Mehwish Niaz
2017 Fellow
Laureate Foundation
If Abraham Lincoln got his start by splitting rails, who knows where Mehwish Niaz might end up? What drafts her constitution? The spirit of volunteering and work in the social development sector, empowering young girl’s communities and educating them in life skills-based was the stage which motivated her to think beyond borders and initiate a platform for sharing best practices in youth volunteering. Her passion for transition in conventional youth empowerment practices reached its peak while she was working as the founding Director at her brainchild initiative, the Laureate Foundation. The Laureate Foundation was founded in order to provide a platform to harness and nurture young people through informed, innovative, and value-driven approaches for personal, community, and national development. In its most recent initiative, “Economic and Social Integration of the Youth,” the Laureate Foundation is giving young underprivileged women a chance to raise their economic status. With a vision of “jointly building a world of committed youth,” the Laureate Foundation empowers communities, particularly young women, to become the catalysts for transforming their social and economic spheres while becoming participatory, dedicated, and honest leaders who are contributing members of their society.