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OUR TRIBE
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Meet the amazing people who give our movement the wheels it needs to go forward
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Staff
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Farid Noori
Founder & Executive Director Farid comes from Ghazni, Afghanistan. He discovered mountain biking while on a scholarship to graduate high school in the U.S. He raced collegiate cycling for Middlebury College in Vermont where he also earned a degree in Economics. He now races full time, representing Afghanistan in international UCI races in the U.S., next to growing Mountain Bike Afghanistan.
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Sajjad Husaini
Country Director If you want to put a face to skiing in Afghanistan, you don't need to look hard. It is our man Sajjad (and his friend Alishah) who are the pioneers of establishing the ski culture in Afghanistan. It all started when a Swiss journalist brought a dozen skis to Sajjad's village in Bamiyan. Fast forward eight years, and he is the flag bearer for Afghanistan in international skiing competitions. Sajjad tried and didn't make it to the Winter Olympics in 2018, but he will not give up on his dream. When he is not racing, he helps his local Bamiyan Ski Club. In the summers, Sajjad is an avid cyclist, which brings him to join Mountain Bike Afghanistan.
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Board of Directors
Click on each board member's name to learn more about them.
Larry Eighmy (chair)
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Larry is the Managing Principal and a founder of The Stone House Group (SHG), which is widely recognized as an industry leader in providing facilities, operations and finance guidance for institutions worldwide. Larry graduated from Middlebury College with a Bachelor of Arts. He also did graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard University and most recently received a certificate from Harvard University’s Executive Education for Sustainability Conference in November 2016. Larry spent part of his childhood in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 70s. After a chance encounter with Farid, he helped Farid establish MTB Afghanistan as a non-profit entity. While Shannon may be the first women to mountain bike in Afghanistan, Larry claims to have been the only board member who sustained biking injury there.
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Mustafa Babak (vice chair)
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Mustafa holds a graduate degree in Global Public Policy and Management from NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a master's in Public Administration from UCL (University College London). He currently works as a management consultant for the World Bank Group. Mustafa has worked extensively in social marketing, communication for development, public relations, project management, and qualitative outreach programs in Afghanistan. Before coming to the states to study, Mustafa worked as the Country Director of Sayara Media & Communication in Afghanistan, helping Afghan ministries, United Nations, USAID, GIZ, US and British Embassies and non-profit organizations to design and implement public awareness campaigns on a wide range of social impact issues.
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Erin Quinn
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Erin Quinn has been the director of athletics at Middlebury College since 2006. As director, he has overseen significant facilities projects, including field renovations and the building of the squash center and field house. Under his tutelage, the College recorded nine straight top-five finishes in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings. During the 2011-2012 academic year, Middlebury captured its first Directors’ Cup title. He is a five-time winner of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Division III Coach of the Year award. He also earned NESCAC coach of the year honors in 2004. Quinn is a 1986 graduate of Middlebury College, where he was a member of the football team, captaining the squad his senior year. He earned his Master of Arts in Teaching at Tufts University.
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Ted King
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Ted King is a world traveled New Englander. He found cycling while at Middlebury and started his professional cycling career directly upon graduating in 2005. Racing for some of the sport’s top teams in the European WorldTour, he retired from a ten year professional road career in 2015. Now back in Vermont, he continues to work with many cycling sponsors as an ambassador, Ted co-founded and runs UnTapped a maple syrup based sports nutrition company, and along with his wife run Rooted Vermont, a gravel cycling event which epitomizes a Vermont summer party.
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Lauren Hall
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Lauren Hall is a former division one soccer player for Mississippi State University turned professional cyclist and national champion. Lauren has competed at the professional level for 9 years and has raced all over the world. She was a member of the USA Cycling National team for 5 years, raced in 4 different world championships, a member of the winning Giro Rosa team, the most prestigious women’s race in the world and won the spring classic - Gent Wevelgem. Lauren has earned the reputation as being one of the most respected riders in professional cycling. She has retired from pro cycling in 2018 and is currently working at the general manger for the Homestretch Foundation, a non profit charitable organization that provides free temporary housing and other support for working women living or earning below the poverty line, with a focus on women who have careers in endurance sports. She is also an ambassador and co founder for Cyclekids Foundation in Ridgeland, MS. Lauren also supports High Desert Devo and El Gruppo Cycling, both youth cycling programs in her community. You can learn more about Lauren on her personal website laurenthallracing.com
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Shamila Kohestani
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As a sports advocate, Shamila has spoken about the importance of soccer/football and how it empowered her and her team to tear down societal norms and make history in a war-torn country. Shamila has been vocal about women’s issues around the globe and the life-changing opportunities playing sports can provide. She has spoken at high schools, universities, conferences, and fundraising events in the United States. Shamila’s speeches are focused on how soccer and other sports can be utilized to promote gender equality and build confidence in young women around the world.
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