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Mahnaz Afkhami was born Mahnaz Ebrahimi in 1941 in Kerman, Iran where she lived with her parents, Ferdows and Majid, and her two younger siblings, Hamid and Farah. After her parents divorce, Mahnaz became the first of her siblings to join her mother in the United States. There she attended school and met her husband Gholam. In 1967, Mahnaz and her husband moved back to Iran where Mahnaz worked as a professor of literature at the National University of Iran and helped found the University Women's Association. Through her work with the University Women's Association, Mahnaz became the Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran. In 1975, on the last day of International Women's Year, Mahnaz was appointed to the position of Minister for Women's Affairs of Iran. During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Mahnaz was charged with Corruption on Earth and Warring with God and has lived in the United States in exile since. In the United States, Mahnaz has founded the Foundation of Iranian Studies, served as the President of Sisterhood Is Global Institute, and founded the Women's Learning Partnership.
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