Imagine that your country is in turmoil and you may need to flee your home. You’ll have to leave parts of your family, your livelihood, your community, and your belongings. Where can you go? When is the right time to leave? How will you get there? Maybe the fighting isn’t too close yet, maybe your city won’t fall. And then maybe it’s too late to get to safety. Or maybe your partner or child is too sick. Who can help? For many people around the world, this is a very real scene from their lives.

In the months leading up to August of 2021, it became clear that Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul was going to fall to the dangerous regime of the Taliban. Many of the veterans associated with the nonprofit group Veterans in Media & Entertainment began to come together to figure out how to evacuate and relocate at-risk Afghans–women leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, interpreters, athletes, musicians, filmmakers, activists, and other vulnerable minorities as the country fell apart.

Veterans form Operation Snow Leopard

This multigenerational group that includes veterans from the Vietnam War to the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars formed Operation Snow Leopard (OSL) with a mission to facilitate the safe evacuation and resettlement of 2,500 high-risk Afghans, primarily women and children on their manifest. It started with veterans who work in Hollywood as writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, accountants, cybersecurity techs, and logistics experts. A few of the people involved are social impact producer Bonnie Abaunza (Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda), writer/director Rebecca Murga (Apple TV’s Swagger), actor Caitlin Basset (NBC’s Quantum Leap), led by writer/producer Karen Kraft.

Bob Ness, a life-long humanitarian and OSL senior advisor, brought OSL several key supporters such as Phil Kaplan Fund, the Jackson Foundation, and the Peg and Rick Young Foundation. Bob also introduced the team to Global Washington.

The all-volunteer group has grown to include nurses, pilots, database builders, grad students, and other civilians. There are now nearly 100 volunteers who are part of OSL. They are a team of Christians, Jews, and Muslims from 10 countries who share a vision of solidarity and friendship across all religions and countries around the world.

“On September 1, 2021, over 20 million Afghan women and girls were effectively rendered voiceless under the new regime. We were driven to action by our commitment to keep the promise our nation made, so we will be their voice. This may seem like someone else’s problem, but it’s not, this belongs to all of us because this is a tragic human rights issue, with severe security and economic impacts.” – Karen Kraft, Operation Snow Leopard volunteer, documentary producer and former U.S. Army Officer.

Read the full article about Operation Snow Leopard by Tyler LePard at Global Washington.