Zaid Albahash

About Zaid Albahash

Zaid Albahash is an educator, entrepreneur, and community builder, born in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 and based in Najaf. He has been engaged with politics, public affairs, and social issues since early on, guided by a simple conviction: wanting change is not enough, people have to take part in creating it.

That principle shaped his work before it had a name. He organised and led Speak Up Najaf, a free and open space where English speakers could practise, exchange ideas, and find like-minded people. It led to his first professional opportunity in English education at the age of 19, and in 2021 he founded the Ascension Centre for Languages and Training, which he still directs.

His work also extends into sport, as President of the Iraqi Dragon Fighters Championship. In 2025 he organised an international mixed martial arts event that brought together fighters from five countries, drew sponsors and a sold-out audience, and gave athletes a professional platform to compete on.

He joined the Ishtar Center in 2025, drawn less by an organization whose principles he shared than by a group of people he trusted and wanted to build something with. At the center he works on the education and youth programs, from the first idea through program design and implementation, and on the partnerships that widen access to education, dialogue, and civic participation for young people.

His first major project there, a language-training program he wrote and designed for leaders, is approaching implementation. He treats it less as an achievement already behind him than as the start of what he hopes to contribute through the center.