Omaid Sharifi is a 2016 Millennium fellow, a participant in the 2024 Executive Leadership Intensive, and co-founder of ArtLords, a collective of self-styled “artivists” who create street art in Afghanistan and around the world. A former fellow at Harvard University, Sharifi is a board member of CIVICUS, a worldwide alliance that focuses on strengthening citizen action and civil society. He was previously a board member of the Millennium Leadership Fellowship alumni at the Atlantic Council and serves as the chapter lead for the Asia Society 21 Young Leaders Initiative in Afghanistan. At PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection, Sharifi spearheads programs dedicated to protecting artists at risk globally. With a career spanning more than nineteen years, he has planned, designed, and implemented a wide range of projects in Afghanistan, throughout South Asia, and around the world.