Afsana Jahan

Afsana started her informal social impact journey at a very young age, by helping her widowed grandmother prepare and serve nutritious meals to single mothers and their children living in poverty in her neighborhood in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Growing up in a family with limited means but always willing to extend help to people in need, Afsana subconsciously developed a sense of responsibility to serve underprivileged people.

After completing her BBA in finance and economics, Afsana did research and analysis for various large financial institutions in Bangladesh. Soon, however, she recognized that she wanted to do more and create a positive impact in the lives of under-served people through her work. In her pursuit of a socially impactful career, she left her corporate job to join an international nonprofit organization that helps marginalized and climate change-affected smallholder farmers fight poverty in Bangladesh. Afsana regards this move as constituting a pivotal moment in her career which reflected an urgency to advance social & environmental justice in the world.