Azizjon Azimi - Founder

Azizjon Azimi is the founder and chairman of TajRupt. A Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, he is a concurrent-degree Master's in Business Administration candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Master’s in Public Policy candidate at Harvard Kennedy School. Azizjon was recognized by Forbes in 2018 "30 Under 30" Asia list in social entrepreneurship category for his work on founding TajRupt. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) from New York University with high honors in economics and honors in international relations, having been the youngest degree candidate of the Class of 2016. It was during his time at NYU that he came to value the essence of critical thinking skills that systemically lack in Tajikistan's educational landscape through extracurricular activities and academic studies. Upon graduation, he worked at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and at Simon-Kucher & Partners in New York.

E-mail: azimi@tajrupt.org

Gulnora Gafurova - Executive Director

Gulnora Gafurova is the Executive Director of TajRupt. She holds a Master of Science degree (summa cum lade) in education from St. John’s University, Master of Science degree in economics from Khujand State University, and Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Tajik State University of Law, Business & Politics. After returning to Tajikistan from graduate studies in the United States, she worked at Atlasi Khujand LLC - Tajikistan's sole manufacturer of atlas and adras national silk textiles - as the Chief Operating Officer. Gulnora taught management at Tajik State University of Commerce as a senior lecturer, and English language instruction in the Department of Foreign Languages at Khujand State University. She is also working on a doctoral thesis examining contrastive linguistics across Tajik, Russian, and English languages. In addition, she completed Draper Hills Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Aug 2021.

E-mail: director@tajrupt.org

Zarrina Sultonova - Team Lead (Curriculum)

Zarrina Sultonova is a team lead on curriculum development and management at TajRupt. She graduated from Khujand State University in 2009 majoring in English language, and attended Aga Khan Humanity courses in Central Asia. She has since worked at non-governmental educational institutions, including private schools and language centers, where she has focused on youth development through debates, discussions, and psychology courses in English language. In 2017, she was selected for the prestigious English Teaching Mentorship Program run by the Embassy of the United States in Tajikistan, completing the program as the only representative from Khujand. At TajRupt’s ERC, she has previously taught gender equality as part of HerStory, as well as upper-intermediate level of English. She is currently overseeing the operations of TajRupt’s Extracurricular Resource Center (ERC) in Khujand.

E-mail: coordinator.tajrupt@gmail.com

Firuzjon Sodiqov - Team Lead (Initiatives & Impact)

Firuzjon Sodiqov is a team lead on initiatives and evaluation at TajRupt. He graduated from Tajik State University of Law, Business and Politics (TSULBP) in 2016 with a major in International Relations. After finishing secondary school in Tajikistan, he spent an academic year in the United States through the highly selective Future Leaders of Exchange (FLEX) program. In addition, while studying at TSULBP he spent an academic year in Shawnee State University in Ohio, United States with a specialization in international relations as a finalist of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD). His experience includes work as a project coordinator in the nongovernmental organization “Gurdofarid” in B. Ghafurov district managing the organization’s projects. Furthermore, he worked in the German International Agency for International Development (GIZ) serving as a focal point for management of the GIZ Khujand Office.

E-mail: sodiqov@tajrupt.org

Gulsara Gafurova - Operations Manager

Gulsara Gafurova is the operations manager at TajRupt. She graduated from the Tajik State University of Law, Business & Politics with a bachelor’s degree in law in 2005. Upon graduation, she worked as a lawyer focusing on civil cases at the Khujand branch of lawyer’s association of Tajikistan.