Founding Members

APN's Founding Members are the governing body of the network. Each holds a distinct professional category, representing the breadth of Afghan-American leadership across law, medicine, finance, engineering, public service, and beyond.

Defense & Government Strategy

Shahla Azizi

President • Afghan American Women Association

Shahla Azizi is a defense acquisition and government strategy professional with more than two decades of experience advising the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps on legislative affairs, budget execution, and contract compliance. A proud Afghan American leader, she has dedicated her career to public service and community empowerment, most notably as President of the Afghan American Women Association, where she championed Afghan women's rights and professional advancement.

Accounting & Finance

Sofia DeBlanc

Founder & CPA • DeBlanc CPA

Sofia DeBlanc, CPA is a licensed Certified Public Accountant, entrepreneur, and Big 4 alumna who spent over 11 years at Deloitte leading complex financial audit, SOX compliance, and internal controls engagements for major federal government agencies, managing teams of 60 or more and multi-million dollar budgets. Recognized as a Top 40 Under 40, she founded DeBlanc CPA to bring institutional-grade financial rigor to trade service entrepreneurs and community banks, and serves as Board Treasurer of Women for Afghan Women.

Technology & Entrepreneurship

Farshid Ghyasi

Founder & CEO • NETLINKS

Farshid Ghyasi is a technology entrepreneur and software architect who has spent 20 years building the digital infrastructure of Afghanistan, from a biometric payroll system serving 500,000 Afghan security forces to the country's largest employment platform, Jobs.af. As Founder and CEO of NETLINKS, he has delivered multi-million dollar government technology projects funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, the World Bank, and UNICEF, while pioneering AI and SaaS innovation that bridges Afghanistan and the United States.

Law

Kawun Kakar

Founding Managing Partner • Kakar Advocates LLC

Kawun Kakar is one of the most distinguished Afghan American attorneys practicing today, a California-licensed lawyer, former senior Afghan government official, and founding Managing Partner of Kakar Advocates LLC, the preeminent international law firm based in Kabul. Ranked Band 1 by Chambers and Partners and recognized as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500, he has advised governments, multinational corporations, and international institutions on matters spanning commercial law, mining, banking, public procurement, and constitutional reform.

Foreign Policy & National Security

Mustafa Popal

Chief Operating Officer • The Popal Group

Mustafa Popal is a distinguished former U.S. career diplomat with 25 years of national security and foreign policy experience at the State Department, the White House, and the Pentagon. Having served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State, Special Advisor to the Vice President, and NSC Director, he has operated at the highest levels of American government across administrations and crises spanning the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and the Indo-Pacific.

Social Impact & Women's Empowerment

Mina Sherzoy

Program Manager • U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Mina Sherzoy is a pioneering social impact leader whose work over more than two decades has transformed the lives of women and communities across Afghanistan and the United States. The founder of Women's Entrepreneurship Development in Afghanistan, a concept she introduced to USAID in 2003 that gave rise to the first Afghan Women's Business Association in the country's history, she has since directed a $40 million USAID program placing more than 1,700 women in professional roles and generated over $11 million in economic value through market-linkage initiatives.

Finance & Private Equity

Seyar Yagana

Principal • The Carlyle Group

Seyar Yagana is a global finance and risk management executive currently serving as Principal at The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest and most influential private equity firms. With a career spanning nearly three decades across four continents, including senior leadership roles at PwC and Capital One, he has advised governments, financial institutions, and C-suite executives on enterprise risk, compliance, and digital transformation at the highest levels.

Public Leadership & Development

Assad Zamir

President & Founder • Zamir Foundation

Assad Zamir is an impact entrepreneur, former Afghan Cabinet Minister, and one of the most prominent Afghan American voices at the intersection of government, business, and humanitarian service. As Afghanistan's former Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, he led national reform efforts and secured $600 million in international funding to advance the country's agricultural development. As President and Founder of the Zamir Foundation and a Board Member of the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, he continues to drive economic empowerment and community development on both sides of the globe.

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