Zarlasht Halaimzai

CEO and Founder of Amna

Zarlasht Halaimzai is the CEO and Founder of Amna – an organisation committed to supporting mental wellbeing of refugees and other displaced communities. A former refugee from Afghanistan, Zarlasht’s experiences have informed her work and, prior to founding Amna, she advised NGOs on refugee education and wellbeing.

Her work has been profiled in The Lancet, one of the oldest medical journals in the world, and in 2021, she was included in the BBC’s annual list of 100 inspiring and inspirational women. Prior to that, in 2018, Zarlasht was selected as a Fellow of the Inaugural class of Obama Fellows, a group of 20 global leaders in civic innovation.

Zarlasht has a Diploma in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy from the University of Oxford. She is a frequent media commentator in the UK and US on issues related to refugees, trauma and displacement.