Roya Mahboob facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roya Mahboob رویا محبوب
Roya Mahboob in July 2012
Born	Herat Province, Afghanistan
Alma mater	Herat University
Occupation	Businesswoman
Known for	Founder and CEO of Afghan Citadel Software Company

Roya Mahboob (Dari: رویا محبوب) is a businesswoman from Afghanistan. She started and leads the Afghan Citadel Software Company. This company develops software and is based in Herat, Afghanistan.

Roya Mahboob is special because she is one of the first female leaders in technology in Afghanistan. In her country, it is not common for women to work outside their homes.

In 2013, TIME magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. She earned this honor for her work building internet classrooms in high schools in Afghanistan. She also helped create Women's Annex, a website where women can share their stories. This platform helps women from Afghanistan and Central Asia tell their experiences to the world.

Sheryl Sandberg, a top leader at Facebook, wrote about Roya Mahboob for TIME magazine. Roya Mahboob also met with John Kerry, who was the U.S. Secretary of State. She is also known for her work with Film Annex, an online platform for movies. She helps guide students at the Forbes School of Business & Technology.

Roya Mahboob's Life Story

Roya Mahboob was born in Herat, Afghanistan. Her family left the country and lived in Iran when there was conflict. She came back to Afghanistan in 2003. She learned English by helping a French group that worked with media.

Later that year, she took computer classes for women. These classes were offered by the United Nations Development Programme. In 2005, she began studying Computer Science at Herat University. She also spent time studying in Germany.

After finishing her degree in 2009, Roya Mahboob worked at Herat University as an IT-Director. She then worked for the Ministry of Higher Education. In 2011, she was chosen as one of seven new Afghan business leaders. This was part of a program to help businesses grow in Afghanistan.

Her Work and Career

Roya Mahboob started the Afghan Citadel Software Company (ACSC) in 2010. She began it with two friends from university. They invested $20,000 to start the company. Their main goal was to create jobs for new university graduates. They especially wanted to help women in Afghanistan's growing technology field. More than half of the company's 20 programmers are women.

ACSC creates computer programs for different clients. These clients include government groups, universities, and international organizations in Afghanistan. The company also makes its own apps for computers and phones. These apps are based on what people need in the market.

For example, ACSC helped a hospital in Herat switch from paper records to digital ones. They also helped bring reliable internet to Herat University. This was part of a project to connect Afghanistan.

In 2012, a company called Citadel of New York was started. They wanted to develop Examer, a learning platform with a way to earn small payments. Roya Mahboob helped create this. Another project from this partnership is Women's Annex. It helps fund videos on social media. It also gives Afghan women a chance to become filmmakers.

In 2014, Roya Mahboob joined the advisory board of Global Thinkers Forum. This is a group that shares ideas internationally.

She also started a non-profit group called Digital Citizen Fund (DCF) in 2012. This group helps Afghan women learn about technology and money. Through DCF, Roya Mahboob and her brother, Alireza Mehraban, created the Afghan Girls Robotics Team. This team is also known as the Afghan Dreamers. Roya Mahboob supports this team and helps teach robotics. When there was a difficult situation in Kabul in 2021, she helped members of the robotics team and their families leave the country safely.

Why She Is Recognized

Roya Mahboob is recognized for being a female CEO in Afghanistan. In her country, many women do not work outside their homes. She has faced challenges for starting a business. She has also faced challenges for hiring mostly women, working with foreigners, and even driving a car.

Roya's response to these challenges is powerful. She says, "You have to show everybody that men and women are equal. Women can do something if you allow them. Give them opportunity and they can prove themselves."

Roya Mahboob also worked with Film Annex in 2012. They launched the Afghan Development Project. This project aims to show the world a new side of Afghanistan. It shares videos, interviews, and news from Afghan youth. The goal is to connect children to the world through internet classrooms in schools. This helps encourage them to pursue education.

In 2013, Senator John Kerry wrote about meeting Roya Mahboob. He talked about how Afghan women, especially Roya Mahboob, are bringing positive changes. He said her work is helping Afghanistan and the world. Senator Kerry believes her success is a big step towards lasting peace. He wrote, "Afghan women aren't stopping. They’re marching forward, and we all need to march with them."

This essay was part of a series called "Women Rule." It was a project by Politico, Google, and the Tory Burch Foundation.

Awards and Honors

• 2013: One of Time‍ 's "100 Most Influential People in the World"
• 2013: Civic Innovator "National Democracy Institute"
• 2014: The Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards
• 2015: World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2015
• 2015: Michael Dukakis Leadership Fellow