Malala Yousafzai

MALALA YOUSAFZAI was enrolled in her father’s school at the age of four. It was in the hallways of her father’s school that Malala found her voice and her vision. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, is a Pakistani educator, activist, and humanitarian who established a thriving school in their rural home in Swat Valley. Inspired by her father’s activism, Malala began her campaign for girls’ education at age 11 with her anonymous blog for the BBC, Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl. She would join her father on his visits to neighboring villages to recruit for the school. Their crusade was the subject of a New York Times short documentary in 2009. Independently, Malala began attracting international media attention and awards. Due to her increased prominence, at age 15 she was attacked by the Taliban for speaking out. In 2013, she founded Malala Fund with her father. A year later, Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her efforts to see every girl complete 12 years of free, safe, quality education. Since then the UN recognized July 12 as Malala Day in honor of young activists, and she recently completed her undergraduate degree at Oxford University. Malala is the author of three books, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Malala’s Magic Pencil and We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World. In 2021, Malala started a partnership with Apple to create programming for Apple TV+. Malala used to be known as her father’s daughter, but now Ziauddin is known as his daughter’s father – and he is proud to have it that way. @malala @malalafund