Fereshteh Forough

Last updated
Fereshteh Forough
Fereshteh Forough - IOM UN Migration 2017 (cropped).png
Fereshteh Forough in a video by the International Organization for Migration
Education
Occupations
  • Technologist
  • educator
  • social entrepreneur
Years active2012 - present
OrganizationCode to Inspire
Known forFounder and Executive Director of Code to Inspire
Notable workEstablishing the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan
Website www.codetoinspire.org

Fereshteh Forough is a technologist, educator and social entrepreneur from Afghanistan. [1] [2] She is the founder and Executive Director of Code to Inspire (CTI), a nonprofit organization that launched the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan in 2015. [3] [4] [5] Through Code to Inspire, she has worked to expand access to technology education for Afghan girls and to help students obtain remote employment opportunities in the global tech sector. [6] [7]

Contents

Early life and education

Fereshteh Forough discussing the support of her family in a video for the International Organization for Migration.

Forough was born in Iran to Afghan refugee parents [8] and spent her early life in the country before her family returned to Herat, Afghanistan, [9] following the fall of the Taliban in 2001. [10] [11] She completed her early education in Iran and later earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Herat University, followed by a Master's degree in information technology from the Technische Universität Berlin. [12] [4]

Her academic background and personal experience as a refugee influenced her later work promoting access to technology education for girls in Afghanistan. [3] [13]

Career

After obtaining her master's degree, Forough became a professor of computer science at her alma mater, Herat University. [12] [14]

Code to Inspire

Forough founded Code to Inspire (CTI) in 2015 as the first all-female coding school in Afghanistan. [3] Based in Herat, the nonprofit provided courses in programming, web development, graphic design, and digital literacy for girls and young women. [4] CTI’s early operations were supported by crowdfunding and international donors, including an Indiegogo campaign, a Google RISE Award grant, and early donations from GitHub, as well as support from organizations such as The Asia Foundation, DataCamp, and Consensys. [15] [16] [17]

Students at CTI work on practical projects, including mobile applications, websites, and educational or social-impact games. [18] [3] [19] Alongside technical training, CTI has incorporated instruction in digital payments and cryptocurrencies. [16] [20] During Afghanistan’s post-2021 economic crisis, CTI partnered with international supporters to send emergency assistance in cryptocurrency to selected students’ families and trained participants to create and manage digital wallets, convert funds into stablecoins, and cash out through local money exchangers. [5]

In 2021, Forough was forced to close the school's physical location in Herat due to the Taliban's takeover of the country. [21] To ensure classes were able to continue virtually, CTI provided laptops and internet packages to students in need. Eighty percent of students have continued to attend the school online. [6] [7]

Awards

In 2016, CTI was the recipient of University of California, Berkeley CITRIS Athena Awards for Women in Technology Next Generation Engagement Award. [22] The organization also received a Google RISE Award the same year. [23] In 2017, CTI was recognized with Sustainia's Community Award. [24] [8]

Advocacy

Forough has spoken internationally about women’s access to technology, education, and digital employment. [5] She gave a TED Talk in 2013 and was panel speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2015. [25] [26] [27] She has also served as a mentor for Google’s 2016 "Change is Made with Code" initiative. [13] [28] [29] In addition, Forough is a Peace is Loud speaker, engaging in public discussions on how digital literacy and remote work opportunities can expand economic possibilities for women in restrictive environments. [1]

Recognition

At Marie Claire’s first ever Young Women's Honors in 2016, Forough won The Revolutionary award. [14] She was also recognized at The Game Awards 2019 as a Global Gaming Citizen, someone who uses games to create positive change. [30] [31] She has been featured in the books 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World (2017), Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women (2021), and We Are Still Here: Afghan Women on Courage, Freedom, and the Fight to be Heard (2022). [32] [33] [34]

References

  1. 1 2 "Fereshteh Forough | Advocate for Afghan Women | Peace is Loud". peaceisloud.org. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  2. ↑ "How learning to code can bring Afghan girls into the global tech marketplace – Women in the World". womenintheworld.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kermani, Shahmir (7 November 2016). "Afghanistan's female coders defying gender stereotypes". The Guardian.
  4. 1 2 3 "Afghanistan's First Women-Only Coding School Just Graduated Its First Class". Fast Company. 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  5. 1 2 3 "Afghan women turn to cryptocurrency to feed their families". Business Insider. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  6. 1 2 "Afghan girls learn coding underground to bypass Taliban curbs". Reuters. 28 October 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Afghan girls learn to code underground to bypass Taliban curbs". ABC News. 31 October 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Fereshteh Forough – Coding the path to gender equality". Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  9. ↑ "Fereshteh Forough: Code to Inspire". Women for Afghan Women. 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  10. ↑ "Fereshteh Forough Is Empowering Afghani Women Through Code – Welcome to World Woman Foundation". www.worldwomanfoundation.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  11. ↑ Ehrlich, Steven. "Taliban Resurgence Could Threaten Afghan School Teaching Women To Code And Build Ethereum Apps". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  12. 1 2 "Want to visit Afghanistan? They're making an app for that". PBS NewsHour. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  13. 1 2 "Empowering Afghan Girls Through Code with Fereshteh Forough". 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  14. 1 2 "The Unstoppables: Meet the Winners of Our First-Ever Young Women's Honors". Marie Claire. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  15. ↑ "Code to Inspire Founder Fereshteh Forough Is Building "Afghanistan 2.0"". Inverse. 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  16. 1 2 "Code to Inspire: Bitcoin Gives Afghan Women Financial Freedom". Bitcoin Magazine. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  17. ↑ "Celebrating a DataCamp Donates Scholarship Recipient and Code to Inspire Graduate". www.datacamp.com. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  18. ↑ "First Afghan Female Coders Create Opium-Fighting Video Game". VOA Learning English. Voice of America. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  19. ↑ "Female Afghan coders design games to fight opium and inequality". Reuters. 4 May 2018.
  20. ↑ Roberts, Daniel. "Think there aren't women in bitcoin? Think again". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  21. ↑ "The woman behind Afghanistan's first all-female coding school". newscentermaine.com. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  22. ↑ "CITRIS and the Banatao Institute announce recipients of the inaugural CITRIS Athena Awards for Women in Technology - CITRIS and the Banatao Institute". CITRIS and the Banatao Institute. 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  23. ↑ "Celebrating RISE Awards Winners Who Are Helping Increase Diversity in CS Education". Google. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  24. ↑ "Communication | Connect4Climate". www.connect4climate.org. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  25. ↑ TED Archive (2017-11-20), The IT Women of Afghanistan | Fereshteh Forough , retrieved 2017-11-27
  26. ↑ Clinton Global Initiative (2015-10-09), Looking to the Next Frontier: Panel Discussion - CGI 2015 Annual Meeting , retrieved 2017-11-27
  27. ↑ Clinton Global Initiative (2015-12-09), Refugees, Conflict, and Community: Panel Discussion - CGI 2015 Annual Meeting , retrieved 2017-11-27
  28. ↑ "Made With Code Unveiled New Project at Global Citizen Festival". HuffPost. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  29. ↑ "Google Change Is Made with Code - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  30. ↑ "Celebrating Global Gaming Citizens at The Game Awards 2019". www.facebook.com. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  31. ↑ Global Gaming Citizen: Code to Inspire – Fereshteh Forough. The Game Awards. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  32. ↑ 200 Women . Retrieved 2025-12-08– via www.twohundredwomen.com.
  33. ↑ Alliance, The Women’s Impact. "Unlocked – The Book". The Women’s Impact Alliance (WIA). Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  34. ↑ "We Are Still Here: 9780593472903 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
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