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Fereshteh Forough

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Fereshteh Forough in a video by the International Organization for Migration

Fereshteh Forough (born 1985[1]) is an Afghan social activist and the CEO and founder of Code to Inspire (CTI), the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan. She is an advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women in developing countries through digital literacy, education, and financial independence.

Early life and education

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Fereshteh Forough discussing the support of her family in a video for the International Organization for Migration.

Forough was born in Iran to Afghan parents and grew up a refugee.[2][3] She is one of eight siblings.[4] A year after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, her family moved back to Herat, Afghanistan.[2][3][5] In 2012, she moved to New York City. She currently resides in New Hampshire, United States.[6]

Forough graduated from high school in Iran, majoring in literature. She initially had no interest in computer science but was assigned the field after taking a college entrance exam. Her father encouraged her to pursue the field, and she took his advice.[5] She went on to obtain a Bachelor's in Computer Science from Herat University and later a Master's degree from Technische Universität Berlin in Germany.[7]

Career

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After obtaining her master's degree, Forough became a professor of computer science at her alma mater, Herat University, where she worked for almost three years.[7] Before founding Code to Inspire in January 2015, Forough was also a co-founder and board member of Women's Annex Foundation.[8] Now known as Digital Citizen Fund, this organization is a non-profit that teaches girls and women digital literacy and works to provide access to technology and the internet to girls in developing countries.[2][9]

Code to Inspire

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Code to Inspire (CTI) opened the first all-female coding school in Afghanistan in November 2015. CTI, based in Herat, is a non-profit, one-year program. Women and girls in the program are typically between 15 and 25 years of age. Forough saw a need for an exclusively female coding school when she herself was studying and faced discrimination from male peers.[2] She set up a crowdfunding campaign through IndieGoGo and raised over $22,000 USD to help fund the coding school.[10] CTI also received funding from other organizations, such as the Malala Fund and GitHub, as well as 20 laptop computers from Overstock.com.[7][11] Forough's goal in establishing CTI was to allow girls to learn valuable technological skills in a safe and comfortable environment. Students are also able to build their resumes which can lead to greater job opportunities after graduation.[12] More advanced students learn how to create mobile apps and educational games, while those less experienced learn the basics of coding and other technological skills, such as how to use social media.[3] Forough has voiced her desire to open new branches of CTI in other cities in Afghanistan and countries throughout the Middle East and Africa.[7][13][14]

In 2021, Forough was forced to close the school's physical location in Herat due to the Taliban's takeover of the country. To ensure classes were able to continue virtually, CTI provided laptops and internet packages to students in need. Eighty percent of students have continued to attend the school online.[4]

Awards

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In 2016, CTI was the recipient of University of California, Berkeley CITRIS Athena Awards for Women in Technology Next Generation Engagement Award.[15] The same year, CTI was awarded Google's RISE Award which granted the organization $25,000 USD.[16] In 2017, CTI was recognized with Sustania's Community Award.[17]

Advocacy

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Forough is a Peace is Loud speaker whose speaking topics include "Women and Technology: Investing in the Future," "Educating, Inspiring, and Empowering Afghan Women," "Coding for Social Change," and "Filling the Gender Gap in STEM."[18] She gave a TED Talk in 2013 and was a 2015 Clinton Global Initiative panel speaker.[1][19][20] She was also a mentor for Google's 2016 project Change is Made with Code.[5][21][22]

Recognition

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At Marie Clair's first ever Young Women's Honors in 2016, Forough won The Revolutionary award. [23] She was also recognized at The Game Awards 2019 as a Global Gaming Citizen, someone who uses games to create positive change.[24] She has been featured in the books 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World (2017), Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women (2021), and We Are Still Here: Afghan Women on Courage, Freedom, and the Fight to be Heard (2022).[25][26][27]

References

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  1. ^ a b TED Archive (2017-11-20), The IT Women of Afghanistan | Fereshteh Forough, retrieved 2017-11-27
  2. ^ a b c d Brewer, Kirstie (2016-11-07). "Meet Afghanistan's female coders who are defying gender stereotypes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  3. ^ a b c "Fereshteh Forough Is Empowering Afghani Women Through Code – Welcome to World Woman Foundation". www.worldwomanfoundation.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  4. ^ a b "The woman behind Afghanistan's first all-female coding school". newscentermaine.com. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  5. ^ a b c "Empowering Afghan Girls Through Code with Fereshteh Forough". 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  6. ^ Ehrlich, Steven. "Taliban Resurgence Could Threaten Afghan School Teaching Women To Code And Build Ethereum Apps". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  7. ^ a b c d "Want to visit Afghanistan? They're making an app for that". PBS NewsHour. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  8. ^ "Women's Annex Uses Bitcoin to Empower Women Bloggers in Afghanistan". American Banker. 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  9. ^ "Digital Citizen Fund". digitalcitizenfund.format.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  10. ^ "Code School for Women in Afghanistan". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  11. ^ "Code to Inspire - Tech Nonprofit". Fast Forward. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  12. ^ "Afghanistan's First Women-Only Coding School Just Graduated Its First Class". Fast Company. 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  13. ^ "Fereshteh Forough – Coding the path to gender equality". Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  14. ^ "The Unstoppables: Meet the Winners of Our First-Ever Young Women's Honors". Marie Claire. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  15. ^ "CITRIS and the Banatao Institute announce recipients of the inaugural CITRIS Athena Awards for Women in Technology - CITRIS and the Banatao Institute". CITRIS and the Banatao Institute. 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  16. ^ "Celebrating RISE Awards Winners Who Are Helping Increase Diversity in CS Education". Google. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  17. ^ "Communication | Connect4Climate". www.connect4climate.org. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  18. ^ "Fereshteh Forough | Advocate for Afghan Women | Peace is Loud". peaceisloud.org. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  19. ^ Clinton Global Initiative (2015-10-09), Looking to the Next Frontier: Panel Discussion - CGI 2015 Annual Meeting, retrieved 2017-11-27
  20. ^ Clinton Global Initiative (2015-12-09), Refugees, Conflict, and Community: Panel Discussion - CGI 2015 Annual Meeting, retrieved 2017-11-27
  21. ^ "Made With Code Unveiled New Project at Global Citizen Festival". HuffPost. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  22. ^ "Google Change Is Made with Code - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  23. ^ Brooke Hauser (2016-12-12). "The Unstoppables: Meet the Winners of Our First-Ever Young Women's Honors". Marie Claire Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  24. ^ "Celebrating Global Gaming Citizens at The Game Awards 2019". www.facebook.com. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  25. ^ 200 Women, retrieved 2024-03-10[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ Alliance, The Women’s Impact. "Unlocked – The Book". The Women’s Impact Alliance (WIA). Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  27. ^ "We Are Still Here: 9780593472903 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
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