decodingbarriers

Sabrina Zafar currently serves as the President and Program Director of Decoding Barriers. She holds a degree in Statistics and Machine Learning from Carnegie Mellon University. Her leadership experience includes serving as the Chapter President of FORGE (Forging Opportunities for Refugee Growth and Empowerment) at Carnegie Mellon University and as President of Herndon's Amnesty International Chapter. Additionally, she has been a mentor and member of numerous organizations dedicated to bridging the education gap, such as CollegePoint Advisors, QuestBridge Scholars, and ModernGuild. Sabrina brings over six years of experience in the education sector, working as an admissions consultant and college admissions test preparation instructor. At Decoding Barriers, she oversees programming for the organization’s educational initiatives.

Dr. Samina Afridi currently serves as the Vice President and Director of Outreach at Decoding Barriers. She has 20 years of experience as a researcher focusing on marginalized groups in tribal communities. Her extensive human rights work includes serving as a Senior Sector Specialist on Gender with the UNDP’s Merged Areas Governance Programme (MAGP), where she implemented projects for female empowerment. Dr. Afridi has also served as a resource member for organizations such as the Shaheed Bhutto Foundation, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). She has authored numerous research studies, articles, and reports on women’s rights and gender issues in Pashtun society in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and Afghanistan, including her PhD dissertation, Gender Consciousness Amongst Pukhtun in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Impact on the Status of Women.

Naheed Rehman currently serves as the Secretary and Fundraising Events Coordinator at Decoding Barriers. She brings over 13 years of experience as a community leader in the ex-FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). Her leadership roles include founding Takkra Qabali Khawanday (Brave Qabali Sisters), the first-ever network for female political empowerment in the ex-FATA, and serving as the Provincial Vice President of ex-FATA in the Awami National Party. Naheed participated in the IVLP Project Strengthening Local Governance in the Newly Merged Tribal Districts in both 2021 and 2023, organized by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with the American Councils for International Education and Meridian International Center. At Decoding Barriers, she oversees mentorship programs spearheaded by the organization.