Malala Fund

We are the Malala Fund, and our work is dedicated to a simple but powerful idea: every girl has the right to an education. Our mission is to fight for a world where all girls can receive twelve years of free, safe, and quality schooling. While our goal is global, our story began with the journey of one young girl in Pakistan who dared to speak up for her own right to learn.

Our co-founder, Malala Yousafzai, grew up in a place where access to education for girls was threatened. She believed deeply in the power of learning and began to speak out publicly about her desire to stay in school. Her courage was met with violence when she was attacked for her activism. This event, however, did not silence her. Instead, it made her voice, and the voices of girls like her, echo even more loudly across the world. The attack brought global attention to the dangers that many girls face just for wanting to go to school.

Inspired by this new platform and determined to turn a personal struggle into a global movement, Malala and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, established our organization. We officially began our work on July 12th, 2013. From that day forward, our purpose has been clear. We work to dismantle the barriers that prevent more than 130 million girls from attending school. Our ultimate goal is to create a future where every girl has the opportunity not only to learn in a classroom but also to grow into a leader who can shape her own life and community.

To achieve this ambitious goal, we developed a strategy with three main parts that work together to create lasting change. The first part of our work is advocacy. This means we engage directly with people in positions of power, including world leaders, governments, and international institutions. We present them with research and stories that show why investing in girls’ education is one of the best ways to build healthier, more prosperous societies. We push them to make girls' education a central part of their policies and to dedicate the necessary funding to make it a reality for everyone, not just a select few.

Our second area of work focuses on supporting change from the ground up through our Education Champion Network. We know that the people who best understand the challenges in a community are the ones living there. That is why we find and support local educators and activists who are already doing incredible work. In countries from Afghanistan and Brazil to India and Nigeria, these champions are creating innovative solutions tailored to their local contexts. We provide them with resources to expand their projects, connect them with each other to share knowledge, and help elevate their work to a national and global stage.

Finally, the third pillar of our strategy is to amplify girls' voices. This is at the very heart of our mission and connects directly back to our origins. We believe that the world needs to hear directly from the girls who are most affected by the education crisis. We create platforms for them to share their experiences, challenges, and dreams. By sharing their stories through articles, films, and events, we help policymakers and the public understand the human reality behind the statistics. This approach not only raises awareness but also empowers girls to become advocates for their own futures, reminding the world that they are not just victims of circumstance but powerful agents of change.

Since our founding, we have seen the positive results of this multi-part strategy. Our advocacy has helped influence laws and policies in several countries, leading to greater protections and more funding for girls' education. Through our network, we have invested millions of dollars in local education initiatives that are run by and for their own communities. These programs have helped thousands of girls gain access to school, learn valuable skills, and build confidence in their own abilities. These successes show that progress is possible when we combine high-level policy change with grassroots action.

Despite this progress, we know that our work is far from over. Significant obstacles still stand in the way of universal education for girls. Millions of girls remain out of school, their potential limited by circumstances beyond their control. Poverty is a major barrier, forcing families to make difficult choices where girls may be expected to work or marry early instead of attending school. In many regions, war and conflict have destroyed schools and made the journey to a classroom dangerously unsafe. Furthermore, deep-rooted discrimination and social norms often lead to the belief that educating a girl is less valuable than educating a boy.

We continue to fight these complex and interconnected barriers every single day. Our commitment is stronger than ever because we know what is at stake. An educated girl is more likely to be healthier, earn a higher income, and build a better future for herself and her family. When all girls are educated, entire communities and countries benefit. Our goal remains the same as it was on the day we were founded: to help create a future where every girl is free to choose her own path. We work toward a world where the classroom is a safe and welcoming place for all, and where every girl can learn, lead, and build a more equal world for everyone.