Hazara Women of Afghanistan Share Digital Stories
United States
Gail Prensky is the creator, executive producer, and director of The Jüdische Kulturbund Project, an organization that explores issues of oppression and response through music and art. Since 2016, Gail has developed and produced several in-person, hybrid, and virtual digital storytelling workshop programs for participants in the United States, Africa, and Europe. These workshops encourage cultural exchange, creativity for social change, and digital literacy and storytelling.
Mark Haney is a producer and associate director of The Jüdische Kuturbund Project. Among other aspects of the Project, Mark has facilitated several in-person and hybrid digital storytelling workshop programs in the United States and Africa, leading discussions and mentoring storytelling techniques.
Zareen Taj is a filmmaker, author, and advocate for Hazara ethnic and women’s rights. She has twenty years of experience mentoring and assisting refugees in the Baltimore area, including playing a major role in establishing connections between refugees and service providers. Her most recent role is as a Visiting Lecturer in Global Studies at UMBC where she has created a specialized class called Documentary Film as Global Activism.
Cindy Oxberry is a producer, stage director, accomplished musician, primary and secondary educator, and long-time advocate for young aspiring artists across the United States of America and Europe. She was a founding member of Opera Institute for the Education Department of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is presently a Teaching Artist at the renowned Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, USA. She has collaborated with The Jüdische Kulturbund Project since 2019 and its Kultur Stories program since 2021.
Jay Simpson is a National Geographic Explorer and filmmaker. As an award-winning interdisciplinary researcher and producer, he has collaborated on campaigns across four continents on issues on human-wildlife conflict, habitat stewardship, HIV/AIDS, and women’s rights. He has collaborated with Zareen Taj since 2007, working on projects focused on Hazara women.
Michele Wolff is a consultant with over 30 years of experience in community engagement and partnerships, student development of affective and cognitive skills and competencies across higher education, and program/project creation, management, and sustainability.
Sweden
Nasiba Daytabar is a Swedish-Hazara woman living in Sweden since 2010. Nasiba grew up in Iran, where she studied political science at Tehran University, and then completed her master’s degree in Human Rights in Sweden. She works as the Human Rights Officer at Welcome House in Stockholm. Nasiba is also politically active, serving as a municipal council member in western Stockholm for the Green Party in Sweden. Active in nonprofit organizations, Nasiba advocates issues, including equality and diversity in Sweden, particularly focusing on newly arrived immigrants. She also champions Hazara rights and Afghan women’s rights at various levels in Sweden.
Johan Fält is a director, actor, playwright, and musician living in Karlstad, Sweden. Johan is a member of Teater DOS and also Kunskapsteatern, a theatre company to illustrates facts and knowledge through drama and entertainment. Johan has collaborated with The Jüdische Kulturbund Project’s Kultur Stories digital storytelling program since 2022.
Leif Perrson is a director, actor, and chairperson of Teater DOS. Leif has extensive experience in theatre and has been active in a large variety of Sweden’s independent theatres and institutions. Until the late 1990s, he was the chairperson of the Center for Independent Theatres in Sweden. Monirah and Leif have collaborated on theatre performances and advocacy efforts for Afghan women refugees. Leif has collaborated with The Jüdische Kulturbund Project’s Kultur Stories digital storytelling program since 2020.