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AYLA

About us

A youth assembly that refused to let a ban end an education

AYLA began in 2019 as a group of young Afghan leaders convening other young Afghans around peace and education. When the classroom closed to girls, it became a school.
Meet the teamSee the impact

Our story

From a peace summit in Balkh to 5,000 students

AYLA is a collective of experienced, active young leaders who have run projects across Afghan communities since 2019. Everything that followed came out of that first summit.
See the news archive

  1. August 2019

    Youth Summit for Peace

    AYLA's first major project. One hundred university students across Balkh and Baghlan provinces took part in a two-day programme, presenting their ideas on peace and education to a panel of four academic judges.

  2. 2020

    Working through COVID-19

    In-person convening became impossible. The team kept its social initiatives running and began learning how to organise remotely — groundwork that mattered more than anyone expected.

  3. Ramadan, 2021

    Humanitarian food distribution

    AYLA ran a fundraising campaign to distribute food packages to families in need, during a period of acute crisis for the communities its students live in.

  4. Late 2021

    Girls barred from classrooms

    With most universities, schools and learning centres closed to girls, AYLA launched an online education initiative for young Afghan women shut out of education.

  5. 2023

    Duolingo English Test partnership

    AYLA partnered with the Duolingo English Test team to award free test coupons to Afghan applicants, primarily women — removing the single most common cost barrier to applying abroad.

  6. June – September 2023

    Round 5: eleven classes, 300 students

    The largest round so far. Eleven simultaneous classes ran across languages, digital skills, academic writing and self-empowerment, funded by a $5,100 grant from Ideas Beyond Border.

  7. May 2025

    5,000 students and counting

    AYLA reported that the online programme had served more than 5,000 students across fourteen provinces, with over forty Duolingo coupons awarded and recipients studying in the United States and Europe.

Mission & vision

A powerful, educated and peaceful society — built by the people currently locked out of it

AYLA is committed to youth empowerment, gender equality and supporting peacebuilding, by providing training opportunities to emerging leaders across the regions of Afghanistan.

Our core mission is to foster a powerful, educated and peaceful society by creating inclusive learning environments for all Afghans, and particularly for young people.

  • Afghan-led, always

    AYLA's moderators are largely its own former students. Capacity grows from inside the programme rather than depending on outside recruitment.

  • Free at the point of use

    No student has ever been charged for a class. Teaching is volunteered; the only real costs are data and test fees, and sponsors cover those.

  • Practical before ideological

    We treat mobile data and exam fees as curriculum, not overhead. A lesson nobody can connect to is not a lesson.

  • Reported in public

    Every round closes with a report — enrolment, attendance, survey data, feedback and what the money bought. This site is built from those reports.

Why girls' education matters

The argument is not complicated

It is the only route out of the restriction

A girl who certifies her English and wins a scholarship place leaves with a qualification no local ruling can revoke. Every AYLA student who is now at university abroad got there this way.

It compounds

AYLA's teachers and moderators are its own alumnae. Educating one cohort produces the people who educate the next — which is why the programme has grown without growing its budget.

It is economic policy

Digital and design skills are among the very few forms of paid work available to women who cannot leave the house for a job. Training in them is income, not just enrichment.

What Afghan girls are actually up against

Team & partners

Everyone who teaches here is a volunteer

AYLA has no paid teaching staff. Below are the people credited in the Round 5 report — and a note on why there are no photographs.
Founder

Batol Gholami

Founded AYLA and leads the organisation. Batol coordinates the programme from outside Afghanistan while the teaching team works across the country and the diaspora.

Technical Advisor, AYLA Online Courses

Sayeed Abolfazl Rezavi

Keeps the online classrooms running — platforms, access, and the technical board that volunteers call when a lesson breaks.

How the team is organised

  • Leadership board

    Recruitment, placement, scheduling and partner relationships across every round.

  • Technical board

    Platforms, accounts, connectivity and support when a live class runs into trouble.

  • Moderators

    One per class. Attendance, materials, monthly lecture recordings and day-to-day student contact.

  • Content writers

    Course materials, reports, applications and the written record of each round.

  • Graphic designers

    Course announcements, certificates and the campaign material that reaches new students.

Volunteer teachers

Credited in the Round 5 report

  • Cara CruickshankFeminism & Self Empowerment
  • Mohammad Amin RezaeiGraphic Design
  • Sonya NawabiComputer Skills
  • Golsum BayatBasic English
  • Zahra HussainiBasic English — Group 2
  • Sarah ShonikerIntermediate English
  • Mohammad Maisam SultaniIntermediate English — Group 2
  • Saharnaz ShaheenAdvanced English
  • Fahima RashidiGerman Language
  • Basira NazariEmail and Essay Writing

Class moderators

Largely AYLA’s own former students

  • Marwa AliFeminism & Self Empowerment
  • Nasima YousfiGraphic Design
  • Zohal NooriComputer Skills
  • Taieba SafiBasic English
  • Mitra AkramiBasic English — Group 2
  • Mariam AliIntermediate & Advanced English
  • Khojasta SalehinIntermediate English — Group 2
  • Elina SadatGerman Language
  • Atifa WardakEmail and Essay Writing

Why there are no photographs on this site

Many AYLA students and volunteers are inside Afghanistan. Publishing identifiable images of a girl who is studying could put her in danger, so we don’t — not on the homepage, not in a donor pitch, nowhere. Class screenshots exist in the round reports shared with funders, and nothing identifying a current student is published without her consent.

Sponsors & partners

The people and organisations who paid for the things volunteering cannot cover

Acknowledged here exactly as AYLA acknowledges them in its reports.

  • Duolingo English Test team

    2023 onward

    Partnered with AYLA from 2023 to provide free English test coupons to Afghan applicants, primarily women.

    Organisation

  • Ideas Beyond Border

    Round 5

    Granted $5,100 for Round 5 — internet packages for roughly 300 girls and 10 volunteers, plus $50 per month for three months to five AYLA members inside Afghanistan.

    Organisation

  • Hazara Resource Center (HRC)

    Round 2

    A US-based nonprofit that supported AYLA's online courses with internet packages and Google Meet access.

    Organisation

  • Mr. Arif Sulaimani

    Round 2

    Sponsored Duolingo English Test coupons for five applicants.

    Individual

  • Mr. Shehzad

    Round 1

    Provided internet packages for students taking online courses.

    Individual

  • Ms. Silsila

    Round 1

    Provided internet packages for students taking online courses.

    Individual

  • Ms. Sarmina

    Round 2

    Provided internet support for students taking online courses.

    Individual

Interested in funding a round? afgy.led@gmail.com reaches the leadership board directly.

Work with us

AYLA grows by the round, and every round needs teachers and data.

If you can teach a weekly class, cover a month of a student's mobile data, or introduce us to a university with scholarship places, that is the whole ask.

VolunteerPartner with us