History

Anna Elliot, Founder & CEO of Bamyan Media

Bamyan Media was founded by Anna Elliot in 2009, after the success of her pilot series in Afghanistan, Dream & Achieve. Responding to interest from young people and broadcasters around the world, Anna created Bamyan to support the international rollout and adaptation of the series format, and is currently working to support the development of productions in the Middle East, South America, East and South Africa. In 2011 Bamyan was awarded a contract with the US Agency for International Development to begin production of a reality TV series in Egypt, aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs.

Anna conceived the series while in college, and went to Afghanistan to raise funds, recruit partners, and co-produce Dream & Achieve in 2008. Anna oversaw all aspects of implementation, from training judges to securing prizes from major corporations, and is now leading Bamyan’s international development and growth. In 2010, Anna was awarded a prestigious Echoing Green fellowship, designed to support “outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs” who are confronting society’s most difficult problems. She is also a 2010 Rainer Arnhold fellow, awarded to “people with good ideas about change, in the places that need change the most.”

Previously in Afghanistan, Anna co-directed a theater production and facilitated post-conflict reconciliation workshops at the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society. Her past work includes a radio drama for Haitian youth in the ‘bateyes’ (migrant slums), an ethnography on funeral cooperatives in Haiti, a radio documentary on soldiers in Burma, and a public awareness campaign for indigenous women on US reservations. Anna graduated from Hampshire College with a self-designed concentration in multimedia and sustainable development.