In 2015, Fereshteh Forough founded Code to Inspire, a nonprofit organization committed to educating female students in Afghanistan by teaching them how to code.

Forough says she’s on a mission to empower young women in Afghanistan by improving their technical literacy. To achieve this, Code to Inspire provides a safe and secure place where women can learn, increase their confidence and self-esteem and gain marketable skills.

“Our mission is really to empower women with education and technology, and to make them financially independent,” she said.

Fereshteh Forough: Breaking gender barriers

Activist and educator Fereshteh Forough discusses her mission to break gender barriers.

Forough also co-founded and served on the board of the Women’s Annex Foundation, an organization established to financially empower women and children in Central Asia. She hopes Code to Inspire will serve as a launching pad for Afghan women to explore and excel in both entrepreneurship and technological innovations.

“We try to eliminate the gender gap and increase the number of women in tech,” she said. “We are going to build Afghanistan 2.0 by teaching girls how to code.”

From New York City, Fereshteh Forough joined May Lee in our Los Angeles studio to discuss her mission to break gender barriers.