Sana Askari [she/her]

PAKISTAN | Education
Sana Askari is a third-year, full-time student at McDaniel College pursuing a triple major in Political Science, Business Administration, and Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. Born in Afghanistan and raised as a refugee in Pakistan, Sana belongs to the Hazara people of Afghanistan, an Indigenous community that has been enduring (and continues to endure) systemic racism, structural violence, and genocide for over 130 years.

She is the founder of Esheel, a social enterprise dedicated to empowering the Hazara Community by preserving Hazara cultural identity through sustainable practices of creating authentic Hazara Cultural Expressions, hand-embroidered items, and the intergenerational sharing of cultural knowledge. Through this, she provides employment opportunities to Hazara women to earn an income to be self-sustainable and support their families, be it in their homeland, Afghanistan, or refugee resettlements in Pakistan.

She extended Esheel’s reach with a consultation project in Afghanistan in October 2023. She helped Shafiqa Ahmadi, a former journalism student whose dream of getting an education came to an end with the Taliban’s ban on women’s education, bring her entrepreneurial idea to life. Using tools like WhatsApp for communication, Canva for logo design and branding, and Instagram for promoting her products, Sana was able to provide Shafiqa with practical resources to establish her initiative.

Through this collaboration, Shafiqa has employed nine women in Afghanistan, offering them a lifeline during challenging times under the Taliban regime. Together, they have completed 200 projects, with their families relying on income generated from their hand embroidery. Sana is committed to continuing these consulting services to empower more women and girls in similar ways.

She is a Grassroots Voices Fellow to Vital Voices, and she is also a 2023-2024 fellow in the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Training, Mentoring, and Matchmaking Program on Intellectual Property for Women Entrepreneurs from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.

This bio is updated as of May 2025.