Meet Julie Bolz and Ayni Educational International

Julie Bolz is a nationally-recognized speaker and social justice advocate, who is dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering the poor in the developing world. In 1998, she traded a successful law career to help people in the most impoverished regions of the world. As a volunteer international legal and business advisor, she has worked with dozens of international non-profits to amend discriminatory laws, procure microloans, establish hospitals and businesses, and negotiate political challenges. Since 2002, Julie has focused on educating girls in Afghanistan, where she founded “Journey with an Afghan School.”

Julie regularly speaks around the country, writes about her experiences, and meets with political decision-makers. She is a powerful voice for those otherwise not heard. Last year she was featured in BRAVA magazine and she was a recipient of A Fund for Women’s Fabulous Firsts Award for “Women who Led the Way.” In 2007, she was a presenter at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival. She was the recipient of the Smith College Rally Day Award in 2006. And in 2004, she received the Thomas C. Wales Foundation Award for courageous civic engagement, leadership and passionate citizenship, and she also was honored on the Hallmark Channel.

Prior to working overseas, Julie was a partner with Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland in Seattle and was part of the Firm’s nationally-recognized business immigration practice, which represented a number of Fortune 500 companies. Further, she was Chair of the Washington State Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and was given a national award by AILA for her service to young lawyers in 1998. She is a past participant of Seattle’s Leadership Tomorrow, and she has served as pro bono legal counsel, a fundraiser and advocate for more than a dozen non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. She graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1987 and Smith College in 1983.

About Ayni

At long last! After almost eight years and four different U.S. partners, “Journey with an Afghan School” finally has its own home – Ayni Education International (AEI), a Seattle-based nongovernmental organization NGO.

Pronounced EYE-knee, AYNI is a term from the Peruvian Andes that means “sacred reciprocity.” By fostering interchange between the United States and Afghanistan, AEI creates quality educational opportunities in Afghanistan that empower children and their families to build peaceful, just, and life affirming communities.

Our goal is to continue strengthening the Afghan school system so that it provides quality education to children, particularly in northern Afghanistan; to create educational models, especially in rural areas, which can be reproduced in other war-torn regions; to educate communities in Afghanistan and the U.S. about each other’s cultures, history, religions and values; and to foster interchange.

Each of AFF/AAFF’s schools in Afghanistan is connected to communities across the United States. In addition to raising funds, they have participated in cross-cultural exchanges. And, despite the dangers, a number of individuals, including an elementary school principal and several teachers, have traveled to Afghanistan to visit their sister-schools.

Uniquely, AEI is 100% run by volunteers.