2026 at DCF: Girls Are Learning, Building, and Leading

Expanding Robotics and Technology Education Across Borders

One of our biggest developments this year was expanding our IT and Robotics Lab Program beyond Afghanistan.

With support from The Reynolds Foundation, we began working with three new partners in Türkiye, Pakistan, and South Africa to establish new Digital Citizens Labs.

In Şanlıurfa, Türkiye, we are partnering with YERKAD to establish a lab at Onikiler Middle School, which serves more than 2,000 students, many of them children of seasonal agricultural workers and Syrian refugees.

In Lahore, Pakistan, we are working with the University of Home Economics to establish a lab that will provide technology and robotics education to approximately 400–500 female students each year.

In South Africa, our partnership with WomEng will support women and girls’ AI and cybersecurity education through labs in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and East London.

Each partnership responds to the needs of its local community. Some women and girls will be introduced to programming and robotics for the first time, while others will have opportunities to develop more advanced technical skills.

Alongside this international expansion, DCF also began supporting two U.S.-based robotics teams, both made up primarily of girls, helping them develop skills in engineering, programming, and teamwork through hands-on projects and competitions.

We look forward to seeing these initiatives grow and learning from our partners and students across these communities.

Photo: DCF team with Hema Vallabh, co-founder of WomEng, at a UNGA side event in New York.

Afghan Dreamers Academy: Around 2,500 Students Learning With Us

Education remains one of the biggest challenges for girls in Afghanistan. Many have now spent years outside a formal classroom, and their options for continuing secondary and higher education remain severely restricted.

This year, we continued developing Afghan Dreamers Academy, our offline-first learning platform offering live and pre-recorded courses and educational resources in Dari and Pashto.

Around 2,500 students participated in our learning activities, using the platform and joining webinars, online classes, and training sessions.

Our courses include cyber security, AI and vibe coding, mathematics, science, English, GED preparation, and entrepreneurship. We are also working on improving the platform so students can access more learning materials with limited internet connectivity.

Internet access remains a serious challenge for many students. Some rely on shared devices, and others have difficulty connecting regularly. We are continuing to improve the program with these realities in mind.

Above all, we are encouraged by the students who keep returning to their lessons, asking questions, and finding ways to continue studying.

In the coming year, we plan to reach more students by making our app available to all, add new courses, and strengthen the support available through the academy.

Photo: Afghan Dreamers Academy’s online learning platform in Dari.

A New University Opportunity for 25 Afghan Students

One of the developments we are most excited about this year is our partnership with Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey.

Together, we are preparing an initial group of 25 Afghan students to pursue an accredited online Associate degree in Business Management while living in Afghanistan. Because this is an Associate degree, high school diplomas are not required, effectively giving girls who have been studying in unaccredited, underground schools a back door into an accredited college degree.The students will have the opportunity to study subjects such as business, finance, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

For Afghan girls who have been unable to attend university since the restrictions on women’s education, having access to an American university degree can be life-changing.

There is still work to do, including raising the funding needed to support the first group of students.

Our immediate goal is to raise $100,000 for this program.

Join Us for the Degrees Beyond Borders Gala

On November 14, 2026, DCF and Saint Peter’s University will host the inaugural Degrees Beyond Borders Gala in New Jersey.

We are bringing together friends, supporters, educators, and partners for an elegant evening of impact. We hope you will join us and see firsthand what this partnership with Saint Peter’s University makes possible.

Learn more and reserve your seat: Gala Registration Link

Photo: Saint Peter’s University event venue, where the Degrees Beyond Borders Gala will take place.

Helping Young Women Start Their Own Businesses

This year, around 100 women and girls participated in our entrepreneurship program, where they learned about developing business ideas, budgeting, financial planning, and running a small business.

So far, 13 students have received cash prizes to support their ideas.

For many young women in Afghanistan, finding employment or starting a business has become increasingly difficult. Through this program, we want to help students develop practical skills and explore what may be possible within their circumstances.

The cash prizes are an important part of the program, but so is the experience of preparing a business idea, presenting it, receiving feedback, and learning how to manage money.

We hope to continue supporting these students as they develop their plans and to create opportunities for more young women to participate.

Rule Breakers at Saint Peter’s University

This year, we also had the pleasure of working with Saint Peter’s University to organize a screening of Rule Breakers, the film inspired by the story of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team.

The event brought together school students, educators, and members of the community.

Alongside the screening, we organized robotics workshops and exhibitions, where students had the opportunity to learn more about robotics and see how technology can be used in practice.

It was especially meaningful to share the film with younger students, then give them an opportunity to explore some of the technology behind the story.

Rule Breakers tells the story of girls who wanted to study engineering and build robots, even when many people doubted they could succeed.

This January, DCF will present an intimate, ticketed screening of the film at Art House Productions in NJ for a select circle of leaders and supporters, followed by a conversation with DCF CEO and co-Founder Roya Mahboob. Tickets will be announced soon, or may be reserved through a Degrees Beyond Borders gala sponsorship package.

Photo: Roya Mahboob and Ayda Haydarpour, former Afghan Girls Robotics Team member, with students from Saint Peter’s University.

Afghan Girls Robotics Team Competes in South Korea

This October, our Afghan girls’ robotics team participated in the FIRST Global Challenge in South Korea, representing Afghanistan alongside students from around the world.

Preparing for the competition was not easy.

Some team members were in Afghanistan, contributing to design, strategy, and documentation, while others in Canada worked on building and testing the robot.

