Mr. Sulaiman Lutfi
Chairman

Sulaiman Lutfi is the current Chairman of the Board of the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) and a Member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors.  He is one of the Founding Members and has helped develop the brand of AACC and supported the marketing efforts of the organization, since its inception.   He was one of the key planners in organizing AACC’s Annual Matchmaking Conferences by securing sponsors, promoting the conference and handling public relation and media efforts.

He has over 20 years of experience in marketing and media communications. As an Afghan-American business owner of family owned, TriVision Studios, Sulaiman Lutfi has helped start a successful business with offices in the United States and Afghanistan. TriVision Studios is an award-winning, full service agency that develops innovative strategies to achieve powerful and creative marketing, entertainment and media campaigns for its clients. TriVision manages cross-platform advertising and integrated communication programs for a diverse group of clients, ranging from start-up companies to government agencies to some of the world's leading multi-national organizations.

Prior to AACC, Sulaiman Lutfi has served and helped to create many Afghan organizations in the United States. He co-founded the Afghan Student Association (ASA) in 1992 and served as the President of the organization from 1994 to 1997 and thereafter as the Director of Events and Programming until 1999. In his involvement with ASA, he organized community and cultural events and helped raise funds for needy children and women in Afghanistan.  He also co-founded the Afghan Sports Federation in 1997 and serves as the Vice-President and Soccer League Commissioner for the organization.   Afghan Sports Federation is the largest sports organization outside Afghanistan with over 1000 members.  In addition, he has also worked and contributed to many other organizations, such as Afghan Academy, Mustafa Center and Society of Afghan Professional.

Sulaiman Lutfi received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Decision Science Management Information System from George Mason University and participated in many professional training and conferences for media communications and branding.  He has received many awards and certificates for his achievements and innovation.

Sulaiman Lutfi and his wife, Zakia Lutfi, have two children – Arman and Sabrina. They reside in Fairfax Virginia

 
 

Hon. Don Ritter
President & CEO

The Honorable Dr. Donald Ritter is the current President and CEO of the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) and a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors.  Since 2002, he has worked full time on Afghanistan and has been back to the country 22 times. Dr. Ritter represented Pennsylvania’s 15th district, the “Lehigh Valley”, from 1979 to 1993 in the U.S. House of Representatives, and has a near 30-year history in Afghanistan. As ranking member on the Congressional Helsinki Commission, he fought for liberty and human rights in the former Soviet Union, serving also as the founding chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Baltic States and Ukraine. No other Congressional body even came close to the number of hearings the Helsinki Commission held on Afghanistan under Ritter’s guidance. As one of the leading congressional proponents of U.S. assistance to the people of Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and occupation as prime author of the “Material Assistance“legislation and founder and Chairman of the “Congressional Task Force on Afghanistan”, Dr. Ritter continues his effort today via the economy and private sector to find solutions to Afghanistan's challenges of insurgency and drug trade. He is founder and former Chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Afghanistan Foundation, later known as the Afghanistan-America Foundation and a founder of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) in 2002. He also served as Senior Advisor to the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce and the Afghan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC) in Kabul during the creation and development years of AICC, 2004 and 2005 under a USAID grant. Dr. Ritter was a major architect of the AICC, the first independent, free-market oriented Chamber in the history of Afghanistan, now merged with the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). Dr. Ritter presently seeks to continue AACC’s seminal role in assisting the development of the Afghan market economy to bring stability and prosperity to Afghanistan. He also wears the hat of private businessman and investor in Afghanistan and is active in businesses involving consumer services, construction and carpets. Dr. Ritter holds a B.S. in Engineering from Lehigh University and an engineering doctorate from M.I.T.  He was a NAS Scientific Exchange fellow in the former Soviet Union for a year and speaks fluent Russian. He was a member of the faculty and administration at Lehigh University for 10 years, a consultant to industry, and, after 7 terms and 14 years in the US Congress, was founder and President of the National Environmental Policy Institute (NEPI) for 10 years. Don also serves on the Board of Directors of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and is Chairman of their Development Committee.

