Nazanin Ash is the chief executive officer of

Welcome.US Welcome.US is a nonprofit organization that coordinates the support of Afghan refugees in US. The organization was formed in 2021 as the US evacuated 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan following the transfer of power to the Taliban. The organiza ...

and has previously worked in the US State Department of state in the

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), also known as the Bureau of Near East Asian Affairs, is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nati ...

leading the

Middle East Partnership Initiative The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a United States State Department program that fosters meaningful and effective partnerships between citizens, civil society, the private sector, and governments in the Middle East and North Afri ...

and at the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

(USAID) on international development and HIV/AIDS. Born to parents who left Iran, she is an advocate for American support for refugees, and was named in '' Washingtonian'''s list of the 500 most influential people in Washington, DC, in 2022.

Early life and education

Ash was born in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

to parents from Iran. Both her parents emigrated to the United States as students, expecting to return home after her father completed his Ph.D., but decided not to go back to Iran following the 1979

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

, where she received the Hope Wearn Troxell Memorial Prize. She then pursued a master's degree in public policy from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where she was also a Sheldon Fellow, an Imagitas Fellow, and a Public Service Fellow. In 2003, she was one of two alumni awarded the Kennedy School's Rising Star Award.

Career

From 2002 to 2003, Ash worked with ActionAid Kenya as its program officer for

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. In 2003, she was appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

as one of twelve

White House Fellows The White House Fellows program is a federal fellowship program established via Executive Order by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964, based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie Cor ...

. Ash worked as the Chief of Staff for Randall L. Tobias when he served as the

United States Global AIDS Coordinator The Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State is the official responsible for overseeing U.S.-sponsored humanitarian aid programs to combat the AIDS epidemic around the world. The Global AIDS Coordinator has the rank of ...

, and at

during the

Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic i ...

. She also worked as the Deputy Assistant Secretary, at the

during the

Presidency of Barack Obama Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican n ...

. In 2021, she was the Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 19 ...

. She was also a visiting policy fellow at the

Center for Global Development The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. History It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, directo ...

, where she focused on aid effectiveness and political and economic reform in the Middle East. In September 2021, Ash was appointed CEO of

, which was founded to help resettle 100,000 Afghan refugees within a period of six months. Welcome.US advocates reform of the US asylum system with an emphasis on the role of

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s in "building civil society partnerships on behalf of Afghan newcomers".

Advocacy

Ash has also been vocal about the Ongoing Yemeni crisis. She has also stated that the United States should support refugee-hosting countries in the Middle East. In April 2022, Ash was a key speaker at Accenture's 2022 Women's Leadership Forum alongside

Amal Clooney Amal Clooney (; ar, أمل علم الدين; born 3 February 1978) is a Lebanese and British barrister. Her clients include Filipino and American journalist Maria Ressa; former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed; Julian Assange, the ...

, Judith McKenna,

Julie Sweet Julie Terese Sweet (née Spellman, born 1966/1967) is an American business executive and attorney. She is chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of Accenture, a multinational professional services company. ''The New York Times'' and ''Fortune' ...

, amongst others. Ash was named to '' Washingtonian'''s list of the 500 most influential people in Washington, DC, in 2022.

Selected publications

* Cindy Huang, Nazanin Ash, Katelyn Gough, and Lauren Post
Designing refugee compacts: lessons from Jordan
''

Forced Migration Review ''Forced Migration Review'' (''FMR'') is a publication on refugee, internal displacement and statelessness issues. History and profile It was founded in 1987 as the ''Refugee Participation Network'' newsletter. The first issue was published in N ...

'', Issue 57, pages 52–53, January 2018. * Cindy Huang and Nazanin Ash
Using the Compact Model to Support Host States and Refugee Self-reliance
CIGI online, 2018. * Nazanin Ash and Allison Grossman
Modernizing US Security and Development Assistance in the Middle East

, 2015.

References

External links

* * Nazanin Ash, Cecilia Munoz, and John Bridgeland
''America is rallying to support Ukrainians''
''The Hill'', 30 March 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ash, Nazanin Harvard Kennedy School alumni Bryn Mawr College alumni John F. Kennedy University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American chief executives Nonprofit chief executives American women chief executives People in international development