Esra'a Al Shafei

Esra'a Al Shafei
Illustrated avatar of Esra'a Al Shafei. It depicts a woman with long hair and glasses.
Avatar used by Al Shafei
Born (1986-07-23) 23 July 1986 (age 38)
NationalityBahraini
OrganizationMajal (Mideast Youth)
Websitemajal.org Edit this at Wikidata

Esra'a Al Shafei (Arabic: إسراء الشافعي, ’Asrā’ ash-Shāfa’ī, pronounced [ʔasraːʔ aʃːafaʔiː]; born 23 July 1986)[1] is a Bahraini civil rights activist, blogger, and the founder and executive director of Majal (Mideast Youth) and its related projects, including CrowdVoice.org.[2] Al Shafei is a senior TED Fellow,[3] an Echoing Green fellow,[4] and has been referred to by CNN reporter George Webster as "An outspoken defender of free speech".[5] She has been featured in Fast Company magazine as one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business."[6] In 2011, The Daily Beast listed Al Shafei as one of the 17 bravest bloggers worldwide.[7] She is also a promoter of music as a means of social change,[5] and founded Mideast Tunes, which is currently the largest platform for underground musicians in the Middle East and North Africa.[8]

Al Shafei is a recipient of the Berkman Award for Internet Innovation from Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School in 2008 for "outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society."[9] In 2012, she received a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellowship for her work on the open source platform CrowdVoice.org.[10] She is also the recipient of the Monaco Media Prize, which acknowledges innovative uses of media for the betterment of humanity.[11] In 2014, she was featured in Forbes magazine's "30 Under 30" list of social entrepreneurs making an impact in the world.[12] The World Economic Forum listed her as one of "15 Women Changing the World in 2015."[13] That same year, she won the "Most Courageous Media" Prize[14] from Free Press Unlimited. Al Shafei was selected as a 2017 Director's Fellow at the MIT Media Lab.[15] In 2018 she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.[16]

Al Shafei was a keynote speaker at Wikimania 2017. In December of the same year, she was appointed to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.[17] In January 2023, she was appointed to the board of The Tor Project.[18]

  1. ^ "Human Rights Tulip 2014 goes to Mideast Youth". Human Rights Tulip. 9 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Archiving the world, one protest at a time". 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  3. ^ "TED fellows directory". TEDGlobal 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Echoing Green fellows directory". Echoing Green 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  5. ^ a b George Webster (12 March 2010). "YouTube gives Bahraini youth window to world". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  6. ^ "the 100 most creative people in business in 2011". Archived from the original on 13 August 2017.
  7. ^ "World's Bravest Bloggers". Archived from the original on 18 November 2011.
  8. ^ Chalfoun, Romeo. "Mideast Tunes Hosts 1300 Underground Bands from the MENA". ArabNet. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  9. ^ Berkman Award for Internet Innovation for Mideast Youth in 2008 Archived 8 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ Shuttleworth Foundation Fellowship Archived 27 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ^ Andy Plesser (11 November 2011). "Bahraini Blogger Wins Monaco Media Prize". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  12. ^ William White (7 January 2014). "Who Topped the Forbes 30 Under 30 List?". InvestorPlace. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  13. ^ Parker, Ceri. "15 Women Changing the World in 2015". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  14. ^ Free Press Unlimited. "Bahraini journalist Esra'a Al Shafei wins' Most Courageous Media Award 2015". Archived from the original on 13 August 2017.
  15. ^ MIT Media Lab (30 May 2017). "Media Lab announces 2017 Director's Fellows". Archived from the original on 29 November 2017.
  16. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Esra'a Al Shafei joins Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees". Wikimedia Foundation. 1 December 2017. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  18. ^ Albert, Kendra (24 January 2023). "Announcing new board members". The Tor Project. Retrieved 25 January 2023.