Malala Yousafzai, often referred to mononymously as “Malala,” is a social activist and founder of the Malala Fund. She began her activism aged 11, blogging anonymously about life under Taliban rule in Pakistan—particularly the ban on girls’ education. She began advocating publicly, and was consequently shot in the head by a member of the fundamentalist organisation. After a rehabilitation period in the UK, she published an autobiography, I Am Malala, in 2013, which became an international bestseller, and founded the non-profit organisation, MalalaFund, with her educator father, Ziauddin Yousafzai. The fund invests in local educators,advocates for girls to receive secondary education, and seeks to amplify their voices.
At the age of 17, Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work for education and equality. In 2020, she graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.