Leslie Schweitzer
TOPIC
The Quietest Form of Power
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), a small university quietly defying the odds in a country where access to education is scarce and opportunities are limited. Operating under the radar, AUAF is the nation’s last nonprofit university, educating both men and women and preparing the next generation to shape their communities.
AUAF doesn’t wield weapons or authority. Its power is knowledge. It teaches students how to think, not what to think. Its classrooms, online programs, clubs, and mental health support provide students a space to question, create, and connect—often for the first time. Every student at AUAF is determined to learn, dares to learn, and will do so under any circumstances, becoming a ripple—sharing knowledge, inspiring others, and multiplying impact across families, communities, and generations.
As a rare example of an educational oasis in an education desert, AUAF serves as a case study in how small, determined institutions can foster growth and resilience under extraordinary challenges. While the world often measures power by size or visibility, AUAF demonstrates that influence can be subtle, persistent, and transformative.
Leslie Schweitzer, founder of the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan, shares the story of this small university confronting enormous obstacles and proving that the quietest power—education—can reshape a nation’s future.
“The Quietest Power” reframes what power means in 2026: it doesn’t have to be forceful or immediate. Sometimes the most lasting change happens quietly, through classrooms, mentorship, and the courage of students who refuse to be stopped—twenty years in the making.
ABOUT
Leslie Schweitzer has spent four decades proving that real power isn’t held — it’s built. As the founder of the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan (FAUAF), a 501(c)(3) supporting higher education in one of the world’s most complex environments, Schweitzer has long understood that lasting change begins with who gets access to knowledge and opportunity.
A serial entrepreneur in emerging markets across more than 20 nations — including Afghanistan, Iraq, and China — Schweitzer co-founded Noble Trading Company in 1977, helping pioneer U.S.-China trade before it was conventional wisdom. After selling her company, she served as Senior Trade Advisor for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where she built Trade Roots, the first sustained national grassroots international trade education program, and drove public-private partnerships across Turkey, Iraq, and beyond.
Schweitzer’s life work is a masterclass in redistributing access — to markets, to education, to civic participation. She currently serves on the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council, the Command and General Staff College Foundation, and the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce, ADA University of Baku, Azerbaijan, among others.
She doesn’t just rethink power. She rebuilds it — from the ground up, across borders, for people who need it most.