University of the PACIFIC

November 15, 2010

Time: 10:00 - 11:30 AM

 Bechtel International Center 

University of the Pacific

**Brunch Served

Event is free of Charge and Open to the Community

 

 

Please RSVP at:

http://sakenayacoobi.eventbrite.com/

Please join the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Pacific's Women's Resource Center and Dr. Sakena Yacoobi (Pacific Alumna '77) for a vital discussion on the importance of investing in women worldwide.

Dr. Yacoobi is on a mission. Her goal is to bring education to Afghanistan, a country that has a 70 percent illiteracy rate. Her main focus is girls and women and she believes that only with education can the war torn country rebuild itself. Thus, she founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1995.

AIL is entirely managed by women and has served over 6.7 million Afghan women and girls through a network of 30 schools and is one of the largest employers of Afghan women, providing health care, education, and training based on the philosophy that "educated people, especially educated women and girls, are the key to a peaceful and prosperous future of Afghanistan." Its American project partner is Creating Hope International. Dr. Yacoobi is featured in Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl DuWunn's book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunities for Women Worldwide and is a Senior Ashoka Fellow and a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship among many other accolades

The discussion will be moderated by Corrie Martin, Director of Pacific's Women's Resource Center. Yacoobi will also receive the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship's Global Hero Award. This event is co-sponsored by Pacific's Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship and the Women's Resource Center.

The Global Heroes Lecture Series is the highest honor the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of the Pacific can bestow upon an individual. This program aims to recognize the "heroes" of social entrepreneurship or philanthropy who work tirelessly to combat inequality, injustice and poverty around the world. Global Heroes address large scale problems with ingenious solutions that are replicable, and sustainable.