:Fatema Akbari

Fatema Akbari was driven into carpentry by necessity as a means of supporting her children following the death of her husband in 1999,{{cite web|title=Afghan women carve a career in a man's world|publisher=NATO|date=8 March 2011|url=http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_71227.htm|access-date=14 September 2011}} originally working on building sites in Iran, where her family fled when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. In 2003, she returned to the homeland and started furniture manufacturing business by establishing Gulistan Sadaqat Company in Kabul with a carpentry school.{{cite web|last=Scott|first=Sylvia R.J.|title=Fatima Akbari, Afghan Mother, Role-Model, Social Entrepreneur and Business Owner|date=24 March 2011|url=http://sylviarjscott.com/women-entrepreneurs/fatima-akbari-afghan-mother-role-model-social-entrepreneur-and-business-owner/|access-date=14 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824020637/http://sylviarjscott.com/women-entrepreneurs/fatima-akbari-afghan-mother-role-model-social-entrepreneur-and-business-owner/|archive-date=24 August 2011|url-status=dead}} She attempted to provide a workforce base as a means of earning to wives of men killed or disabled during the conflict in Afghanistan.{{cite web|title=Employee Dilemma: When Family and Business Don't Mix |work=Knowledge@Wharton |publisher=Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania |date=6 January 2011 |url=http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/10000women/article.cfm?articleid=6230 |access-date=14 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105221938/http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/10000women/article.cfm?articleid=6230 |archive-date=5 November 2011 }} In 2009, she enrolled in the Goldman Sachs-sponsored 10,000 Women program at the American University of Afghanistan, a program aimed at training women from developing countries in business and management.{{Cite press release|url=http://www.10000women.org/PDFs/10000Women_PressRelease.pdf |title=Goldman Sachs Launches 10,000 Women |publisher=Goldman Sachs |date=5 March 2008 |access-date=14 September 2011|df=dmy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724202806/http://www.10000women.org/PDFs/10000Women_PressRelease.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-24 |url-status=live }}

In expanding her operations and women's literacy classes, Akbari has been able to work in Taliban-controlled areas through negotiations with local leaders and has commented "It would be good for the Taliban to be involved in the country, to see that there’s nothing wrong with women leaving the house."{{cite news|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas D.|title=What About Afghan Women?|newspaper=New York Times|location=New York City|date=23 October 2010|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/opinion/24kristof.html|access-date=14 September 2011}}

In 2004, Fatema Akbari founded Afghanistan NGO the Women Affairs Council to train women in handicrafts in addition to educating both sexes about human rights.{{Cite conference|title=Building Afghanistan's Future: Promoting Women's Freedom and Advancing their Economic Opportunity |book-title=Speakers and Panellists Bios |page=12 |publisher=George W. Bush Institute|df=dmy-all|date=March 31, 2011 |location=Dallas, Texas |url=http://www.bushcenter.com/images/downloads/TheInstitute/IntegratedInitiatives/WomensInitiatives/Speakers-and-Panelists.pdf |access-date=14 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218233209/http://bushcenter.com/images/downloads/TheInstitute/IntegratedInitiatives/WomensInitiatives/Speakers-and-Panelists.pdf |archive-date=18 December 2011 }} Between the NGO and her own business, it was estimated that as of 2011 she had trained 5,610 people across Afghanistan.

On 12 April 2011, Akbari was honored with the 10,000 Women Entrepreneurial Achievement Award at the Global Leadership Awards. In presenting, Vital Voices commended her

"for her work to empower other Afghan women — through the training and employment provided by her carpentry business, and through the literacy and skills training provided by her non-governmental organization (NGO) to women in Taliban-controlled areas."

During 30–31 March 2011, Akbari was a panel member at a 2-day conference in Dallas, Texas convened by former United States President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai entitled Building Afghanistan’s Future: Promoting Women’s Freedom and Advancing Their Economic Opportunity.{{Cite press release|title=Building Afghanistan's Future |publisher=George W. Bush Institute |date=March 31, 2011 |url=http://www.bushcenter.com/newsreleases/2011/03/building-afghanistans-future-promoting-womens-freedom-and-advancing-their-economic-opportunity |access-date=14 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815235136/http://www.bushcenter.com/newsreleases/2011/03/building-afghanistans-future-promoting-womens-freedom-and-advancing-their-economic-opportunity |archive-date=15 August 2011 }}

• List of Hazara people
• 10,000 Women
• Vital Voices

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110425054026/http://www.vitalvoices.org/node/1564 Fatema Akbari @ Vital Voices]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120331021436/http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/10000women/category.cfm?catid=10 Fatema Akbari @ 10,000 Women]

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Category:Afghan women in business

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Category:Afghan women activists

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Category:1974 births

Category:People from Daykundi Province

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Category:21st-century businesswomen

Category:Hazara women