Our Philosophy and Team
The former students/graduates of the American International School of Kabul (AISK) established a non-profit organization focused on providing long term and sustainable assistance to Afghans living in challenging conditions in Afghanistan today. The primary form of assistance is through food accessibility.
Our Strategic Plan defines our collective goals, makes decisions on the allocation of its resources to pursue this strategy, and establishes accountability and transparency on all Afghanistan assistance matters. This Strategy will guide our Vision on what we would like the Group’s assistance to become, with the participation and awareness of its membership.
There is a desire to provide feasible and sustainable humanitarian support to the people of Afghanistan, especially since there are many challenges facing Afghanistan and its population. This can be accomplished by optimizing the use of all our collective resources – AISK membership volunteering their skills, knowledge, expertise, personal and/or professional networks, in-country infrastructure and known well established NGOs, financial, information, and energy to best support current and future requirements. Effective decision-making for our goals will be based on the interrelationships of the processes and systems this Plan will establish.
Our team consists of highly qualified and motivated AISK Alumni! We are an “all volunteer” team comprised of diversified professions! Our individual experiences of Afghanistan and of AISK are all unique; however, our common love for Afghanistan and its people are what bind us together and serve as our inspiration.
Andrew McClure
Board Member
Andrew McClure was born in Washington, DC in 1955. He lived overseas for most of his early life, including Jordan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
During his time in Kabul, Andrew attended AISK for four and a half years.
Andrew received a BA in Asian Studies in 1979, served in the US Navy for five years and worked for the Federal Aviation Administration for nearly 36 years.
Andrew is married and has one daughter. The family lives happily in Alaska with several pets.
MARIA EOFF
Strategist
“(formerly Ditta Reyes)”
Born in Afghanistan to parents who worked with the U.S. Department of State in 1967; Maria left Afghanistan in 1980. She served in the U.S. Army for 30+ years retiring as a Colonel in the Logistics Corps. She deployed to Afghanistan in 2002-2003 as the Secretary to the General Staff for Coalition Task Force 82, and in 2016-2017 as the U.S. Forces Afghanistan Joint Logistics Officer. She attributes her desire to serve in the military to her fond childhood memories in Kabul and AISK, honoring her parents 20+ years of service in Afghanistan, and the influence of the Afghan culture in her life where hospitality, loyalty, and modesty are highly valued.
Azam Anwar
Director
Dr. Azam Anwar is a renowned cardiologist and has developed many groundbreaking products, including a heart stent and contrast injector. He attended AISK for eight years (1965-1973). In addition to being a life-long innovator and inventor, Dr. Anwar has been associated with Baylor University’s Heart and Vascular Hospital being a Founding and Board member. He continues to find ways to help people; his recent venture involves compromised and troubled skin utilizing a new skin cleansing approach working with dermatologists and other scientists to bring a truly different skin cleanser to market.
Laura Gentry
Executive Director/Secretary
My family lived in Afghanistan from 1967 to 1969. My father worked for the USAID Columbia University team responsible for writing textbooks. During one of his trips in Northern Afghanistan with the UN Food Bank, he saw the need for food and lack of schools in the provinces. My time in Afghanistan influenced me to work as an Executive Director of a non-profit program (Smart Start) in rural Appalachian mountains where I developed programs for young children enhancing their ability to learn prior to entering school. I am working towards keeping the legacy of the work my parents started over 50 years ago in Afghanistan.
Peter Alexander
Chairman of the Board
Executive sales and business manager with 20+ years of experience. Expertise in sales leadership, business development, and entrepreneurship roles. Proven ability to focus sales efforts on network operators, wireless R&D and production, aerospace and defense, automotive, and general-purpose markets in the US and Latin America with RF, microwave, protocol / conformance testing, oscilloscopes, and general testing solutions. Areas of Expertise: Strategic Account Management, P&L Responsibility, Strategic Planning & Implementation, Team Facilitation, All Aspects of Tactical & Strategic Sales Processes, Client Relations
