Laila Samani, Class of 2018, Using Agriculture to Create Opportunity

The power of community collaboration is very familiar to Laila Samani, who grew an agricultural cooperative in Herat, Afghanistan from just 10 women to around 150 during her four years as director of Towfiq Agriculture Cooperative. Through this initiative, women were able to learn to create opportunity for themselves in the midst of a culture that tends to distrust women in business.

“Now I’m sure a lot of us will start our own business because we have money and experience in our field and employed a lot of women .”

Laila sits on the Board of Directors for the Afghan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ms. Samani is the President of Morwarid Dorokhshan export and import company, the organization that she brought into the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® program in order to create a business plan that she will continue honing during Leadership Development in Dallas this July.

Laila’s goal for her company is to invest in the local resources of vegetables and raw materials to support the development of the agricultural sectors in Afghanistan, simultaneously providing employment for local women and advancing the country’s self-sufficiency with the production of high-quality products. Through business, Laila is determined to build an environment of empowerment for women and we have no doubt that the future of her story will continue to create influence across the region.