I am currently a Ph.D. student at CIE/IE focusing on international comparative higher education and peace education. I have B.A. in English Language and Literature from Kabul Education University and M.S. in Human Resources from Golden Gate University in San Francisco where I held a Fulbright Scholarship.
I bring a diverse set of work experiences, including serving as Director of Presidential Decrees and Orders in the Office of the President of Afghanistan. I taught graduate courses on a part-time basis at Dunya University and I am founder of Hode Educational and Social Services Organization. Previously, I worked as National Expert on Jobs Policy/Decent Work with the International Labour Organization, as Education Adviser with Kabul Educational Advising Center and as National Consultant for developing a National Champion Strategy with Equal Access International.
In 2014, I received the United Nations Youth Courage Award with the UN General Assembly from Gordon Brown UN Secretary General Envoy for Global Education and Graca Mashel widow of late Nelson Mandela. In 2016, as a part of the Asia Foundations Development Fellows Program, I was selected among 12 emerging leaders in Asia. For my commitment and service to Afghanistan, I received the Award of Hopes and Challenges from Hamid Karzai former president of Afghanistan.
From 2019 to 2021 I worked as a Senior Policy Specialist with the TVET Authority in Afghanistan. Recently the TVET Authority was separated from the Ministry of Education and established as an independent budgetary entity through a presidential decree. The team at TVET worked on a variety of issues, including drafting the technical education and vocational training law that passed the cabinet and has been forwarded to the parliament, and creating the framework for the establishment of the first-ever higher institute of applied sciences in Afghanistan.
Additionally, through the Catalyzing Afghan Agriculture Innovation (CAAI) project, our team worked on establishing a tripartite mechanism among the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, and the TVET Authority to create a mechanism of coordination on agriculture education, research, extension, and economics.
In 2021, I was chosen as an Echidna Global Scholar and will be joining the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. During his internship at Brookings in the fall of 2021, he will be working on developing policy interventions to increase girls' participation in agricultural education in Afghanistan.
In my doctoral research, I'm particularly interested in technical and vocational skills development, equity in education, and development interventions in education in Afghanistan. My current research focuses on peace education in conflict and emergency settings. [7-21]
Email: nattal@umass.edu