ABOUT CVILLE TULIPS

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Cville Tulips began in the winter of 2022 as a space for recently arrived Afghan women to gather and build community. We now meet weekly in the summer and bi-weekly during the school year. Women attend English and Health Learning Circles. Kids of all ages enjoy soccer, games, visual arts, and drumming. Interpreters, hired from the Cville Tulips community of women, help bridge linguistic and cultural differences. English, Health, and Youth programming are supervised by faculty and staff from the Center for English Language and Culture and the Medical School and College of Arts and Sciences. Madison House provides volunteer support.  

Our name, Cville Tulips, references the huge fields of red tulips in Afghanistan. And, across the Middle East Tulips symbolize women, resilience, and thriving. It felt important to choose a name that works in Pashto, Dari, Arabic and English to convey a sense of belonging to multiple diasporas and to the place we all live now.  

Cville Tulips was initially a project of the Sound Justice Lab, funded by the Karsh Institute of Democracy.

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People

  • is the co-founder and
    co-director of Cville Tulips. She holds a Master of Education from the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of Afghan women and refugee education. Marjan has worked with Afghan refugees in Charlottesville, Tehran, and remotely in Afghanistan. She also serves as a Liaison with UVA's Center for Community Partnerships.

  • is Academic Director of the Center for American English Language and Culture and Director and Founder of the MOVE and VISA’s programs, which serve over 1000 volunteers and language learners a semester. She served as a liaison between migrant families and the school system in Albemarle County.

  • founded the Arts Mentors and was a founding member of the Equity Center. She currently co-directs the new Sound Justice Lab and has extensive experience in Arts Engagement.

  • is the Program Coordinator for Cville Tulips, where she supports administrative and financial operations and teaches within the English program. Elsa also works with the volunteer programs at UVA's Center for American English Language and Culture, coordinating and fostering cross-cultural connections. With a decade of experience in English teaching and a particular focus on program management, Elsa is passionate about building bridges between diverse communities and is inspired by the opportunity to serve Charlottesville’s refugee community. She joined Cville Tulips in 2023.

  • is the Spencer P. Bass, MD Twenty-First Century Professor of Family Medicine and Professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia. Committed to refugee and global health, she founded UVA’s International Family Medicine Clinic in 2002. She has led development of refugee health education, including student electives, a residency curriculum, and cofounding the Global Health Leadership Track. She is very pleased to be working closely with Cville Tulips, contributing to community health programming.

  • joined Cville Tulips in 2025. With a background in psychology, she currently coordinates the Kids’ and Women’s Art Programs. Sara creates engaging and interactive experiences for children and families. Drawing on her background in psychology, she brings an emphasis on mental health and wellness to Cville Tulips’ art programming, creating spaces where participants can express themselves, build confidence, and experience a sense of belonging. Sara also frequently represents Cville Tulips at community events and helps with interpretation, strengthening connections between Cville Tulips families and the wider Charlottesville community.

  • joined Cville Tulips in late 2022 after driving a family to the meeting and never leaving. She is the Director of English Learners and Dual Language Immersion for Albemarle County Public Schools.

  • is an American Studies major at UVA and the Women's Art team lead for the 2025-26 school year. She joined Cville Tulips in 2024 as a kids' art volunteer. Outside of Tulips, Sana is an Editor-in-Chief of {in}Visible Magazine, UVA's Asian American literary publication, and works as a Disney princess performer throughout central Virginia. Cville Tulips is one of the greatest joys of Sana's week and it reminds her that we have the power to build infrastructure to support our communities!

  • is an MBA student at James Madison University and a Graduate Assistant Mentor. In the summer of 2026, she coordinated Cville Tulips’ Women’s Art Program and worked on social media. She brings her experience in international entrepreneurship and language translation to her work supporting nonprofits and community building, and volunteers with language learners in Central Virginia. In Cville Tulips, Saba found a true sense of home and renewed her commitment to art and creative practice as powerful means of building belonging.

  • is a fourth-year UVA student majoring in Political Philosophy, Policy, and Law and English. Since coming to Charlottesville as a refugee in 2022, she has worked to support other refugees as an interpreter and English teacher. An aspiring lawyer, her internships have centered on refugee and immigrant advocacy. She finds respite in writing and is the author of two books. Samman began working with Cville Tulips as an interpreter the year before she started college. As a student leader, she helps train volunteers and, this year, will work with Cville Tulips teens on the college admissions process and future visioning.

  • originally from Wardak, Afghanistan, is a rising fourth-year student at UVA. She joined Cville Tulips during her first semester at UVA and has been an active leader in youth programming, volunteer training, and interpreting. She especially enjoys working on Cville Tulips’ social media. Zahra is studying systems engineering and is passionate about design and problem-solving. A refugee advocate and artist, her work explores identity, displacement, and cultural preservation while creating opportunities for Afghan women through storytelling, design, and community building. She is the founder of AZRA, a social enterprise dedicated to preserving Afghan craftsmanship through ethical fashion.

Alumnae

  • Aayusha Khanal is an undergraduate Batten student double majoring in Global Studies and Public Policy. She has worventions to better support them.ked as an Asylum Case Management Intern for Physicians for Human Rights and she began volunteering with the Sound Justice Lab in October of 2022 as an Afghan Women’s English Circle Leader for the Cville Tulips program.

  • a third-year Miller Arts Scholar, will coordinate volunteers and supervise arts activities for youth. She has extensive experience teaching dance and has worked for the Institute of Environmental Negotiation as a student intern and social media volunteer.

  • is a graduate student studying exercise physiology and pursuing a career as a physician. In her exploration of culturally responsive health care and preventative medicine she has produced several visual aide booklets providing information on exercise, nutrition, and local health systems. She has been working with Cville Tulips and the Sound Justice Lab since 2023.

  • is a third year UVa student concentrating in Global Studies, Theater and Arts Administration and has been working with resettled communities since she was fifteen. She has worked extensively in youth theater.

  • graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2025 with a double major in Public Policy and Leadership and Global Security and Justice. She joined Cville Tulips in Fall 2023 and enjoyed every minute of her two years as a volunteer. Gabriela previously served as the women’s art program director, which was a highlight of her time at UVA, encouraging her to pursue a future working alongside refugee communities in spaces rooted in community engagement.

  • Was a Student Leader for Cville Tulips. From Clarke County, Virginia, she graduated at Government and Religious Studies. She is also pursuing a Master's Degree in Public Policy from the Batten School. Outside of Tulips, she is the 2025-2026 Senior Educator for the University Judiciary Committee.