Hogai Nassery is a Afghan American family physician and the co-founder of the AAAGA. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1973, after a coup d'etat in Afghanistan. Her parents sponsored numerous Afghan families who sought refuge in Georgia after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Her father strongly believed that the United States was the land of opportunity, and that education was the key to realizing those opportunities. She is married with two sons, and lives in Decatur, Georgia.

Zack Poyan is an Afghan American who left Kabul in 1980, shortly before the start of the Soviet-Afghan War. He is a role model and mentor for young Afghans, having received numerous degrees, including two doctoral degrees, and having served as a professor at several colleges and universities in Georgia. Poyan  has worked as a finance administrator with both for-profit and non-profit entities, and he owns several private early-childhood education school.  He lives in Suwanee, Georgia and has two children.

John Bunting is Principle Senior Lecturer and Director of the Intensive English Program at Georgia State University. His areas of interest include teacher training, language learning for immigrants and refugess, and the use of technology in second language teaching and learning. He also is the director of GSU's Community-Based English program, which focuses on academic preparation for communities with limited resources. Married with two sons, he lives in Tucker, Georgia.

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Sherry Ebrahimi is the Director of Housing Administration and Conference Services at Emory University. Her father, who immigrated to this country from Kabul in 1968, helped many Afghan refugees resettle in the US in the 1980s following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Sherry loves Afghan cooking and spending time with her husband and two sons. They live in Decatur, Georgia.

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Bill is the Founder & Managing Partner of Big Cove Partners, a private equity investment fund. Before founding Big Cove, he was a managment consultant at Mckinsey & Company, and a technology and healthcare investor at Summit Partners. He enjoys orienting new arrivals to  life in Atlanta and making their new apartmnet feel like home. Outside of work he can be found at the dog park with his yellow lab, Jack.

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Mindy Simon is an Associate General Counsel and Senior Tax and International Specialist at Emory University, where she advises on a wide range of issues, including tax, executive compensation, conflicts of interest, international, and general corporate matters. Previously, Mindy served as the Chair of the Nonprofit Law Section of the Georgia Bar and President of the Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers. She lives in Decatur, Georgia with her husband and two sons.

Mary Helen serves as the director for the Center for Community Engagement at Perimeter College. Her teaching and research in the field of migration studies, education, and rhetoric and composition explores refugee education, agency, and identity. For more than a decade, Dr. O'Connor has been a volunteer and advocate for refugees and immigration in Clarkston, Georgia. Shepresents and lectures extensively on migrant students, refugee and immigrant issues, and community advocacy.

Mustafa Rahman was born in Afghanistan and immigrated to the United States in 1981. He holds an MBA from NYIT and is a veteran technologist, cybersecurity and SaaS entrepreneur. Mr. Rahman has 20+ years’ experience leading technological and cybersecurity projects for extremely sensitive government and financial clients. He lives in Suwanee with his wife and two children. 

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Nick is a confident and energetic Afghan American leader with a proven track record of building scalable and sustainable organizations with an emphasis on quality, partnerships and culture while maximizing shareholder value. While working with RHA Health Services for 15 years, in various leadership roles, including President and CFO, Nick took RHA through multiple successful exits.

Nick’s diverse skills span from Operations, Finance, Technology, People and Culture, Growth to Debt Management in multiple industries including Health Care, Telecom and Beverage. This dynamic background and experience, with his ability to build and operate in different financing structures consisting of Private Equity and Public, makes Nick an invaluable CEO and leader to spearhead the expansion of Skin & Aesthetics.

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Qasim Karimi is an accomplished banking professional with over 15 years of experience. Originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, he migrated to the United States in 2000. Despite facing challenges in Afghanistan, Qasim and his family persevered. Forced to leave Afghanistan due to the Taliban regime, the family sought asylum in the US in 1998. Qasim now serves as the Vice President-Corporate and Institutional Relationship Manager at PNC Bank, assisting businesses with their capital and debt structures. He serves on the economic empowerment board for IRC Atlanta. He is married with a young son and enjoys playing soccer and skydiving.

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