Esra'a Al Shafei

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2009

Esra'a Al Shafei

Mideast Youth

Sanad, Bahrain

Civil and Human Rights

The Bold Idea:

The Bold Idea: Connect youth from the Middle East and North Africa online to promote human rights, religious freedom, tolerance, and free speech.

Ethnic, secular, and tribal identities remain very strong in the Mideast region and continue to dominate political divisions. Government-controlled media perpetuates oppression and curtails freedom of speech. When access to knowledge is lacking, people are more vulnerable to manipulation.

Mideast Youth provides the only creative space for youth to freely express themselves, and exchange information, experiences, views, and opinions, visibly involving various minorities who have been persecuted, censored, and violently discriminated against for decades.

Biography:

Esra’a Al Shafei is a digital native whose work grew out of her experience of the power of the web to bring diverse people together. She is the recipient of the "Best New Intellectual Entrepreneurship Project" Award for Promoting Liberty from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the “Berkman Award” from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School for "outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society over the last decade" and is a 2009 TEDGlobal Fellow.

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
I realized that despite so many tools and opportunities that allow us in the Middle East to communicate with one another, to be aware of each other's issues and concerns, and to fight for our future, very few people were actually putting these opportunities and technologies to use. I witnessed so many crimes taking place around us, discriminated minorities censored and isolated, people killed or imprisoned merely for expressing controversial opinions, and young people were becoming increasingly hopeless because of this. That had to change. I wanted to help redefine how people in the Middle East use the internet by creating the most diverse and innovative platform for dialogue and activism in the region.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
The internet empowered me to do so much for my region. I am consistently amazed by how much it has enabled me to do with this limitless power.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
We create applications, dynamic platforms, videos, podcasts, animations, comics, mobile tools, widgets, maps, interactive timelines, and many creative sources of new media in order to effectively reach out to our target audiences and create positive social change towards freedom of speech and human rights, specifically for ethnic and religious minorities that are historically discriminated against.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?
Courage and consistency. Don't treat risks as barriers, take those risks and then turn them into strengths. No one in this world knows you well enough to claim that you can't achieve your dream.

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?
Middle Eastern trance music (remixes of traditional music by Iranian and Arab DJs).

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?

• Technology Matters: Questions to Live With--David E. Nye
• Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do--B.J. Fog.

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?

• mashable.com
• techcrunch.com
• twitter.com

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
The only way to ensure that your rights will be fought for is if you spend all your efforts fighting for other people's rights, not your own.