Mustafa Rfat

Mustafa Rfat received an Associates’ degree from the Teacher Institute of Kirkuk in 2009 and taught science to 4th and 5th-grade students in Iraq. Mustafa came to the U.S. as a refugee in 2011 and completed his BA and MA in Social Work with an emphasis on mental health at West Virginia University. He began working at the Center for Excellence in Disabilities as a passionate community advocate. Mustafa then pursued an MPA with an emphasis on healthcare policy and community work.

In 2021, Mustafa was admitted into the Social Work Ph.D. program at the Brown School at Washington University in St Louis and was awarded the McDonnell Academy Scholar that same year. At the Brown School, he works with Dr. Jean-Francois Trani and Dr. Mitra Naseh. Mustafa currently works on the Education Equity and Quality in Afghanistan and Pakistan (EEQAP) project. Internationally, he works with Dr. Orhan Kocak, a faculty member at Istanbul University.