Sonia Nassery Cole came to the United States from her native Afghanistan as a teenager. In the early 1980s, Cole wrote to President Reagan requesting help for the people in her native Afghanistan, under attack then from the Soviet Union.

The president invited her to Washington, D.C., and she worked with him to get congressional authorization for intervention in Afghanistan. Since then, Cole has actively worked with various organizations and committees set up for the improvement of the conditions and quality of life in Afghanistan. Among these is the Afghanistan Relief Committee, set up by past U.S. ambassadors to Afghanistan. In response to the urgency of humanitarian relief required in Afghanistan following Western military intervention post 9/11, Cole founded the Afghanistan World Foundation (AWF). The AWF has worked with various other organizations on making healthcare and education more accessible to Afghan children.

Her film The Black Tulip was Afghanistan’s official submission to the 2010 Academy Awards and releases in the United States on October 26, 2012. The film has premiered in prestigious film festivals all over the world.