Safina Hussain is an Indian social worker and entrepreneur. She is considered to be the wife of famous film director Hansal Mehta. Safina Hussain is the founder of Educate Girls (EG), which focuses on reducing the gender gap prevalent in India.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Safina Hussain was born on Friday, 21 January 1971 (age 51 years; as in 2022) in Delhi, India. He completed his schooling from Delhi Public School, RK Puram, New Delhi. In 1995, he received a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). In 2012, Safina Hussain completed her Executive Education Program in Building a Global Enterprise in India from Harvard Business School (HBS). In 2015, Safina Hussain from Harvard Business School Executive Education completed her Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM) course.
Family
Guardian
His father’s name is Yusuf Bakshish Hussain. He was an actor and historian by profession.
Yusuf Bakshish Hussain, father of Safina Hussain
husband and children
Safina Hussain married famous film director Hansal Mehta on 22 May 2022 at Taj Campton Place, San Francisco, California.
Safina and Hansal holding their marriage certificate
Safina Hussain has two daughters. The name of the elder daughter is Kimaya.
Safina’s daughter Kimaya
Rihanna is the younger daughter.
Rihanna, Safina’s daughter
relationships/affairs
Before marriage, Safina Hussain was in a live-in relationship with Hansal Mehta for 17 years.
Safina Hussain with Hansal Mehta
livelihood
working in the united states
Safina Hussain lived in London for five years. After completing her graduation from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1995, Safina moved to San Francisco (Bay Area), where her degree in economics helped her get a job in Silicon Valley. Initially, he started working for an Internet-based startup that wanted to create a 3D web browser. However; After working there for nine months, the startup closed and Safina lost her job. Safina wanted to work for social causes from the beginning. In 1995, she was offered a job at Child Family Health International (CFHI). As an employee, Safina visited several South American and Asian countries such as Ecuador, Mexico, Bolivia, South Africa and India.
coming back to india
In 2007, after working for Child Family Health International, Safina Hussain decided to leave her job and come back to India to start her own organization. While working with CFHI, Safina realized the impact that such organizations can have on reducing the gender gap. In an interview, when Safina was asked about the reasons for establishing Educate Girls, she said,
I returned to India to pursue the agenda that is closest to my heart – girls’ education. From the beginning, I had a strong personal drive to bring about change in India’s education system, primarily because I found my way through education myself. The goat is an asset, the girl is a liability. Parents do not want to invest in their daughter’s education. Why should we send him to school? She will go to her husband’s house and start living. What does his learning mean?”
During the initial phase of establishment of Educate Girls; Safina had to struggle a lot. During an interview, Safina said,
They called us mad dogs, and slammed the door in our faces… All this was not even a surprise to us. We were strangers to the people we were trying to convince to challenge the status quo. There was not as much discussion about girls’ education at that time as there is today. But even now when we enter a new district, the root cause of resistance is the same – mentality.”
In 2007, Safina started her organization with only a few staff and volunteers. As of 2021, more than 9.5 lakh girls are enrolled in Educate Girls, in turn benefiting more than 11.5 million families. The organization also has more than 2,000 full-time employees, who are assisted by more than 15,000 community volunteers.
Safina Hussain soon came into limelight with her work. In 2019, Safina Hussain gave a speech about her journey, life experiences and vision of the future. The speech mesmerized the audience. The video of his speech uploaded by TEDx has received over 1.7 million views.
Safina Hussain giving her speech at TEDx
Later, in the same year, Safina Hussain was invited to a talk show titled TED Talks India: Nai Soch. The talk show was hosted by Shahrukh Khan and the show was aired on Star Plus.
TED Talks India: Safina Hussain with host Shahrukh Khan of Nai Soch
In 2021, Educate Girls signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Directorate of Women Empowerment, Government of Rajasthan.
MoU signed between Rajasthan Government and Educate Girls
When asked about her work experience with government departments, Safina said,
We will have to coordinate with the government. By identifying the government’s priority in certain areas and supporting them in achieving their desired goals, we will have a joint vision of success. If the data tells us that the gender gap is highest in a particular district, we will look for partnerships there and get permission to work from the government.”
In 2021, Safina’s non-profit organization partnered with Starbucks to promote Educate Girls (EG).
A Starbucks placard at Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi
In 2020, during the second wave of coronavirus in India, Educate Girls donated free ration and hygiene kits to poor families in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The relief material was distributed under the organisation’s Covid relief initiative. In 2021, Educate Girls launched the world’s first Development Impact Bond (DIB). DIB was recognized not only in India but also in various parts of the world. That same year, her organization was listed in the Top 100: Most Inspiring Kindergarten to 12th Academics.
Safina Hussain with village girls
Held important positions in various organizations
Apart from being the Director of Educate Girls, Safina Hussain is also an advisor to several social service organizations such as India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS), AdHeroes, Bharat EdTech Initiative, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and L’Oréal Paris. She also serves as a Quality Council Member of Dellberg, Community Leader of the Community Leader Impact Future Project – Education and is also one of the Directors on the Board of Directors of WorkX.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- In 2019, Safina Hussain was awarded the Beyond Business Award by the Economic Times.
Safina Hussain honored with ET Prime Women Leadership Award
- In 2017, Safina Hussain received NITI Aayog’s Women Transforming India Award.
Safina Hussain accepting NITI Aayog’s Women Transforming India
- In 2016, Safina Hussain was awarded NDTV-L’Oréal’s Women of Worth Award.
Safina Hussain holding the NDTV-L’Oreal Women of Worth Award
- In 2015, Safina Hussain was listed in the Top 100 list of the most influential global leaders empowering women around the world. This list was released by Empowering Billion Women.
- In 2015, Safina Hussain won the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. This award was presented to him by the Skoll Foundation.
Safina Hussain honored with Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship
- In 2015, Safina Hussain was awarded the Qatar Foundation’s WISE Award.
Safina Hussain at the World Innovation Summit for Education
- In 2014, Safina Hussain was presented with the Stars Impact Award by the Stars Foundation.
President Bill Clinton with Safina after the presentation of the Stars Impact Award
- In 2014, Safina Hussain was awarded the USAID Millennium Alliance Award. The award was presented by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Safina Hussain during the USAID Millennium Award presentation
- In 2013, Safina Hussain was selected as a Rainer Arnold Fellow.
- In 2012, Safina Hussain was selected as the Women Change Maker India Fellow by the Womanity Foundation from Geneva, Switzerland.
- In 2011, Safina Hussain was awarded the Edelgive Social Innovation Honors Award by the Edelgive Foundation.
- In 2011, Safina Hussain won the India Development Market competition organized by the United Nations.
- In 2010, Safina Hussain was the winner of the Dasara Village Capital Award.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Safina Hussain refers to the female volunteers working at Educate Girls as girl volunteers.
A girl volunteer from Educate Girls
- Safina Hussain’s parents separated when she was very young. While living with her mother, Safina often faced abuse from her stepfather, as a result of which, she ran away to an ashram. Safina said in an interview,
I felt like I was in a thousand pieces. Instead of going to college, I ran away to an ashram. I started living on the banks of the Ganga and started reading various types of religious scriptures.”
- Safina Hussain considers her husband and father as her role models. In an interview he said,
For me, I consider only two people who are also my role models for equality, that is my father and my husband. They’re both very good cooks, which means I never had to learn to cook. My view of equality is their view, and so both my father and my husband have shaped my worldview. He is my idol in a way.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn