Afghan CEO Roya Mahboob: Fall of Kabul was ‘my darkest time’

Roya Mahboob, who became Afghanistan’s first female tech CEO at 23, reflects on the U.S. withdrawal and how life has changed in the country since the Taliban returned to power.

Mahboob discusses her childhood in Afghanistan and Iran and how she became interested in technology, as well as what it was like to be a female CEO in a country where men were used to being in charge.

She explains why she formed the Afghan Dreamers, an all-girls robotics team that has competed around the world, and recalls her efforts to get the team and her own family out of Kabul to safety after the government fell.

Mahboob, who also co-founded the Digital Citizen Fund, assesses Afghanistan’s loss of freedom and democracy in the last two years and the regression of women’s rights. She also comments on continuing efforts to educate women underground and why she remains hopeful for the country’s future.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Stephens Inc., Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, The Asness Family Foundation, Kathleen and Andrew McKenna through The McKenna Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, and Damon Button.