Tajikistan

Co-founder and Program Manager at Ilmhona

Ilmhona is an organization with the mission to facilitate and foster a community of young innovators who will utilize high tech solutions to tackle social challenges and contribute to the development of the digital economy in Tajikistan. Farrukh also works as a private sector development consultant at the World Bank’s office in Washington D.C. Farrukh has spent a few months in Tel Aviv to explore the Israeli start-up ecosystem and innovation policymaking as a summer fellow at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organisation that connects foreign investors, academia, and policymakers with Israeli start-up community. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he completed a Master of Public Policy program.

Artist

In 2014 participated in the project of Center for Contemporary Art "Dushanbe Art Ground", dedicated to social media, organized jointly with experts invited from the United States: John Davis (San - Francisco) and Mark Boswell (New - York). In this project, she worked with video art, installation, as well as photo-art. Upon completion of the project, Marifat presented her first short documentary film "Beautiful childhood". In the same year, she began to work in the "Craftsmen Union of Tajikistan" as a specialist in public relations and design. In September 2014 Marifat participated and successfully completed training as a participant of the International Debate Academy named after Aitmatov 2014, Issyk - Kul, Kyrgyzstan. She now works at "Montmartre" art studio, where she teaches drawing, painting, as well as design. 

Director of Bactria Cultural Centre

Sergey leads the biggest and most dynamic independent cultural and educational institution in Tajikistan - Bactria offers language courses for both general audience and specific professional groups and has diverse cultural programming in the field of music, visual and contemporary art and knowledge, heritage preservation, and academic collaboration.

Presently, Bactria is implementing projects including the biannual Dushanbe International Ethno-Jazz Festival, Bob’s Music Award (an original nationwide song contest), English for Professional Purposes, English for Economic Growth, Mapping Mosaics in Dushanbe, Documentary Film on the Traditional Music of Tajikistan, and a Digital Arts Academy for female cultural entrepreneurs from Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Bactria is also now developing new entrepreneurial initiatives.

Co-founder of Ilmhona

Shuhrat was previously employed by UK Embassy in Tajikistan as a Communications and Programme Manager and has also worked with Voluntary Services Overseas supporting development and donor institutions in the country. With a strong interest and passion in youth development, he has been supporting various projects and programmes in Tajikistan like the implementation of Techstars StartUp Weekends in Tajikistan, assisting Global Entrepreneurship weeks and co-founding Bob’s Music Award for talented young people in the country. He has also served as a Regional Board Member for International Debate and Education Association for Central Asia, supporting and fostering youth mobilization, grassroots leadership, the innovation and tech community, and the development of debate and education.

Executive Assistant to HM Ambassador in Tajikistan

The "Trip to Tajikistan" project provides A to Z services to foreign visitors, aiming at creating a positive image of Tajikistan in the world. Tahmina is a successful developer of the project's social media platforms and marketing. She finds digital marketing as a key tool for offering services and increasing brand awareness. She has successfully organized regional and international events, such as the CAMCA Regional Forum, in Dushanbe in 2017. In November 2017, she represented Tajikistan at Global Entrepreneurship Summit, in Hyderabad, India.

In 2018 Tahmina joined the British Embassy in Dushanbe, where she is actively involved in the implementation of different projects, as well as organizing large-scale events, including the Food Festival, EU week, Art Master Class for children with autism, Mosaic project and others.