Suraya Sadeed
Founder and Executive Director
Help the Afghan Children

She was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan and immigrated to the United States after the invasion of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and became a successful business woman.

During the height of the Afghan Civil War (1993), Suraya returned to Afghanistan and was shocked by the horrific conditions of children and the destruction of her homeland. That same year, she established Help the Afghan Children, Inc.

Since then, Suraya's courageous efforts in providing humanitarian aid, medical care, education, and hope against seemingly insurmountable odds have directly benefited over 1.5 million Afghan children and their families. Operating in some of the most inhospitable conditions imaginable, confronting the Taliban and drug lords, delivering aid to thousands of families during bombing attacks in the middle of a war, Suraya's work and heroism earned her respect and admiration from common Afghans, and human rights leaders from around the globe.

After the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001, Suraya was selected as an Educational Commission Advisor for the Transitional Government of Afghanistan and Delegate (one of ten nationally recognized women for service) to the Grand Assembly of Afghanistan in 2002.

Recognizing that education was the key to Afghanistan's future, Suraya has been a leader in introducing many innovative educational models and programs into the country. In 2002, Suraya established one of the Afghanistan's first model schools. She was the first to bring computers and computer education programs into the public school system, and her introduction of peace & environmental education into the educational curriculum has been lauded by the Ministry of Education and the United Nations.

Suraya's work has been recognized and honored at the highest levels of government in both Afghanistan and the United States. She has appeared on such programs as the Oprah Winfrey Show and NBC's Weekend Today Show - where she was recognized in their 'Courageous Hearts' series. Her story has been written about in Readers Digest and the Los Angeles Times Magazine as well as a film documentary ''Inshallah, Diary of an Afghan Woman", produced for the Oxygen Channel. In March of 2006, Suraya's work was recognized by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House for making a difference in Afghanistan.