SMU junior Jonathon Lester walks past a large poster placed on the south side of the Umphrey Lee building this week for the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s “Building Afghanistan’s Future (TAYLOR HENRY/The Daily Campus)

Afghan women, business representatives and former First Lady Laura Bush spoke to students and the Dallas community Thursday as part of an exclusive three-session series by the George W. Bush Presidential Center to discuss economic development, education and the empowerment of women in Afghanistan.

Fatema and Shahla Akbari, a mother and daughter from Afghanistan, shared their experiences of being female businesswomen in a country that didn’t allow women to be formally educated until this past decade.

The Akbaris emphasized the importance of education in the effort to improve the social standing of women in Afghanistan.

The director of public relations at Kate Spade New York discussed how the brand is working with women such as the Akbaris to improve the economic and social status of women in countries such as Afghanistan, where it has been a long-taught tradition to keep women outside of professional affairs.

Dina Habib Powell, president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, was also present to discuss the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women project, which works toward the empowerment of women through education in business strategy, finance and economics.