10 Facts About Sakena Yacoobi

Sakena Yacoobi is an Afghan activist known for her work for promoting access to education for women and children.

Sakena Yacoobi is the founder and executive director of the women-led NGO Afghan Institute of Learning.

Sakena Yacoobi worked as a professor and health consultant in Grosse Pointe, Michigan before returning to Afghanistan in 1990.

In 1995, Sakena Yacoobi established the Afghan Institute of Learning in order to provide teacher training to Afghan women, in addition to supporting children's access to education and providing health education to families.

In 2001, Sakena Yacoobi was awarded the Bill Graham Award from the Rex Foundation in recognition of the Institute's efforts to assist child victims of political oppression and human rights violations.

In 2006, Sakena Yacoobi received the Citizen Leader Award from the University of the Pacific, in addition to the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Sakena Yacoobi received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Pacific and the Gleitsman International Activist Award from Harvard University.

Sakena Yacoobi was granted the Henry R Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership in 2009, and the following year received the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights alongside the Asia Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Schwab Foundation.

Nationally, Sakena Yacoobi has received service awards from the Ministry of Education in Herat, in addition to the district governments of Mir Bacha Kot, Shakardara, Kalakan, and Kabul.

Sakena Yacoobi was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2017.