Fortunately, Sarah Porter is on a mission with her teams at InspiredMinds & World Summit AI to raise awareness about the current situation that the Afghan Tech Freedom Squad – formerly known as the Afghan all-girl robotics team – is facing after their tumultuous evacuation from Afghanistan.
Who are the Afghan Tech Freedom Squad?
The Afghan Tech Freedom Squad are Fatemah, Kawsar, Saghar and Lida – the 2017 all girl afghan robotics team alumni and the group formerly known as the Afghan Dreamers.
Which of their accomplishments stand out the most that our readers should know about?
They are the internationally-renowned group of robotics and engineering Afghan nationals who were originally banned from attending the Washington DC Robotics Championships under the Muslim travel ban. InspiredMinds lobbied for this restriction to be overturned and they subsequently went on to attend the championships, they attended World Summit AI in Amsterdam and they travelled to over 30 countries globally – in short, they are international icons for modern day women and girls in STEM. They have been hosted by global leaders and are now championing the right for women and girls to be educated and to live their lives — without restrictions. In the last 7 days, they have been evacuated from Afghanistan along with 54 of their family members in a highly tense and traumatic situation.
In what way are the Afghan Tech Freedom Squad members part of international events like WSAI and why should other event organizers support similar causes?
InspiredMinds campaigns for progress towards the United Nations global goals including the right to access technology and science equitably, and lobbies for gender equality and access for all to advances in healthcare globally. It is a fundamental blueprint of the InspiredMinds ethos to build interdisciplinary communities of changemakers, pioneers and individuals in positions of power – in their respective fields – to enable change for good. During the recent evacuation of Afghan nationals from Kabul, InspiredMinds were able to call upon it’s community members which resulted in the assembly of a unique group of NGO’s, humanitarian aid workers, heads of tech, heads of government and more — this group worked day and night to enable over 75 individuals to leave Kabul. It is the power of community and likeminded good intention that enabled this to happen; this shows that when an event is built on a reciprocal ecosystem that is truly mission driven, it can indeed change the world.
Are there any upcoming projects that the Afghan Tech Freedom Squad members are working on that should we keep an eye on?
The squad are currently building a new initiative to lead women and girls. More to come soon.
What can we do to help you help them?
The squad members are without a doubt the brightest and most intelligent women with a fierce why for changing the world by example, they are seeking scholarships in software engineering and mechanical engineering so a shout out to anyone who can assist would be much appreciated.
They are also raising funds to assist in helping other asylum seekers and refugees, other women like them gain access to education and any support here is greatly appreciated
InspiredMinds Media Ltd is organizing this fundraiser.Join Sarah during PIRATE Live’s “Future of Events” track on Sept 2nd where she’ll be discussing the role that event organizers play in promoting critical humanitarian & diversity initiatives with Ammin Youssouf (Afrobytes & The Colors) – hosted by our very own CEO, Ben Costantini