Born in Ghazni, Afghanistan, Shekeba Ahmadi believes education creates gender equality, particularly in societies with limited opportunities for women and girls. When she was only a few months old, Shekeba and her family moved to Pakistan to escape turmoil in Afghanistan. While in Pakistan, Shekeba fought to remain in school, becoming the first child in her family of five siblings and 27 cousins to graduate from secondary school. After graduating from Asian University for Women, she became a mentor for Education Cell, providing free English, Math, IT and leadership training to women and girls living in poverty in urban slums. As president of the Women Across Borders Club, she conducted awareness workshops for 200 orphans and helped provide education to children in slum regions of Chittagong, Bangladesh. After completing an internship at the Milken Institute’s Singapore office, Shekeba became the program coordinator for the female-founded Women for Justice Organisation (WJO) Afghanistan. In this role, she supports the legal team in their investigations of crimes against women, including the case presentation before domestic and international courts, dispute-resolution committees, and the UN Special Procedures. Shekeba’s ultimate dream is to become CEO of Amnesty International.
