Mizgon Darby

Mizgon’s world is driven by serving communities that are frequently ignored, do not have access to the resources they need to thrive, and are brimming with hope. In the last six years Mizgon has focused on creating equity in education for educators, children, and families.

Mizgon has over 15 years of experience in fundraising, marketing, communications, and program development. She has always loved the challenge of re-envisioning possibilities, and creating sustainability. In the past, she worked in service of the city she was born and raised in as the Founding Executive Director of  The Primary School, Hayward. Prior to The Primary School, she was a founding team member of a start-up tech non-profit (LitLab), and she has worked as a consultant specializing in grant writing, public relations, internal and external communication planning, digital marketing, and program scaling for non-profits, universities, and corporations throughout the state. 

In 2001, Mizgon published the first Afghan-American magazine in the US. She has also worked as freelance writer focused on telling the stories of otherwise silenced communities and programs. Mizgon has been published in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other major newspapers and publications internationally.

Mizgon is a CSUEB Alumni Association 2018 40 Under 40 Award recipient, and 2019 Ulysses Medal for Leadership in Refugee Health recipient from UC Davis Health. She completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature, received an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and holds an M.B.A. with a concentration in Global Innovation.