KIND Team

Hafsat Abiola

Hafsat Abiola is a young activist who works to promote women, youth, and democracy in Nigeria, her home country, and around the world. She is a founding member of several initiatives including Global Youth Connect, Youth Employment Campaign, and Vital Voices: Women in Democracy. She is a member of the World Wisdom Council and the World Future Council. Hafsat is the author of many articles published in international and national media, and assistant editor of Imagining Ourselves, an international anthology of women, that will be published in 2006.

Hafsat is also the Executive Director of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, KIND, an NGO that seeks to empower democracy and development in Nigeria by strengthening organizations and creating initiatives that advance women. KIND’s main programme is Kudra, a programme that offers leadership training to 750 young women across Nigeria each year.

 In recognition of her work, Hafsat was selected as a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2001 and as an Ashoka Fellow in 2003, and received awards from the State of the World Forum, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and the National Association of Nigerian Students. She sits on several boards including Educate Girls Globally, Women’s Learning Partnership, Youth Employment Campaign, and Institute of Noetic Sciences. Hafsat graduated from Harvard College in 1996 and received an honorary doctorate degree from Haverford College in 2003.