Dr. Ehsan Bayat – Founder of Afghanistan’s Largest Private Foundation

Philanthropist Dr. Ehsan Bayat is committed to helping Afghans achieve a better quality of life through economic and social initiatives. He is the co-founder and chairman of a private foundation that has completed more than 1,000 projects in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. These initiatives have benefited millions of people in need.

Prioritizing support to the most at-risk Afghans, the Bayat Foundation’s services range from maternity care for pregnant women and newborn babies to entrepreneurship programs. It has significantly increased clean water access, particularly in remote villages, via deep well-digging projects and empowered students through the establishment of the Information Communications and Technology Center at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. The foundation has also provided more than 10,000,000 meals to people in need. Dr. Ehsan Bayat created the foundation with his wife, Fatema, in 2005.

Dr. Bayat has received multiple awards for his dedication to social prosperity in his homeland. The Friends of the South Asian American Communities gave him the Mahatma Gandhi Humanitarian Award, while the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce selected him as a recipient of its National Human Rights Award for Afghanistan. He also earned the Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the Canada-Afghanistan Business Council.

Dr. Ehsan Bayat was born in Kabul and immigrated to the US in his youth. He completed his bachelor of science in engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He later founded the Bayat Group, one of Afghanistan’s largest private employers and investors, before turning his focus to philanthropic work.