Mandana Hendessi — Co-Founder
I write about women whose lives unfold in places where power, silence, and injustice intersect. For more than three decades my work has taken me into conflict and fragile regions including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, listening to the stories of women who rarely appear in official histories. The women I met inside Kabul’s prison shattered every preconception I carried. They were rebellious, sharp-witted, bold to the point of irreverence – women whose courage revealed itself in the quiet, daily defiance of a system built to break them. They improvised meals out of nothing, staged tiny uprisings over the smallest injustices, laughed in the face of fear, and protected each other with ferocious tenderness. Their creativity illuminated the darkest corners of confinement. Their resilience shocked me to the core – and ultimately shaped the writer I became. Those encounters altered the course of my life. They taught me that beneath every system of power lies a chorus of silenced voices – resilient, wounded, defiant – waiting for someone to listen. My fiction grows from those silences. I explore themes of trauma, memory, survival, identity, and the intimate ways people navigate violence and hope. Whether through policy work, field research, or storytelling, my purpose remains the same: to illuminate the unseen and to honour the human truths that endure even in the darkest conditions. My novel The Almond Garden of Kabul is inspired by those years and by the women who trusted me with their stories, and by the world that tried to contain them.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Women's Rights Advocate with extensive experience in conflict and fragile regions.
Location: London, England, United Kingdom
Experience: 8 yrs 2 mos
Skills
- Writing And Editing
- Women's Rights Advocacy
- Gender Equality
- Women's Rights
- Management
- Business Development
- Program Development
- Human Rights
- Rule Of Law
- Mental Health Programs
- International Women's Rights
- Civil Society Support
Career Highlights
- Over 30 years of experience in conflict zones
- Advocated for women's rights in Iraq's parliament
- Authored impactful narratives on women's resilience
Work Experience
Freelance | Self-Employed
Writer and author (3 yrs 3 mos)
Norwegian People's Aid / Norsk Folkehjelp
Program Manager (2 yrs)
Women for Women International
Director, Syria Response & Iraq (2 yrs 11 mos)
Global Rights: Partners for Justice
Country Director (1 yr 8 mos)
medica mondiale
Head of Mission (1 yr 1 mo)
DFID
Senior Gender Advisor - Baghdad (6 mos)
Women's National Commission
Commissioner (4 yrs)
Self Employed
Senior Gender Equality and Women's Rights Specialist (30 yrs 9 mos)
Education
MA at London Metropolitan University
Creative Writing at University of East Anglia
PHD candidate at The Open University
Certificate at University of East Anglia
