Presented by Saba Ismail, Co-founder, Aware Girls
Sponsored by Girls Thinking Global and Women’s Education Project

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In this edWebinar Saba Ismail shares her personal story of co-founding Aware Girls— a young-women-led organization that is actively working to empower women and girls in Pakistan—at the age of 15 in the North West of Pakistan, an area hit by religious extremism and militancy. She also shares examples and stories of girls whose lives have been transformed because of her work, who stood up for their rights, took actions against violence against women and have claimed their basic rights.

Saba discusses leadership models and advocacy strategies that Aware Girls have developed to enable women and girls to be the agents of change, such as 10 women from remote and rural areas who ran and won local elections after participating in their political leadership training programs. She also talks about the challenges that she has faced as a young woman leader.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for her work in female education when she was just 15, attended the group in 2011. Learn about successful young women leadership models and advocacy strategies and how they can apply those models in their own work and organization. They will also learn why the world needs more women leaders.

About the Presenter 

Saba Ismail co-founded Aware Girls when she was 15 years old. She supports the idea of strengthening girls’ voices for bringing prosperity in her community. She firmly believes that change has to come through the younger generation. She completed her Masters in Biotechnology from COMSATS University AbbotAbad, completed a Hurford Youth Fellowship with the National Endowment for Democracy in 2013, and has had the honor of speaking at George Mason University in Washington, DC and the University of Maryland. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Program USA. Her bravery and activism was acknowledged by Foreign Policy Magazine by awarding her as one among 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2013. She is also on the Steering Committee of UNOY and represents Asia in the World Youth Movement for Democracy. Saba has done research on the “Role of Young women in Emerging Democracies.” She is the co-founder of South Asian Regional Feminists Forum on Women’s Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. She has worked as Youth Ambassador for Asia Pacific Youth Network (APYN: 20120-2013). She joined Aware Girls as Executive Director in September, 2011.

Join the Girls Thinking Global community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, view past edWebinars, take a quiz to receive a CE certificate for a past edWebinar, and access free resources.

Girls Thinking Global (GTG) is a global community of organizations serving girls and young women by leveraging technology to create a collaborative space that connects best practices, knowledge, and expertise.

Women’s Education Project (WEP) Centers provide resources for young women from families living on less than $1.50 a day to graduate from college and begin a career. Within this supportive community, WEP students receive funds for college tuition, books and transportation, study in the library and computer lab and attend the I am a Leader program.