Our board

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist, student, UN Messenger of Peace and the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As co-founder, she is building a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear.

Akhter is a former Chief Auditor of Unilever where he held many other high-level roles in Pakistan, the U.K., Latin America, South East Asia and elsewhere. He is Deputy Chairman and Audit Committee Chair of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Trust, Non-Executive Director of CABI and on the Board of DIL Trust U.K. and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as a Non-Executive Director.

Fayeeza is the co-founder and chairman of the Aman Foundation, a private philanthropic trust addressing health and education needs for the underserved in Pakistan. She also served as a Trustee of the British Asian Trust and as a founding member of the Advisory Board of the LSE South Asia Centre.

Lynn is a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company, where she co-founded the global philanthropy practice. She helps leading philanthropists, foundations and corporations design innovative approaches to address social challenges, and most recently worked with President Obama to design and launch the Obama Foundation. Lynn is also on the board of water.org.

Modupe is Managing Director of The Education Partnership Centre and Programme Director of LEARNigeria. She advises education sector policymakers and trains public officials and development organisations on strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation. She also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Brookings Institution Center for Universal Education’s Millions Learning Programme and is an Advisory Board Member of the People’s Action for Learning Network in Kenya.

Pearl is the Director for Governance and Sustainability at Sahara Group Limited in Nigeria. As a qualified solicitor and member of the Law Society of England and Wales, Pearl previously worked on Sahara Group’s legal team. Pearl has also worked with donor country governments like the U.K., France and South Africa and private nonprofits like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.

Vanessa Nakate is a climate justice activist from Uganda and founder of the Africa-based Rise Up Movement. She began striking for the climate in her home town of Kampala in January 2019, after witnessing droughts and flooding devastating communities in Uganda. She now campaigns internationally to highlight the impacts of climate change already playing out in Africa.

Ziauddin Yousafzai is an activist and educator. He is the father of Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai. Ziauddin served as a teacher and school administrator in his home country of Pakistan. As co-founder of Malala Fund, he advocates for every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education.

Susan is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Austria and, through The Susan R. McCaw Foundation, is an advocate for education and economic development in the developing world. She is a trustee emeritus of Stanford University and serves on Khan Academy’s Global Advisory Board as well as on the board of other non-profit organisations.