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Mahnaz Afkhami
Mahnaz Afkhami (Persian: مهناز افخمی; born January 14, 1941) is an Iranian-American women's rights activist who served in the Cabinet of Iran from 1976 to 1978. She is founder and president of Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), executive director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies, and former Minister of Women's Affairs in Iran's pre-Revolution government. She has lived in exile in the United States since 1979.
Afkhami has been an advocate for women's rights since the 1970s. She has founded and headed several international non-governmental organizations focused on advancing the status of women in Iran and later around the world. She has lectured and published extensively on the international women's movement, women's human rights, women in leadership, women and technology, the status of women in Muslim-majority societies, and on women's participation in civil society-building and democratization. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and distributed internationally.
Mahnaz Afkhami was born in Kerman, Iran in 1941, the eldest of three children. Her early childhood was spent in Kerman in a complex that housed a large extended family of Sheikhi Shi'ite Muslims.
When she was 11, her mother divorced her father and they moved to the United States. She later attended the University of San Francisco and the University of Colorado in Boulder.
In 1967, Mahnaz returned to Iran as a professor of literature at the National University of Iran. She worked there until 1978. Since then, she has lived in the United States, residing in Maryland with her husband, Gholam Reza Afkhami, until his death. She has a son and two grandchildren.
At 17, Afkhami joined a trade union and successfully challenged a breach of her rights as a worker when an employer laid her off temporarily then rehired her to avoid paying for the vacation she had earned. She credits this incident for giving her the belief that organizing could bring about social change.[citation needed]
In 1976, Afkhami was asked to join the Cabinet of Iran and became Minister of Women's Affairs. The post had not existed in Iran before, and the only other person holding such a position was Françoise Giroud in France.
In 2001, Afkhami published Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women to encourage women to be leaders in their families, communities, and countries. It has been translated into 20 languages. In 2010, she published Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women. The manuals have been used for training around the world, reaching thousands.
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Mahnaz Afkhami
Mahnaz Afkhami (Persian: مهناز افخمی; born January 14, 1941) is an Iranian-American women's rights activist who served in the Cabinet of Iran from 1976 to 1978. She is founder and president of Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), executive director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies, and former Minister of Women's Affairs in Iran's pre-Revolution government. She has lived in exile in the United States since 1979.
Afkhami has been an advocate for women's rights since the 1970s. She has founded and headed several international non-governmental organizations focused on advancing the status of women in Iran and later around the world. She has lectured and published extensively on the international women's movement, women's human rights, women in leadership, women and technology, the status of women in Muslim-majority societies, and on women's participation in civil society-building and democratization. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and distributed internationally.
Mahnaz Afkhami was born in Kerman, Iran in 1941, the eldest of three children. Her early childhood was spent in Kerman in a complex that housed a large extended family of Sheikhi Shi'ite Muslims.
When she was 11, her mother divorced her father and they moved to the United States. She later attended the University of San Francisco and the University of Colorado in Boulder.
In 1967, Mahnaz returned to Iran as a professor of literature at the National University of Iran. She worked there until 1978. Since then, she has lived in the United States, residing in Maryland with her husband, Gholam Reza Afkhami, until his death. She has a son and two grandchildren.
At 17, Afkhami joined a trade union and successfully challenged a breach of her rights as a worker when an employer laid her off temporarily then rehired her to avoid paying for the vacation she had earned. She credits this incident for giving her the belief that organizing could bring about social change.[citation needed]
In 1976, Afkhami was asked to join the Cabinet of Iran and became Minister of Women's Affairs. The post had not existed in Iran before, and the only other person holding such a position was Françoise Giroud in France.
In 2001, Afkhami published Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women to encourage women to be leaders in their families, communities, and countries. It has been translated into 20 languages. In 2010, she published Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women. The manuals have been used for training around the world, reaching thousands.