A serial entrepreneur and one of the first female CEOs in her home country, Afghanistan. As CEO of Digital Citizens Fund, Bright Citizen (coffee and tea), Roya’s work is focused on digital literacy to bridge the gap between education and the job markets. Digital Citizens Fund has 16,000 graduates from its 13 digital classrooms and has incubated ten female startups. Roya is currently in development with the Afgan government to build STEM schools in Afghanistan to unlock new opportunities for the inclusion of female entrepreneurs in hard to reach places using airspace and blockchain technology. Roya is also the champion and coach of the world renowned Afghan Girls Robotics Team, the Afghan Dreamers, who are inspiring a nation to see the potential of girls differently. Roya was named as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2013, and received the 2014 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award, The Advancement of Gender Equality through Education Award, Young Leader of World Economic Forum 2015, Wonder Women 2018, 2019 Education Award Winner, the prestigious Presidential Leadership Scholarship , D.Sc. Honorary Doctor of Science of Engineering from McMaster University, Fellow of Executive education Stanford and is a founding Leader of The NewNow, a group of rising global leaders tackling global challenges.
