Mahnaz Afkhami has been a leading advocate of women's rights for more than three decades. She is founder and President of the Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), an international organization that empowers women by developing and using culturally appropriate curricula in twenty languages to train women (currently in forty countries) to become leaders by seeking and taking on decision making roles in politics, business, and civil society. She serves on the boards and steering committees of several international organizations, including the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch; the World Movement for Democracy; and chairs the Global Council of the International Museum of Women. Prior to the Islamic revolution in Iran, she taught English literature at the National University of Iran, where she founded the Association of University Women. She served as Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran and Iran's Minister for Women's Affairs. Among the books and manual Afkhami has written or edited are Women in Exile; Faith and Freedom: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World; In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Post-revolutionary Iran; Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women; and Victories Over Violence: Ensuring Safety for Women and Girls, many of which have been translated into several languages and are used in countries across the world. Mahnaz currently resides in Maryland, USA with her husband Gholam Reza Afkhami. She has a son, Asef Babak Afkhami, and two grandchildren.