Nawida Popal was born in Pakistan during the civil wars in Afghanistan and spent her childhood as a refugee. In 2001, after the fall of the Taliban’s initial regime in Afghanistan, she returned to her homeland as a teenager. She has 11 years of experience in banking, finance/credit, management, and administration, and worked with different private banks and USAID projects in Afghanistan. Besides her jobs in Afghanistan, Nawida actively volunteered with many women's empowerment programs and workshops to train hundreds of women establishing small businesses and expanding their operations. Nawida currently works as a Preferred Communities case manager at Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay, serving and advocating for refugees, including Afghan as well as non-Afghan clients.