Dr. Ehsan Bayat – Chairman & Founder of the Bayat Foundation
Building on his family’s legacy of developing a better Afghanistan, Dr. Ehsan Bayat champions a variety of social and cultural causes through the Bayat Foundation, which he launched with his wife, Fatema, in 2005. Now the largest private foundation in the country, it has completed more than 1,000 projects, including building key infrastructure like schools, roads, wells, and orphanages. It also constructed a dozen maternity hospitals that have provided care to more than 3 million mothers and babies.
With the goal of “Nourishing the Lives of Afghans,” the Bayat Foundation has provided more than 10 million meals to people in need. The foundation focuses on addressing the education gap, supporting at-risk families, and helping communities gain access to clean water and proper sanitation. It also provides emergency and disaster relief aid.
Several prominent organizations around the world have recognized Dr. Ehsan Bayat for his contributions to society. The Afghan American Chamber of Commerce bestowed upon him the National Human Rights Award for Afghanistan. He also earned the Mahatma Gandhi Humanitarian Award from the Friends of the South Asian American Communities and the Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the Canada-Afghanistan Business Council.
Dr. Ehsan Bayat is also the founder of the Bayat Group, one of Afghanistan’s largest employers and private investors. He has additionally led several businesses in the United States.