Dr. Ehsan Bayat

One of the most prominent business and philanthropic leaders in Afghanistan, Dr. Ehsan Bayat has an impressive record of professional achievement and service to the country. Born in Afghanistan, Mr. Bayat left his native country as a teenage refugee in 1980 following the Soviet invasion, settling in New Jersey shortly thereafter. Completing his B.S. in Engineering Technology at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Dr. Ehsan Bayat spent a period as owner of Pamir Foods, a restaurant and food supply holding company with interests throughout the greater New York region.

In 1998, Dr. Ehsan Bayat began the next phase of his career with the formation of Afghan Wireless, through which he aimed to modernize Afghanistan's struggling telecommunications sector by launching the country's first mobile services in 2002. Successful in this endeavor, he went on to launch Ariana Radio and Television, the latter of which currently reaches an audience of 25 million in Afghanistan and abroad.

In the philanthropic arena, Dr. Bayat has earned widespread recognition for his work to provide medical care, educational support, food, shelter, and other essential services to at-risk individuals and families. At the Bayat Foundation, Dr. Ehsan Bayat oversees a highly diversified charity helping those in need of food and clean drinking water, clothing and shelter, high-quality medical care, and opportunities for education and professional training. As a testament to his work at the Bayat Foundation, Dr. Bayat was presented with the 2010 Mahatma Gandhi Humanitarian Award from the Friends of the South Asian American Communities, Zeba Magazine's 2007 Humanitarian of the Year, and the Afghanistan Human Rights Association's National Human Rights Award, among other distinctions.