Shabana Basij-Rasikh

In the autumn of 2012, Shabana Basij-Rasikh stood on the TEDWomen stage in Washington, DC, and challenged the world to dare to educate Afghan girls -- to join her in her life's work of creating the best educated generation Afghanistan had ever seen, one that would help her nation rise above the desolation of years spent under Taliban rule.

In the summer of 2021, Basij-Rasikh stood at the airport in Kabul as the Taliban roamed the streets of her hometown once more, and helped to coordinate the evacuation of nearly 250 members of her school community, including nearly 100 SOLA students, away from Afghanistan and into Rwanda. 

Two events, nine years apart. Now Basij-Rasikh will tell the story of the days that came between -- and her hopes for the days to come.

Basij-Rasikh is a graduate of Middlebury College and Oxford University. She was featured on the Forbes "30 Under 30 Asia" list and is a contributing columnist for the Washington Post.