Baktash Ahadi: Cultural Identity and the Immigrant Experience

The tragic events of 9/11 set Baktash on a path of examining why people do what they do. Upon graduation from college, he decided to serve in the Peace Corps as an educator in a rural village in Mozambique. His father learned English from a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kandahar in the 1960s and that experience was the inspiration for his family to come to the United States.   After completing his service in the Peace Corps, Baktash went back to Afghanistan, the country of his birth, to serve as a combat interpreter and cultural advisor for three years supporting military and reconstruction efforts throughout the country. This life-changing experience put his Afghan-American identity on the front line on the War on Terror in Afghanistan.   After his service in Afghanistan, Baktash produced and translated a number of award-winning documentary films about free speech, photojournalism, the refugee crisis, and violence against women. He writes, speaks, and teaches regularly about individual, organizational, and societal change. Baktash Ahadi is an agile leader with 15 years of helping companies and organizations solve their most complex human centric problems.   He specializes in culture change, digital transformation, and helping leaders make a positive impact on their organization and on society.   The recipient of numerous awards and compelling speaker, Baktash is a certified Executive Leadership Coach and is the host of the chart topping Stories of Transformation podcast.