Arash Azizzada

Arash Azizzada is an immigrant, Afghan-American filmmaker and community organizer based in Los Angeles, California. He started his activism by leading voter registration campaigns for the Afghan-American community, translating voter guides into Dari and Pashto. While living in Washington, D.C., his work focused on ending the 20-year US-led occupation of Afghanistan and promoting the voices of women and other marginalized groups in Afghanistan as peace talks and reconciliation efforts took shape. Ahead of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, he co-founded Afghans for a Better Tomorrow (AFBT), spearheading evacuation and rapid response coordination efforts. Today, he leads the organization’s operations as its executive director to ensure Afghan newcomers can lead dignified lives. Arash also serves on the board of the Afghan Cultural Society based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a 2003 Rockwood Leading from the Inside Out Fellow. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Vice News, The Washington Post and NPR, and on Netflix.