Roya Mahboob

CEO Afghan Citadel

Roya is from Afghanistan.

Roya Mahboob was named to TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2013 for her work in building internet classrooms in high schools in Afghanistan and for Women’s Annex, a multilingual blog and video site. The TIME essay was written by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg. Roya is an Afghan entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is the founder and CEO of the Afghan Citadel Software Company, a full-service software development company based in Herat, Afghanistan. She is garnering much attention for being the first female tech entrepreneur in Afghanistan, where women rarely work outside the home. Roya is working for women’s education and empowerment by providing access via social media and the internet. Mahboob founded the Afghan Citadel Software Company (ACSC) in 2010 along with two university classmates with an investment of $20,000. The aim was to create jobs for recent university graduates - especially women - in Afghanistan’s growing tech market. In 2012, Citadel of New York was founded to develop and promote Examer, an interactive and educational social networking platform with a Micro Scholarship Payment System, which Mahboob helped to develop.

Roya Mahboob's mentee is Mursal Ayobi.