Verista Inc. traces its history to 2007, when Baraka Foundation was created to raise awareness and conduct fundraising for girls’ education in Afghanistan.

After incorporation as a nonprofit in 2012, Baraka Foundation sponsored presentations of Beyond the Mountains, a photography exhibit aimed at giving Americans the sense of walking among ordinary Afghans.

Renamed Verista in 2015, the organization acted as a fiscal sponsor for the Herb Bus, a free clinic and mobile classroom based in Atlanta,  and investigative reporting projects in Pakistan that seek out multiple perspectives.

In 2019, the organization expanded its purpose to support all forms of freedom of expression. This has included the development of a studio for kilnformed glass in Decatur, GA.

In 2021, Verista returned to Afghanistan to aid journalists both in and out of the country.