The students had to coordinate across different countries and time zones, while those in Afghanistan continued facing challenges with internet access and restrictions on their education.

Despite these difficulties, they worked together to prepare for the competition.

For the students, participating in FIRST Global was an opportunity to improve their engineering skills, meet other young innovators, and represent Afghan girls internationally.

We are proud of the work they put into the competition and the  support they provided to one another throughout the process.

Photo: Afghan diaspora robotics students representing Afghanistan at the FIRST Global Challenge in South Korea.

Talking About Education and Technology at SXSW

This year, DCF held an educational session at South by Southwest (SXSW), with DCF CEO and Co-Founder Roya Mahboob and board member Alex Gladstein participating in the discussion.

The conversation focused on technology, education, and the ways digital tools can help people access opportunities that might otherwise be unavailable to them.

We shared experiences from DCF’s work in Afghanistan, including the challenges women have faced accessing education, employment, and financial services.

It was a valuable opportunity to bring these experiences into a wider conversation about technology and the people it should serve.

Third Place at a Human Rights AI Hackathon

DCF’s team participated in a human rights-focused AI hackathon this year, where our educational application, the Afghan Dreamers Academy, received third place.

The DCF app focused on using artificial intelligence to support learning and make educational resources more accessible.

As we continue developing the Academy, we are building in newAI tools to explore ways of supporting students to practice lessons, receive explanations, and study more independently.

There is still much to test and improve, particularly for students who have limited internet access or need educational content in Dari and Pashto.

But while the world debates the role of AI in education, we also need to ask what it can make possible for girls who have no classroom to enter.

Photo: DCF representatives Roya Mahboob and Elaha Mahboob with fellow participants at a human rights-focused AI hackathon.

Roya Mahboob Receives the 2026 Annual Achievement Award

This year, DCF President and Co-Founder Roya Mahboob received the Government Blockchain Association’s 2026 Annual Achievement Award.

The award recognized her early work using Bitcoin to pay Afghan women who faced barriers to accessing traditional banking services.

In 2013, when many women in Afghanistan could not easily open or use bank accounts, digital payments offered another way for them to receive money for their work.

What began as a practical solution to a problem faced by women working in technology became part of a much wider conversation about financial access and independence.

We are grateful to the Government Blockchain Association for recognizing this work.

Photo: Roya Mahboob receiving the Government Blockchain Association’s 2026 Annual Achievement Award.

DCF at Columbia University During UNGA

During High-Level Week at the United Nations General Assembly, DCF co-hosted an event with the Ann F. Kaplan Women’s Initiative at Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics focused on the rights and future of Afghan women and girls.

The conversation brought together Roya Mahboob, former Afghan Girls Robotics Team member Ayda Hydapour, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, and Initiative Directors and former White House officials Jennifer Klein and Rachel Vogelstein.

The event opened with an excerpt from Rule Breakers, inspired by the true story of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team. Panelists made the point that that talent that captivated audiences worldwide has not gone anywhere. It still exists inside Afghanistan, in girls and young women who are capable and determined. What they lack is opportunity.

Ayda Hydapour, a former robotics team member, made that concrete. Her story shows what happens when a young Afghan woman gets access to education and technology. Today, millions of girls in Afghanistan are barred from secondary school, so that potential goes unrealized.

We are grateful to the Kaplan Women’s Initiative at Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics and everyone who participated in the discussion about how to continue international support for the education and rights of Afghan women and girls.

Photo: Panel discussion on Afghan women and girls’ rights during UN General Assembly High-Level Week, co-hosted by DCF and Columbia University.

Sharing Our Work Through Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal

This year, our work and the experiences of Afghan women reached wider audiences through international media.

Newsweek covered DCF’s work, helping bring attention to the educational opportunities we are creating for Afghan girls and young women.

DCF President and Co-Founder Roya Mahboob also wrote an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal, drawing on her experience using Bitcoin to help Afghan women receive payments and gain greater financial independence.

Media coverage and opinion pieces give us another opportunity to share what is happening in Afghanistan, explain the challenges women continue to face, and discuss the practical work being done to support them.

Read more: Newsweek Article | The Wall Street Journal Opinion Article

More Than 28,000 Girls and Young Women Reached Since 2013

When DCF began its work in Afghanistan in 2013, much of our focus was on helping girls learn computer skills and gain access to technology.

Over the years, our programs have grown to include coding and AI, robotics, cyber security, entrepreneurship, online education, and now opportunities to pursue university degrees.

More than 28,000 girls and young women have participated in DCF programs since we began.

Some of our former students have gone on to work in technology or pursue further education. Others have used their skills to support their families or explore business opportunities.

Conditions in Afghanistan have changed, especially since 2021, but the determination of our students has not. We will keep adapting our programs to stand with every girl and young woman who wants to learn, build, and lead.

Looking Ahead to 2027

In the coming year, we will build on what is already working, and build bigger. The Afghan Dreamers Academy will reach more students, New educational resources in local languages will put learning within closer reach.  Our new Digital Citizens Labs in Türkiye, Pakistan, and South Africa will open their doors, and the Afghan and U.S. girls’ robotics teams will keep learning and competing.

We are also preparing to welcome the first cohort of Afghan students into the Saint Peter’s University degree program, and to keep helping young women build the business skills to launch ventures of their own.

Our students have shown how far they willt go to keep learning. Our job is to match that determination with  programs that are reliable, accessible, and built to last.