Ehsan Bayat is a respected telecommunications executive who has leveraged his business success to provide necessary services and support to the most at-risk Afghans, while also contributing to infrastructure projects to help rebuild the country. He has served as Chairman of the Bayat Foundation since 2006, during which time he has raised money to provide food, clothing, and thousands of blankets to Afghan citizens living the country’s most remote provinces. In addition, he has helped construct 13 hospitals that have delivered free services to more than 1.5 million mothers and children. The foundation is also active in disaster response and well-digging projects. For his philanthropic efforts, Ehsan Bayat has garnered the Afghanistan Human Rights Association’s National Human Rights Award and Zeba Magazine’s 2007 Humanitarian of the Year Award. Other accolades he has received include the Businessman of the Year Award from the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce and the Mahatma Gandhi Humanitarian Award from Friends of the South Asian American Communities.

A pioneer in the Afghan telecommunications industry, Ehsan Bayat is the founder of two companies: Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN) and Afghan Wireless. The latter firm, a joint venture between the Afghan Ministry of Communications and the Bayat Group, supplies all 34 Afghanistan provinces with data, Internet, and high-definition voice services. Afghan Wireless has also created more than 100,000 jobs and helped connect Afghan citizens to people all over the world through strategic partnerships with more than 400 wireless carriers in 125 countries.

ATN, which Ehsan Bayat founded in 2005, now stands as the largest private media company in the country, with a reach of more than 25 million citizens. In accordance with the goals of its founder, the media company strives to promote education and inclusion, while providing increased opportunities for Afghan writers, producers, directors, and actors.