Mahreen Kashif Ghayas

I think it's kind of a cliche, but people really do need to, especially women and girls, chase their dreams. They should feel fearless. They should chase their dreams without fear of failure, because I think our failures shape our future successes. I come from a space where a lot of women very easily fall prey to discouragement, so if my story is able to touch and reach those womenfolk who've made it after having faced severe adversities, I think it's going to inspire them. I went to a girls' college that was controlled by the military - the curriculum, the teachers, the practices, everything was so staunchly controlled. I felt this nudge and the feeling of suffocation, and I don't wish any girl to face that. I never wish any woman to face that suffocation, because education is about liberation, it's about freedom, it's about exploring yourself and the world. Education cannot be about control. That's what really led me to continue on a path to self discovery, and helping other women accellerate in life and career.

I think enhancing teaching practices is what I'm really passionate about, and it's much needed because we're heading towards excessive digitalization and artificial intelligence. How can children of tomorrow not be familiar with it, whether they're located in urban schools or rural schools? Just last year, we ended up training about 100 teachers across Texas for STEM, and these STEM-related trainings are further improving the application of STEM in different schools here in the United States. This is the future, and ensuring that all children have access to this knowledge regardless of their location is critical.

The spirit of sharing. If we can train ourselves and our generation to learn to share - sharing time with children and elders, happiness with family and friends, give back monetarily and in-kind - start small, yet think in terms of being a part of a tolerant global community - this world would be a better place. I learned these lessons from the works of my Late grandmother, Begum Rabiya Aziz Siddiqui, a nationally-recognized social worker of her time. Later, my mother became instrumental in guiding my path to social work and community engagement. Even in times of a turbulent sociopolitical environment, both my parents supported my dream to help rural children go to school. Today, that dream and my work have transformed into formal research-backed strategic engagement, leading to considerable impact across the U.S.