Women We Admire

Coinciding with International Women’s Day this month, we chose to highlight admirable women whose hard work and finesse made them who they are today. These are women from all walks of life and many regions yet they all share the same quality: They are all trailblazing individuals who despite inequality and prejudice that women systematically face were able to persevere and be the strong and powerful women that we admire…

 

Azza Fahmy

As iconic as her jewelry brand has become, Azza Fahmy remains among the top Egyptian pioneers in jewelry design, with international success that confirms her eminence. We have never encountered designs that bold and innovative nor gorgeous details with such intricacy in the local jewelry markets till she showed up. What is more admirable is that she did all that while staying true to her Egyptian heritage. When she started she was the first woman to apprentice in the all male jewelry workshops in Egypt. To give back, Fahmy recently has established the Azza Fahmy Design Studio to educate and empower up and coming jewelry designers.

 

Nour El Sherbini

Can you imagine at thirteen being the youngest world champion in the history of squash and then years later becoming the youngest woman to win the Women’s World Championship? Nour can! Not only that, but she reclaimed her number 1 title by winning the Women’s World Championship in Gouna last year. The current number one is a woman who was born to break records and produce evidence that the sky is the limit for any woman who is driven with passion and commitment.

 

Huda Kattan

With over 24 million Instagram followers and more than 2.2 million YouTube subscribers, the American beauty entrepreneur aimed higher than anyone could anticipate. Like thousands of other bloggers, Kattan could have settled for being a social media influencer and blogger. However Kattan went on to create her own cosmetics line, Huda Beauty. Based in Dubai, her make up line is now sold world wide and sought after by millions, often selling out as soon as it hits the stores.

 

Ahed Tamimi

Living under occupation is no easy feat for almost all Palestinians. That includes 17 year old Ahed El Tamimi who lives in the occupied West Bank territories. She is known for her courage for standing up to Israeli authorities time and time again. Not one to shy away from conflict, she dives in, with no fear for her life, if it means standing up for what she believes in. Despite being a minor, she we was tried in military court and is currently held in jail. Since then, she has become one of the newest faces representing Palestinian resistance of the Israeli military occupation and many rallies all around the world in major cities have called and petitioned for her release.

 

Sherine Reda

While she spent many years out of the limelight, Sherine has in recent years shed her former naïve girl persona that many of her roles pinned her to. Formerly refered to as mega Star Amr Diab’s ex-wife, Sherine is back and better than ever. The fierce actress still dazzles but with her strong character and not just her sultry looks. Love her or hate her, the outspoken actress is not one to mince words and always speaks her mind. This is so refreshing in the entertainment scene where many try to please and conform in order to be liked by everyone. In her new film, Photocopy, she plays an old widow battling breast cancer, and in doing so, challenges the yardstick of female representation in the world of Egyptian cinema by providing the audience with more than just a pretty face.

 

Ghada Wali

In a field dominated by men, graphic designer Ghada Wali stands out. Apart from being the youngest female speaker representing MENA region at TED Global, her Arabic font family was chosen among the top hundred graphic design pieces in the world by the Society of Typographic Arts in Chicago! The multi-award winning graphic designer is also featured in the Arts & Immigrants category of Forbes Europe’s List 2017, making her the first Egyptian woman to ever to appear in that category. Wali is not merely a role model for success, she makes it her business to make a bigger difference in the world and represent the Egyptian Women Council empowerment campaign.

 

Farida Osman

Farida Osman is not only the fastest female swimmer in Egypt and Africa, but she holds the top national records for butterfly, freestyle and backstroke swimming. The competitive swimmer who breaks her own records went down in history as the first Egyptian to win a medal at the FINA World Championships. The 23 year old was also awarded last year best Female African Athlete of the Year. Talk about such exceptional personal talent evolving into something as big as international success.

 

Natalie Portman

What many people don’t know about the multi-award winning actress is that she is a Harvard graduate with a BA in psychology, a member of the One Voice movement that aims to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a long-time environmental activist. Let’s toast to a Hollywood actress with top-level accomplishment! We also want to applaud Portman for being vulnerable and sharing her experience with sexual abuse at the Women’s March in LA this year to encourage more women to speak up about their abuses.

 

Nina L. Shaw & Tina Tchen

Famous lawyers Nina L. Shaw and Tina Tchen have chosen to offer their professional expertise and become frontrunner founders of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which is aimed to provide legal funds for women who’ve dealt with sexual harassment/assault in the workplace but can’t really afford to press charges against their offenders. They’ve raised a considerable amount of at least 16 million dollars in January alone! Not only that, but they are actively aiming to reach low-income workers through their relevant organizations and they already have many requests for their services piling up.

 

Camila Cabello

Having her solo career as a singer kick off after leaving the popular girl band Fifth Harmony, Cabello took a sizable risk but it definitely paid off. Some would be surprised to find out that she’s only 20, given how mature she holds herself. Her hit single Havana reached number 1 in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States when it came out. Despite her young age, she dedicates her effort to humanitarian causes. She has partnered with the Children’s Health Fund that provides healthcare to low-income families and with Save the Children to design a “Love Only” T-shirt to help “raise awareness of issues involving girls’ equal access to education, health care and opportunities to succeed”. She also collaborated with a number of Latin artist to provide for victims of the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico with the song Almost Like Praying.

 

By Sarah Guirguis