Where Leadership and Social Justice Begin
Advice from Women Who Lead
Martin Luther King once said, “Human progress isn’t inevitable, but requires the struggle and sacrifice of dedicated citizens.” That’s what I believe underpins leadership — what we do to empower others, and to create a more just world.
I grew up in Pakistan, at a time when violence was rising and civil rights were declining. I was born to parents of humble origin, who worked very hard to give me a good education. So, I was lucky that I was aware that most of the women around me weren’t as lucky. I learned very early on in life that the world as it’s structured today is fundamentally unjust. That’s where leadership and social justice begin — recognizing injustice.
In society, too often injustice is hidden under the guise of, well, it’s always been that way. Now, how many of us want to see immigration reform, equal pay for women, gun control? The polls would suggest most of us. But how many of us have gotten actively involved in one of these issues and decided to drive policy change? Any action is leadership.
Two years ago, I cofounded the Malala Fund with the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, and her father, to try and make the world a little bit better. We advocated for girls’ education and some of the hardest issues in the world: education for Syrian refugees; protection for girls in Northern Nigeria, terrorized by Boko Haram; free universal secondary schooling for all girls. These are very complex issues, but we believe that our voices and our actions can make a difference.
You see, we’re taught, and we come to believe, that we cannot change the world. Even when we’re angry, we think, where do we begin? But the truth is, there is nobody else. It’s just us. In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
