Arash Azizzada

Hi everyone! I’m a writer, photographer, dreamer and community organizer based in both Los Angeles and New York City.

As an immigrant and the child of Afghan refugees, I am deeply committed to collective liberation and building communities. In 2016, I co-founded the Afghan Diaspora for Equality and Progress (ADEP), formed to elevate and empower change makers within our Afghan American community. As the Trump Administration announced negotiations for a withdrawal from Afghanistan, I co-led advocacy efforts to ensure Afghan women were at the negotiating table.

Ahead of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, I launched Afghans For A Better Tomorrow (AFBT), which focused on evacuation and rapid response coordination efforts. Today, I lead the day-to-day operations as AFBT’s executive director by aiming to transform the lives of Afghans through grassroots organizing, communal healing and movement building for a better tomorrow to ensure Afghans can lead dignified lives. I also serve on the board of Afghan Cultural Society based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I have written for the New York Times, Newsweek, and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, National Public Radio (NPR), the Washington Post as well as Vice News. You can catch me speak about the dangers of AI and drone warfare on Netflix’s new documentary “Unknown: Killer Robots.” In 2023, I was selected to be a Rockwood Leading From the Inside Out Fellow. In 2024, I was a fellow with the Immigration Leadership Hub.

In the past, I have told and documented the stories of marginalized communities across the United States as a journalist. As a film maker and photographer, I have shot music videos, short films and photographed historic protest movements, from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter.