Management Team and Staff
Shabana Basij-Rasikh -- Managing Director & Acting Head of School
Shabana is SOLA's Managing Director as well as acting Head of School and board member.
Shabana was born and raised in Kabul, where she completed her secondary education at Maryam High School. After finishing high school in Onalaska, WI, through the competitive Youth Exchange Studies (YES) program sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Shabana attended Middlebury College, graduating magna cum laude in International Studies and Women & Gender Studies, and studied Arabic and Islamic law at Alexandria University in Egypt.
During college, she founded HELA, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Afghan women through education. She also raised funds through foundations and public talks across the U.S. to build a high school for girls in her ancestral village, and wells in the outskirts of Kabul to give communities access to clean drinking water. An enthusiast of systemic change and community impact, Shabana was selected as one of Glamour® Magazine's Top 10 College Women of 2010, and was awarded the Vermont Campus Compact 2011 Kunin Public Award for outstanding public service, effective leadership and community-building. Shabana currently serves as the National Gender Mainstreaming Advisor at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Kabul.
Shabana was born and raised in Kabul, where she completed her secondary education at Maryam High School. After finishing high school in Onalaska, WI, through the competitive Youth Exchange Studies (YES) program sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Shabana attended Middlebury College, graduating magna cum laude in International Studies and Women & Gender Studies, and studied Arabic and Islamic law at Alexandria University in Egypt.
During college, she founded HELA, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Afghan women through education. She also raised funds through foundations and public talks across the U.S. to build a high school for girls in her ancestral village, and wells in the outskirts of Kabul to give communities access to clean drinking water. An enthusiast of systemic change and community impact, Shabana was selected as one of Glamour® Magazine's Top 10 College Women of 2010, and was awarded the Vermont Campus Compact 2011 Kunin Public Award for outstanding public service, effective leadership and community-building. Shabana currently serves as the National Gender Mainstreaming Advisor at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Kabul.
Global Citizens in Action
Basbibi was born and raised in Pakistan where she completed her secondary education at Maryam High School in 2007.
Proceeding to Afghanistan to earn an accounting diploma from Schunaizia College of Commerce and Management, Basbibi then worked as Facilitator at the Afghan Women Resources Center, and later as Finance Officer at the National Area Based Development program of the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
Basbibi was appointed full-time Resident Advisor in July 2012 based on her experience as SOLA finance officer in 2011/12, and as relations assistant for female students at the American University of Kabul dorm in 2010. She helps supervise day-to-day school operations from early morning roll call to scheduling lessons to advising boarding students. She also manages SOLA's joint video-conferencing project with GNG (NY) which links students in Afghanistan and the U.S. to promote cultural tolerance, understanding, and critical thinking.
Proceeding to Afghanistan to earn an accounting diploma from Schunaizia College of Commerce and Management, Basbibi then worked as Facilitator at the Afghan Women Resources Center, and later as Finance Officer at the National Area Based Development program of the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
Basbibi was appointed full-time Resident Advisor in July 2012 based on her experience as SOLA finance officer in 2011/12, and as relations assistant for female students at the American University of Kabul dorm in 2010. She helps supervise day-to-day school operations from early morning roll call to scheduling lessons to advising boarding students. She also manages SOLA's joint video-conferencing project with GNG (NY) which links students in Afghanistan and the U.S. to promote cultural tolerance, understanding, and critical thinking.
Sabira M. — U.S. Student Leader
Sabira was born in Kabul and spent much of her childhood in Pakistan before returning to Afghanistan. She is now a senior and honors student in her third year at Marianapolis Preparatory School in Thompson, CT, where she also serves as a Peer Leader and Residential Assistant.
In 2012 she was awarded the Eastman Young Leaders Award and Scholarship by the University of Rochester for outstanding academic achievements and leadership. She earned scholarships to Brown University in the summers of 2012 and ‘13. Sabira has also begun to develop a foundation supporting Afghan children in remote villages with education and health awareness.
Sabira supports SOLA students enrolled in the U.S. and outreach efforts.
In 2012 she was awarded the Eastman Young Leaders Award and Scholarship by the University of Rochester for outstanding academic achievements and leadership. She earned scholarships to Brown University in the summers of 2012 and ‘13. Sabira has also begun to develop a foundation supporting Afghan children in remote villages with education and health awareness.
Sabira supports SOLA students enrolled in the U.S. and outreach efforts.
Wasima S. — Executive Assistant to Managing Director
Wasima was SOLA's Executive Assistant to the Managing Director in 2011-12, during which time she also served as Dorm Supervisor of the boarding school in Kabul.
She was awarded a full four-year scholarship to Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, by the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women (IEAW) beginning in fall 2012.
She was awarded a full four-year scholarship to Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, by the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women (IEAW) beginning in fall 2012.
Fatima S. — Project Assistant, Youth Links
Fatima was a Project Assistant for Youth LINKS, administered by SOLA and Global Nomads Group (GNG), NY, in 2011-12.
Youth LINKS exchanges and activities are designed to promote cultural tolerance, understanding, and critical thinking – skills that are needed in times of conflict and peace-building. Through this program, students in Afghanistan and the U.S. connect directly through interactive videoconferencing and social networking. Students learn about the U.S., Afghanistan and their relationship; and start making a difference in their own communities with the new knowledge and energy and confidence.
Fatima was awarded a scholarship for 2012-13 to Northfield Mount Hermon in Northfield, Massachusetts, and accepted by Middlebury-Monterey's Intensive College English at Salve Regina College in Newport, Rhode Island, for summer 2012.
Youth LINKS exchanges and activities are designed to promote cultural tolerance, understanding, and critical thinking – skills that are needed in times of conflict and peace-building. Through this program, students in Afghanistan and the U.S. connect directly through interactive videoconferencing and social networking. Students learn about the U.S., Afghanistan and their relationship; and start making a difference in their own communities with the new knowledge and energy and confidence.
Fatima was awarded a scholarship for 2012-13 to Northfield Mount Hermon in Northfield, Massachusetts, and accepted by Middlebury-Monterey's Intensive College English at Salve Regina College in Newport, Rhode Island, for summer 2012.
Zeinab N. -- Project Assistant, Youth Links
Zeinab was a project assistant for Youth LINKS, administered by SOLA and Global Nomads Group (GNG), NY, in 2011-12.
The Youth Leadership through Networking and Knowledge Sharing offers U.S. and Afghan educators and students a dynamic educational and collaborative platform to engage in dialogue and learning on topics of cultural exchange, media literacy and civic engagement. GNG and SOLA have developed a distinctive program approach combining in-school curriculum and training with virtual exchanges promoting active intercultural learning and communication.
Zeinab was awarded a four-year scholarship in 2012 to the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh, which she began in August at the Women in Public Service Summer Institute.
The Youth Leadership through Networking and Knowledge Sharing offers U.S. and Afghan educators and students a dynamic educational and collaborative platform to engage in dialogue and learning on topics of cultural exchange, media literacy and civic engagement. GNG and SOLA have developed a distinctive program approach combining in-school curriculum and training with virtual exchanges promoting active intercultural learning and communication.
Zeinab was awarded a four-year scholarship in 2012 to the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh, which she began in August at the Women in Public Service Summer Institute.