David D. Beg
Vice-President

 

David D. Beg, an Afghan-America, is the CEO of Metro Pact Corporation. Metro Pact is a member of The Barakat Group of companies. The group is engaged in a broad range of industries and services in Afghanistan and has been operating the region since the early 70's. Metro Pact represents the group's interests in the United States. David Beg gained his experience in business management through his family business. His background focuses mainly on retail-chain management, program management, business organizational development; enterprise software deployment and IT infrastructure deployment. Prior to starting Metro Pact, he worked with AT&T as an Operations Manager. His accomplishments involve everything from successfully deploying enterprise software to marketing campaigns that canvassed the entire Baltimore-Washington region. Mr. Beg's area of specialty is in organizational development. He recently was elected to AACC Board of Directors, and serves as the VP. He currently chairs the Development and Membership Committee at Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce. His contributions to AACC include; developing an entire new dynamic website, working into late hours to make the AACC BMC 2009 a huge success, he has been a speaker in panels at NDU and BMC events, and he has participated in meetings with new potential members and contributes to overall success of AACC wherever possible.

 
 
Virginia K. Sheffield    
Secretary of the Board

 

Virginia K. Sheffieldhas more than 25 years public and private sector experience as a business executive, consultant, research economist, policy analyst and negotiator.  In 2002, she founded Sheffield Advisors, LLC, a consulting firm focused on market entry in post-conflict markets. While experienced in a number of markets, she is currently focusing on Afghanistan. Her accomplishments include successfully negotiating a new telecommunications license for Telephone Systems International, the parent of Afghan Wireless, with the government of Afghanistan, securing financing and political risk insurance for two multimillion dollar housing projects in Kabul, negotiating leases for government and private property and securing business licenses and registrations.  In July 2005 with Robert E. Naser she founded IBS Afghanistan, an international business services company market entry services and instant office solutions in Kabul, where she lived for two years.  Prior to founding Sheffield Advisors, Ms. Sheffield was vice-president for Genuity, a tier-one internet backbone and e-commerce provider.  She worked for GTE from 1986 to 2000 when it was the largest U.S. independent telecommunications carrier. While, Ms. Sheffield worked for the Iowa Legislature and Commerce Commission she received a National Science Foundation grant for her research. She has served on several non-profit boards and is an endowed-life member of the James Smithson Society. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Iowa State University.

 

Mr. Yama Azami
Treasurer

 

YAMA AZAMI is the Treasurer of AACC. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and migrated to the United States with his family in 1983. He attended the University of Texas graduating in 1993 with a Bachelors degree in Marketing. In 1996, he relocated to the Washington D.C. area. He continued his business profession as well as his organizational professions with Afghan Student Association, serving as vice president for one year and president from 1998-1999. In this role, he was very involved in community activities as well as raising funds to help the women and children in Afghanistan, sending significant amounts of monetary aid to help provide clothing, food, health care supplies and all items of necessity for the poverty stricken and helpless individuals of Afghanistan. During this time, he was building his professional experience and prospering in the mortgage industry. He has been in the mortgage industry since 1999 and he opened up his own company in 2005. He is the President of Washington Mortgage Group, which provides residential and commercial financing for the Washington DC metro area. His company has built up an impeccable track record for the service they provide to their clients. While he has been continuing his business profession, he has also been a member of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce and is currently on the board of directors. Even though he devotes a great deal of time to his professional and organizational commitments, he still makes time for his personal commitments. He currently resides in Fairfax Station, Virginia with his wife Fara and two children, Neela and Neda.

 


William C. Joern
Executive Committee Member

 
William C. (Bill) Joernserves on the A-ACC Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. He has over 35 years of general management, strategic planning, program development and evaluation, budgeting, and contract management experience with private corporations and non-profit entities. His experience includes serving as a vice-president of an international training company, CEO of a health planning corporation, and group manager for the Washington operations of a R & D / information services organization. He has provided contract management and proposal development services on behalf of several US Government agencies. He has been an active participant with several organizations including the Washington-based Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and the Washington Regional Board of Trade.
 
Mr. Joern is associated with US companies which manufacture, install, and maintain equipment in several sectors such as: food processing and packaging, food storage facilities, waste water and water purification treatment, building materials and technology, and pharmaceutical and medical supplies. He is familiar with a wide range of funding sources including private funds and the US ExIm Bank, US OPIC, and the World Bank's IFC.

 


Ms. Hassina G. Ansary
Executive Committee Member

Hassina Ghani Ansary is a Member of AACC’s Executive Committee ‎and Board of Directors, serving as the Chairperson of the AACC Program ‎and Event Committee. She was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, being a ‎daughter of a Diplomat traveling all over the world, very familiar ‎with cultures and fluent in several languages. ‎

She has been in the Washington D.C, Metropolitan area since 1978. She is an ‎activist in the Afghan Affairs and has been working with several ‎Afghan charity groups and organizations. She is a professional ‎Event and Wedding Planner and consultant. She has traveled ‎several times to Afghanistan basically seeking to introduce Afghan ‎goods to the U.S market.