Nasrat Khalid

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Nasrat Khalid
Born
Nasrat Khalid

1992 (age 32–33)
Kabul, Afghanistan
Alma materUniversity of Essex
OccupationsSocial enterpreneur, humanitarian
Years active2017- present
OrganizationAseel
Known forHumanitarianism
TitleFounder at Aseel

Nasrat Khalid (born 1992) is an Afghan social entrepreneur and humanitarian. He is the founder and CEO at Aseel, an Afghani digital platform, which was founded in 2019 to connect Afghan artisans to buyers in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.[1][2] Since 2021 after the political transition in Afghanistan, he publicly helped by expanding Aseel into a humanitarian platform.[3]

Biography

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Khalid was born in 1992 in Kabul, Afghanistan. He grew up in Pakistan as a refugee until the age of 16. He trained as a systems infrastructure engineer and later earned a Master’s degree in Business and Management from the University of Essex in UK in 2015.[4]

Career

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From 2008 to 2010, Khalid worked with the Education Development Center (EDC) in the U. S., where he served in as Information Technology Consultant offering skills training for Afghan youth in a project funded by USAID. Subsequently, he joined Chemonics International in the U.S as project manager responsible for information technology. In 2012, Khalid became Information Technology Architect at the World Bank, where he worked with Afghanistan Country Office until 2020.[5]

Aseel

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In 2017, Khalid founded Aseel to assist help artisans sell handicrafts internationally, working with Afghan artisans from underrepresented communities.[6] In the beginning, the word "Aseel" is Afghan for "authentic". The platform was created by tech company Awal, it connected rural artisans, including women embroiderers in Bamyan and carpet weavers in Faryab, to overseas buyers.[7] According to Khalid, he wanted the platform to be the Etsy of Afghanistan.[8] The Aseel has grown to sell Afghan and Turkey handcrafts to Europe, United states and Australia.[9]

Since 2021, after the political transition in Afghanistan, there was the disruption of local businesses and the economy. Under Khalid's leadership, Aseel has also shifted into a humanitarian platform.[10] The platform reportedly was used in distribution of food, hygiene materials, baby care packages and medical kits.[11] During the June 2022 earthquake in Paktika and Khost in Afghanistan, Aseel was among the responders in distributing emergency packages and raising supports.[12]

In 2022, Khalid publicly opposed the Taliban's ban on women working with NGOs, he pledged to keep Aseel's female staff and volunteers active and aimed to launch initiatives to expand remote work opportunities for women across Afghanistan such as the "50 Afghan Women in Tech" program.[13]

Recognition

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  • 2022: Andrew E. Rice Award for Leadership and Innovation.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Kakar, Edrees (2013-10-22). "Afghans Worry About What Will Happen To Their Country After Troops Leave". Youth Journalism International. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  2. ^ zenger.news (2020-07-15). "Traders who suffered under Taliban go digital". Heart & Soul. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  3. ^ Latifi, Ali M. "How one mobile app is helping Afghans send aid". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  4. ^ Imdad, Elsa (2022-07-19). "How one mobile app is helping Afghans send aid". Afghan Studies Center. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  5. ^ "Nasrat Khalid". AidEx 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  6. ^ Kidangoor, Abhishyant. "How Afghan Startup Aseel Is Pivoting to Help Its Compatriots". TIME. Archived from the original on 2025-06-13. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  7. ^ یوسفی, راحله (2020-09-30). "«اصیل»؛ شیوه‌ی جدید بازاریابی برای صنایع دستی افغانستان". روزنامه صبح کابل. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  8. ^ Kumar, Ruchi (2022-09-20). "He wanted his company to be the Etsy of Afghanistan. Now it has a crucial new mission". NPR. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  9. ^ Roeder, Kaela (2025-11-20). "This Arlington startup is looping Afghan and Turkish vendors into the digital economy". Technical.ly. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  10. ^ Peters, Diane (2023-07-05). "How an Artisan Website Became a Grassroots Disaster-Relief Organization". Reader's Digest Canada. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  11. ^ Huang, Robyn. "Afghan entrepreneur's e-commerce app pivots to help during crisis". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  12. ^ "Why the 'Etsy of Afghanistan' expanded its focus to humanitarian aid". Devex. 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
  13. ^ Kumar, Ruchi. "'Sense of helplessness' for Afghan women on Taliban NGO work ban". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  14. ^ "Congratulations to the 2023 Andrew E. Rice Award Recipient | SID-US". sid-us.org. Retrieved 2025-11-29.