View the entire Flying Scarfs Team.

In the summer of 2011, four Air Force Officers deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Along the way they stumbled upon beautifully crafted artisan scarfs created by a group of women who had lost their husbands to the Taliban. It was through this encounter that they saw a greater need to empower the local population beyond their military duties.

Thus, the relationship between these Afghan women and the military officers began, and Flying Scarfs was officially formed. Today these four social entrepreneurs have reshaped the manner in which many Americans think about social change. Through a lens of free market capitalism and micro-economic development, Flying Scarfs is an enterprise dedicated to the empowerment of the artisans in Afghanistan and around the world. What started as a global security initiative to provide employment after Americans had withdrawn from Afghanistan has turned into a worldwide mission to find similar situations in underdeveloped countries.