Beyond the warfare, bloodshed, and misogyny she witnessed in Afghanistan, Marina LeGree, ESIA MA ’07 saw mountains. Big, beautiful mountains, practically begging to be climbed.
The landscape reminded her of what she saw all around her family’s farm in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington state. She and her family didn’t miss many opportunities to hike and explore. But in Afghanistan, no one seemed to be outside—especially women.
“It was frustrating to be in a culture where I couldn’t go out and play,” she says. “What a tragedy, among all the other tragedies that Afghans are facing, that there’s no outlet for them to get out in nature and enjoy themselves.”
LeGree, after a half-decade in the country working for development-related organizations, decided to provide that outlet. In 2014, she founded Ascend: Leadership Through Athletics, a nonprofit organization designed to empower Afghan women by sending them outside—and up those mountains.
In August 2018, a 24-year-old named Hanifa Yousoufi became the first Afghan woman to reach the summit of Mount Noshaq, which at 24,580 feet is her country’s highest peak. She made her climb alongside three other Afghan women on an expedition sponsored by Ascend. The achievement, which was chronicled in a recent issue of Outside, represents a full-circle moment for LeGree. She got the idea for Ascend after hearing about two Afghan men summiting Mount Noshaq in 2009, assisted by a French guide.
“Something just clicked,” she says of hearing the news. “It was a big deal for Afghans and their national pride. It seemed very obvious to me that, in a time of national depression and struggling to figure out their identity, and with young people just looking around for role models and something to inspire them, mountain climbing is something that’s universally appreciated and respected.”
Ascend has helped more than 70 Afghan women find paths away from the oppression that most face in a rigidly patriarchal society. The participants range from age 15-24; they commit to six days a week of after-school and weekend leadership development activities, including physical fitness and public speaking.
LeGree now lives in Virginia with her husband Larry LeGree, ESIA MIPP ’08, a Naval officer whom she met while at GW (they would go on to work together in different roles in Kunar Province, Afghanistan), and their two young children. She travels to Afghanistan about four times a year but otherwise oversees Ascend’s operations—the organization has paid Afghan women staffers, plus many expatriate volunteers—from afar.
She first went to Afghanistan on a semester break from her Elliott School master’s degree program in international affairs. She worked for the International Organization for Migration and fell in love with her adopted country and its people. One semester off turned into three semesters off before she finally returned and finished her degree in December 2006.
She originally chose GW because of its central location in D.C.—and because it employed so many practitioners as professors, people who had day jobs in the field of international development. The experience launched her own career path while also connecting her with her now-husband.
After graduating from GW, she went straight back to Afghanistan, this time for the German development agency GIZ. Next, she worked for NATO, also in Afghanistan.
Now, she’s looking to expand Ascend into a more broad-based fitness program for young Afghan girls, modeled after Girls on the Run in the U.S., and looking to hire another program manager.
“I modeled it after what I did at GW,” she says of the job. “I’m looking for someone who’s like I was then: young and ready to jump in and do lots of work for little to no pay but for great experience. There’s a lot to do and a lot of responsibility.”
-Dan Simmons
