Firas Ahmad arrived at Flint Hill in 10th grade as a quiet, apathetic new kid trying to find his way. Over time, he carved out a place for himself: joining student government, writing for the school newspaper, and making his mark athletically on the varsity tennis and basketball teams. He even played on the legendary 1995 state championship basketball team under Coach Win Palmer.
“It was surreal,” Firas says, reflecting on being invited back as this year’s Commencement speaker at his alma mater. When asked if he remembers his own Commencement speaker, Firas answers, “Of course. It was Richard Rouse, my English teacher.” The memory stands out not so much for what Mr. Rouse said in his 1995 address to the graduates, but for who he was to Firas — the teacher who challenged him, believed in his talent, and ultimately shaped his identity as a writer.
“He graded me hard, almost unfairly,” he remembers. “I think he did so because he knew I was a good writer and wanted to push me to get better and better.” Firas credits Mr. Rouse with helping him discover the importance of identifying and honing one’s unique skill — a lesson that now anchors his core message to the Class of 2025.
He opens his Commencement address to them this way:
“And for those of you wondering, is that the same Firas Ahmad who played on the 1995 Flint Hill Virginia Independent School State Basketball Championship team — the answer is yes — that is me. How many minutes did I actually play in that game? Doesn’t matter, that was 30 years ago, before the internet recorded high school stats.”
That self-deprecating humor, which earned roaring laughter from the grads — paired with a playful confession that he started writing his speech the night before it was due — is evidence of his ability to connect to people with his words. It’s a talent he’s spent decades sharpening, and one he skillfully wields to engage audiences and drive impact as a global entrepreneur and innovator.
He urges the grads to zero in on their unique “superpower” and relentlessly refine it. “Like a savings deposit, it will compound over time,” he explains, “providing a competitive edge in a world that rewards talent cultivated through discipline.”
Firas goes on to offer another vital piece of advice for the Class of 2025: respect the power of relationships. He attributes much of his success and happiness to the connections he’s built, emphasizing that genuine friendships often open unexpected doors.
“One of those relationships opened the door to one of the biggest professional opportunities of my career,” he says, referring to the enduring business partnership with his college roommate who introduced him to Tanzania, a place that would become profoundly meaningful to him.
Together, they co-founded AzamPay in 2016 and AzamPesa in 2022, two ventures aimed at reshaping digital commerce across East Africa. The name “Azam,” drawn from the Swahili word for “great” or “magnificent,” captures their bold vision: to revolutionize the region’s financial systems by bringing greater transparency and efficiency to everyday transactions. AzamPay acts as a payment gateway, allowing businesses to accept online payments and digitize their commercial transactions while AzamPesa functions as a mobile wallet, enabling seamless digital transactions.
“If you’re interested in building something new,” Firas says, “one key thing to remember is the world was just fine without you. Nobody cares until it really solves some issue that they weren’t able to solve.”
It’s clear his ventures are indeed solving a critical issue. While mobile money transformed East Africa’s payment landscape, over 95% of Tanzanian consumer transactions remain in cash. To shift this paradigm, Firas is building a comprehensive digital payment ecosystem that includes payment processing, mobile wallets, last-mile delivery, and e-commerce solutions. By directly addressing gaps in trust and efficiency, he aims to incentivize widespread adoption of digital payment, paving the way for a more accessible economy for all.
Firas says he couldn’t have imagined how things worked out for him, now a leading figure in the emerging markets fintech industry. “Maybe what they can become they can’t imagine yet,” he suggests.
If you’re interested in building something new, one key thing to remember is the world was just fine without you. Nobody cares until it really solves some issue that they weren’t able to solve.
Firas Ahmad ’95
He tells the grads not to be overly concerned with failure. “Failure is a given,” he assures them. “Focus on tenacity, grit, and perseverance. How you overcome obstacles is more important than the fact that you run into them.”
Firas encourages the students to embrace uncertainty and trust the process of self-discovery, even when the path forward isn’t immediately clear. “There are people who decided what they wanted to be in high school, and that’s fine for some. For a lot of other people, it’s hard to figure out what you’re both good at and passionate about. Having a passion without being good at it will get you nowhere,” he explains. “It takes time and trial and error to figure that out.”
Blending candid personal anecdotes and relatable professional insights, Firas offers the Class of 2025 a practical framework for navigating an increasingly complex landscape. “You all are graduating into an incredibly dynamic world that is dramatically changing technologically, politically, and demographically in unprecedented ways,” he emphasizes. “Every change brings an opportunity for all of you contemplating what to study in college, how to think about the world, and how to find your place in it.”
As the students remain rapt by Firas’ words, Commencement itself could well be a profound inflection point for them — a moment that fundamentally shifts their trajectory from student to graduate and invites them to reimagine the path ahead. For Firas, his own defining inflection point was coming to Flint Hill, a place that offered his family a transformative opportunity when resources were scarce.
The second of three boys born to Pakistani immigrants, Firas recalls a childhood marked by constant change and numerous moves. His path to Flint Hill was particularly winding, as he attended 12 schools before finally becoming a Husky. While his family lived in Syracuse, an unsettling incident involving a knife at his brother’s public school spurred his mother’s fierce determination to get her boys into private school. Once the family moved to Virginia, she identified Flint Hill as her boys’ new school community and boldly walked into the admission office, declaring, “I have two boys, Firas and Aasil; they are excellent students, look at their grades, you have to let them in.”
Firas flourished at Flint Hill, distinguishing himself as a student leader, a talented writer, and — if you ask him — a basketball standout (independent verification still in progress). He went on to Georgetown University, where, while preparing for the LSAT, he was matched by friends with a study buddy from George Washington University named Amina. Hard to say how the studying went since neither went off to law school; but they did go down the aisle. Amina pursued a Ph.D. and is now an accomplished filmmaker while Firas furthered his studies at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a Master’s in public policy focused on political and economic development. Together they’re raising their three children: Sulayman, Yousuf, and Zakariya.
Apparently, the grandeur of the ’95 championship basketball team comes up at home, too. Firas tells his kids he was known as the “Brown Mamba” (aka the Pakistani-American Kobe Bryant) on the Flint Hill basketball court, a “fact” he knows Google can neither confirm nor deny. Hardwood hero or not, his wisdom for the Class of 2025 resonates. It’s a wisdom derived from navigating his own complex path and one that offers the grads a unique compass as they step into their own uncharted futures.
