Who We Are
Anthony Agnello
President, CEO
As a PVC from 1972 to 1974, FoA president Anthony Agnello, served as Science Supervisor for Samangan Province. A veteran science educator, he has been a coach, Model UN advisor, teachers’ union president, and a trustee on the Orchard Park, NY, school board.
He was selected as the Buffalo Bills/M&T Bank Teacher of the Year for organizing a student effort that sent two tons of school supplies to girls’ schools and for promoting educational equity projects for girls in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. To complete this student-to-student initiative, he privately returned to Afghanistan twice during the war years to oversee the construction of six schools for girls.
As co-founder of the Orchard Park Veterans Memorial Park Committee, honoring residents who were killed during military service, he received his community’s Post of Fame Award. He also received the Dr. Clifford Harkins Distinguished Citizen Award from Northern Arizona University in recognition of his lifetime of humanitarian service.
Nancy Cunningham
Vice President
Nancy Cunningham, Afghan VI (Jalalabad, 1965–67), has been a member of Friends of
Afghanistan since its founding in 1991 and has served as Vice President since the early
2000s. After Peace Corps service, she taught chemistry, directed plays and musicals,
and coached high school quiz bowl teams. She later spent twenty-eight years as an
Anesthesiologist Assistant at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
Inspired by a Peace Corps dream of becoming a diplomat, Nancy joined the U.S.
Foreign Service in 2001 and served as a Consular Officer in Bombay and Paris. In
2006, she returned to medical practice in Savannah, Georgia, her hometown.
Nancy has remained connected to her Afghan VI cohort, participating in several
reunions, including 25th- and 50th-anniversarycelebrations. She hosted a gathering in
Savannah, welcoming 25 RPCVs to an Afghan dinner at her home. Nancy’s medical
background informs Friends of Afghanistan’s mission to support underserved women,
children, and marginalized communities.
Recently, Nancy moved to Atlantic Beach, Florida, to join Fleet Landing, a Life Care
Community, and plans to forge new friendships with several RPCVs, including three
Afghanistan volunteers.
Terry Dougherty
Treasurer, COO
Terry Dougherty (1972-74) serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Friends of
Afghanistan, bringing over 40 years of diverse experience in teaching, sales, and
technology management across various industries, including higher education and
consulting. His extensive background includes roles as Chairman of the Board for the
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace and Vice President and Co-Founder of the
Alliance for Intercultural Understanding Inc. Additionally, he was a founding board
member of the School of Leadership Afghanistan ( SOLA ) and has provided volunteer
support for Afghan Refugee Resettlement with Catholic Charities in Fort Wayne,
Indiana, showcasing his commitment to humanitarian efforts. Terry is highly skilled in
developing and managing distance education, information systems, and administrative
services in higher education, as well as successfully implementing internet systems and
managing information services.
Jan West
Secretary, Editor
Jan West served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan (1970–72) as program coordinator for the English-speaking Secretarial Training Program at Kabul University.
After returning to the U.S., she taught kindergarten and first grade for over 30 years, incorporating lessons about Afghanistan. Her “Afghanistan Day: A Multicultural Simulation Experience” earned her the 1998 NPCA Global TeachNet Disseminator Award. After retiring, Jan taught history methodology and supervised apprentice teachers at Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt), where her Afghanistan unit was used as a model for multicultural education.
Since 2012, she has served as Secretary of the Friends of Afghanistan Board, newsletter co-editor, conference organizer, and Bazaar Fundraising Coordinator. In Trinidad, CA, she is Co-President of the Civic Club and helped create the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse Monument dedicated to those lost or buried at sea. She welcomes FoA members visiting California’s north coast to stop by or stay overnight.
Phil Smith
Bamiyan Project Liaison
Philip E. Smith (Herat, 1970-72) is an interior designer, educator, and textile artist with more than five decades of professional experience. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Craftsmen, with a concentration in hand weaving and textile design, and a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Smith has operated Philip E. Smith Interior Design, Inc. since 1997, specializing in high-end, custom residential interiors across Pennsylvania, New York, New England, Colorado, France, and Maine.His career includes senior roles with Seropian Interiors and Town and Country Fine Furniture, as well as teaching appointments at the Art Institute of York, Millersville University, and the American Farm School in Greece. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan, Smith has been featured on HGTV and in major design and textile publications. He is also an active musician, performing with orchestral and chamber ensembles in Pennsylvania.
Elana Hohl
Author, Co-Editor
Elana Hohl, Author, Co-Editor
Elana Hohl and her husband, Michael, served in Kabul from 1971–73, teaching English as a Foreign Language at a UN-funded technical boarding school on the road toward Jalalabad. Afterward, they settled in Columbus, Ohio, started a family, and both earned master’s degrees in education. With their children, they continued international work in Iran (1978–79) and then spent seven years teaching EFL in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1979–86).
Returning to Ohio, Elana helped establish a new ESL program in Dublin, where she supervised, coordinated, and taught students from kindergarten through 12th grade for 25 years. After retiring, she taught Latino students at a Columbus parochial school for five years and also taught at a local university and a Chinese university during the summers.
Two of her five children served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay and Senegal. Elana held multiple leadership roles in Ohio TESOL, delivered over 100 presentations, and has published four books, including A Few Minor Adjustments, about her Peace Corps experience in Afghanistan.
Baktash Ahadi
Third Goal & Culture
Baktash Ahadi, Filmmaker, FoA Cultural Adviser,
Baktash Ahadi (RPCV, Mozambique, 2005–06) is an Emmy Award–winning filmmaker and Forty-Under-Forty NPCA awardee whose work explores the human condition through stories of hope, resilience, friendship, and love, often shaped by conflict and loss. As a director, producer, and writer, he creates films that deeply resonate with audiences worldwide.
His work has screened at major festivals including Tribeca, SXSW, Telluride, TIFF, and DOC NYC, earning multiple Jury and Audience Awards, Peabody Awards, and Emmys, with two films shortlisted for the Academy Awards. He is the founder of The Taleem Project, an initiative that bridges cultural divides through bold, curiosity-driven storytelling, connecting distant worlds to foster shared understanding of identity, legacy, and humanity.
A former refugee, humanitarian, and interpreter, Baktash draws on cross-cultural experience to cultivate empathy and dialogue. He writes, speaks, and teaches about individual, organizational, and societal change, guided by the belief that understanding one another’s stories can transform how we see the world and ourselves.