Co-Founder and Director of Air Bridge Iraq Yazidi activist Mirza Dinnayi dedicated his whole life to saving the victims of the Iraq war, evacuating women and children from territories controlled by ISIS and providing those with rehabilitation and support. He personally transports people to safety and delivers food and water to isolated areas, even after surviving a helicopter crash. 

Mirza Dinnayi comes from a well-respected Yazidi family. He was in high school when he started writing stories about Yazidis and the persecution they faced. Driven by his intention to help his community, he enrolled in medical school and joined a student group in Mosul that protested Iraq’s political regime. In 1992, concerned for his safety, he fled to Iraqi Kurdistan. During the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War, he sought asylum in Germany where he became a prominent member of the Yazidi community. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Dinnayi became Advisor for Minority Affairs to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Driven by his passion to save lives Mirza Dinnayi was named the 2019 Aurora Laureate at the Ceremony in Yerevan that was held during the 2019 Aurora Forum.