Mustafa Rezaie is a financial management and development policy professional with over a decade of experience spanning government, nonprofit, and international development sectors. His expertise covers Financial management, grant administration, compliance, resource optimization, risk mitigation, and data-driven strategic decision-making, enabling him to design and implement initiatives that address complex development challenges.

In 2024, Mustafa earned his Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) from Duke University as a Rotary Peace Fellow, Class 21, sponsored by District 5495. The fellowship was a transformative opportunity—allowing him to pursue advanced studies in policy analysis and research while his family found safety and access to education outside Afghanistan. At Duke, he conducted in-depth policy research on the sustainability of international aid in Afghanistan, producing recommendations to bridge the gap between short-term humanitarian assistance and long-term community resilience. His work included a published article in the Sanford Journal of Public Policy on participatory budgeting as an innovative tool for democratic engagement and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mustafa’s advocacy extends beyond the classroom. He is passionate about his home country and cares deeply about underserved communities in Afghanistan. He actively advocates for Afghan women’s rights to education, work, and freedom, while these rights are currently denied under Taliban rule. Mustafa has delivered numerous speeches on women’s challenges and ethnic minority issues in Afghanistan, including presentations at Duke, Elon, and William Peace universities. In these talks, he discusses strategies to raise awareness and tackle these pressing issues. While at Duke, he published an article titled Promoting Education in a Conflict Zone, recommended policy solutions to address illiteracy through locally-led, community-based education (CBE), engaging community elders and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), even under Taliban control. In 2022, to transform his thought into action, he and his community members launched a pilot CBE program in Jaghori District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, where over 60 students—mainly girls—learn English, science, and vocational skills despite the Taliban’s ban on formal education. This initiative has been successfully ongoing since 2022, where it has been managed locally with very limited resources, with financial support from Afghan diaspora communities residing in the USA, Australia, and Europe.

Currently, Mustafa serves as Finance Manager at PartnersGlobal, where he supports democracy-strengthening and civil society programs in Serbia and Latin America. He ensures sound grant administration, strengthens internal controls, optimizes budgets, and aligns resources with strategic goals.

Previously, he served as Area Monitoring, Evaluation, and Compliance Manager at ACTED, where he developed sustainable rural development initiatives, led needs assessments, and designed projects integrating humanitarian and development aid. Before that, at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance, he contributed to the implementation of the Afghanistan Financial Management Information System (AFMIS), conducted development grant performance analyses, and built capacity among civil servants in financial management.

Driven by a passion for sustainable peace and equitable development, Mustafa aspires to work with organizations like the UN or World Bank to advance community-led solutions in Afghanistan. His vision is to connect Afghan voices globally through a peace fellows’ network dedicated to creating professional, locally driven, and sustainable change.