort took place Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2026, in collaboration with George Mason University’s Center for Leadership & Intercultural Engagement.
In 2026, George Mason also recognized Ahmadi with a Student Leadership Award.
Another QSAP scholar, Raihana Sattari, is studying mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University at Qatar. Beyond her studies, she serves as strategic partnerships lead at the Youth Center for Dialogue and Peace.
Sattari recently served as a moderator and member of the organizing team at the Global Youth Summit for Change in Geneva.
The summit, held Aug. 27-30, brought together more than 100 young people and experts to discuss peacebuilding, climate action, human rights, social innovation and global governance.
Hosted by the Youth Center for Dialogue and Peace in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the four-day gathering gave Sattari an opportunity to help guide discussions and bring her perspective as a young Afghan woman to an international forum.
“I am particularly interested in the question of how young people move from simply being invited into a room to actually having a meaningful voice in that room,” she said.
Ahmadi and Sattari are among QSAP scholars and alumni pursuing work beyond their studies. Other examples include Shahdukht Tapesh, who founded a podcast focused on Afghan refugees after resettlement; sisters Shakila and Fawzia, who became lawyers in New York; former Afghan Girls Robotics Team captain Somaya Faruqi, who earned an engineering degree; Rukhsar Habibzai, who continued her education at Columbia University and the University of Oxford after graduating from Bard College; and Sakhi Atayee, who has taken on a leadership role at Yale University while running a nonprofit.
About QSAP
The Qatar Scholarship for Afghans Project is a fully funded scholarship program that supports Afghan students whose education was disrupted after the fall of Kabul in 2021. It is a partnership among the Afghan Future Fund (AFF), the Institute of International Education (IIE), Education Above All (EAA) and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).
The program works with more than 60 universities worldwide and has enrolled more than 500 Afghan students to date, about half of whom have graduated.