Sohaila Nabizada

Sohaila Nabizada
Delegate for Vermont
Resettled Refugee from Afghanistan

Sohaila Nabizada is the Refugee Congress Delegate for Vermont. She is originally from from Afghanistan and resettled to the U.S in 2021.

Back in Afghanistan, Sohaila was a social activist, peace builder and youth leader. She taught university students how to promote democracy through debating, leadership and management programs. Meanwhile, she also taught young women to learn English to help provide them new opportunities.

Now, Sohaila is working as Refugee Leadership Coordinator for Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) in Vermont. She is a passionate community leader and activist for women’s education.

From her first days up at the School for International Training where she was living when she moved as a refugee to be resettled in Vermont, Sohaila spent many late nights up in the computer lab, because she wanted to continue teaching her fellow female students back in Afghanistan. Even though these young women were in hiding in their homes, denied their right to their education, Sohaila still brought them together online to learn how to debate—in English!—because she believes in everyone’s right to a community and a voice. She also worked as an interpreter for Afghan evacuees, specifically for women to make them feel comfortable. This is what Sohaila brings to her work every day to support the leadership of the new Vermonters.

Now as Refugee Leadership Coordinator at ECDC, she provides information and resources to new community members who want to self-organize their own cultural and social activities in order to teach and learn from others and contribute to the community. She also leads women’s circle meetings to find out refugees’ challenges and problems to reach out and address them, and leads a refugee sewing team based out of ECDC's Multicultural Community Center. Her goal is to connect community members and offer them the support, information and connections that they need to self-organize.

Personally, Sohalia is social and outgoing. She loves to spend time with friends, listen to music and travel.

In the News:

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