#256 Layma Murtaza- Building Dignity Through Digital Access

 About Layma Murtaza

Layma Murtaza is the Vice President of Business Development and a board member at ASEEL, a global tech platform blending ethical e-commerce with decentralized humanitarian aid. An Afghan-American with over a decade of experience in international development, 

Layma has worked across regions including Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and the United States. Her work spans refugee resettlement, civil society building, and tech-enabled aid delivery. A tireless advocate for dignity-first aid models, Layma is redefining how technology can serve humanity in its most fragile contexts.

About this Episode

In this powerful episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison welcomes Layma Murtaza for a conversation about innovation, impact, and the future of humanitarian aid. From growing up in a refugee community in California to leading global efforts in conflict zones, Layma shares her deeply personal and professional journey.

Layma opens up about how her early experiences shaped her views on leadership, her transition from politics to humanitarian work, and the pivotal role of ASEEL—a platform connecting artisans in conflict-affected regions with global markets while also enabling life-saving aid delivery through tech-powered networks.

The discussion touches on key issues such as ethical sourcing, decentralized aid, working in fragile environments, and the unique challenges of scaling tech for good. Layma also talks about ASEEL’s impact initiatives, including the Welcome Returnees Kit and the Atalan Heroes Network, and how they’ve reached over half a million people in underserved communities.

Her “Green Pill” moment—a personal story of transformation following the passing of her grandfather—illuminates her life mission: to uplift those whose voices are often unheard.

This episode is a must-listen for changemakers, tech-for-good innovators, and anyone passionate about empowering communities with purpose, technology, and heart.

Quotes

1:52 - I think I always had a thirst for history, the world, the social treasures that each culture has that I felt was hidden because of the lack of access to platforms.

 4:14 - I think first my family upbringing being from a refugee community in Fremont, California actually shaped a lot of the knowledge and like the needs of the community because they were very visible and there was a lack of leadership

4:37 - A youth is not really given a platform for leadership so we really didn't trust ourselves as young leaders

 5:16 - Customer service and understanding of client needs and ensuring that, like listening to my community about their priorities and concerns, became the kind of groundwork for my international development and humanitarian experience.

6:00 - When you understand the people that you want to serve whether it's a client, whether it's community, whether it's someone who is directly involved you can co-design the direction of how you want to positively impact their lives. And this is the ultimate goal when you're driven by sustainable change.

 6:32 - You gain the ability to support ways to gain consensus, because you can pull all their pain points in and then talk to them about what they want to see that changed. So that's kind of how I've seen my role in the leadership space and what grounds me within that.

8:37 - Our local volunteers, who we call the Atalan Network, are also our heroes, deliver the aid, making sure it gets to the right people and fast, so anyone can access the platform, whether you're an artisan, a donor, an NGO or just someone who wants to ma

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