Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dr. Waheed Momand is a prominent leader in the Afghan-American community. He graduated from Habibia High School in Kabul and holds an MSEE in Automation Control Systems and a PhD in Bioengineering. Dr. Momand has a diverse professional background, having worked as an Electronic Engineer and holding IT positions at IBM and other Silicon Valley companies. He also served as a member of two Loya Jirgas (Grand Councils) in Afghanistan.
Twenty-seven years ago, along with Ms. Rona Popal, Dr. Momand co-founded The Afghan Coalition, now the largest Afghan-American nonprofit organization in the U.S., which has served tens of thousands of Afghan refugees and immigrants in California.
From 2004 to 2014, Dr. Momand worked in Afghanistan as a Subject Matter Expert, Advisor, and Chief of the Afghanistan Media Desk at ISAF, supporting the cause of his homeland. He has been an outspoken advocate for policies that empower grassroots national movements, believing that the U.S. government strategy of reliance on warlords contributed to failures in Afghanistan.
In 2012, Dr. Momand played a key role in the creation of the Afghanistan National Movement (ANM). In 2019, he helped unite several national movements to form the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan (GNCA), where he currently serves as President.