Yassmin Abdel-Magied

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is an Australian mechanical engineer, author, political commentator and youth advocate. She is the founder of Youth Without Borders,[1] an organisation that aims to empower young people to work together for positive change within their communities. Abdel-Magied was awarded the 2007 Young Australian Muslim of the Year, the 2010 Young Queenslander of the Year and the 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year.[2]

Abdel-Magied made a media appearances in writing, television and radio. She wrote for Motorsport M8,[3] The Age Comment section[4] and her blog, Redefining The Narrative.[5] She appeared on Triple J’s Hack, Clementine Ford’s podcast, The Misandry Hour[6] and Q&A. Abdel-Magied gave a Tedx Talk[7] that has been viewed upwards of 3.9 million times. In 2016 she released a memoir, Yassmin’s Story - Who do you think I am?, in which she describes growing up migrant and Muslim in Australia post-9/11.[8]

Education

After attending the Islamic College of Brisbane for primary school, Abdel-Magied moved to John Paul College (Brisbane) for secondary school in 2003. In her memoir, Abdel-Magied stated that her father chose John Paul College "following the principal's positive response to my request to wear the hijab. Unlike other schools, which took weeks to send lukewarm responses to the idea of altering the uniform to fit my requirements, JPC quickly got back to say they were happy for me to wear a hijab as long as it was in school colours".[9] In her final year, she was elected as Senior School Vice Captain and graduated first in her class.

Abdel-Magied obtained her Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from the University of Queensland in 2011, receiving First Class Honours.

Youth Without Borders

At age 16, while attending the Asia Pacific Cities Summit youth forum, Abdel-Magied had the impression that similar groups were disinclined to work together and share resources. In response, Abdel-Magied founded Youth Without Borders (YWB), an organisation focused on enabling young people to work together for positive change within their communities.[9] YWB's first project was to catalyse the development of a mobile library in Kamar Buku, Indonesia (The Book Room, in Bahasa). The program expanded to three cities. YWB was involved in the following projects:

  • Hijabs and Shinpads – teach soccer to Muslim girls in Brisbane.
  • One Moon – help send sanitary products overseas to women in East Africa
  • One Hope – fundraising for the Haiti earthquake
  • Masterchef Meets the Streets – cross-cultural awareness program
  • Spark Engineering Camp – opportunity for high school students of non-traditional backgrounds to experience university life

Writing

In 2016 Abdel-Magied released her memoir, Yassmin’s Story to critical acclaim. She also wrote for the Formula One website and Motorsport M8 as a correspondent. Additionally, Abdel-Magied wrote commentary for The Age and Junkee and continues to write her own blog, Redefining the Narrative.

Personal life

Abdel-Magied’s full name is Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Salam, Abdel-Magied, Hassan Bey Abdel-Moneim. She was born in Khartoum in 1991. Abdel-Magied’s mother is an architect with part Egyptian, part Sudanese heritage. Her father is an engineer of Egyptian descent. Abdel-Magied has one younger brother, a mechanical engineer with an interest in aerospace.

Awards

  • 2015: Young Queenslander of the Year[9]
  • 2015: Distinguished Young Alumni of the Year, University of Queensland[10]
  • 2015: Top 100 Most Influential Engineers, Engineers Australia[11]
  • 2015: Instyle Women of Style, Charity & Community Award[12]
  • 2013: Finalist for Cosmopolitan's 'Fun Fearless Female' Awards, Cosmopolitan[13]
  • 2012: Overall 'Outstanding Alumnus', John Paul College[14]
  • 2012: ‘Young Leader’, The Australian Financial Review and Westpac's inaugural 100 Women of Influence Awards[15]
  • 2012: International Winner for IMechE's (Institute of Mechanical Engineers) 'Speak Out for Engineering'[9]
  • 2010: Young Queenslander of the Year[9]
  • 2008: Quest YoungStar Overall Community Winner[citation needed]
  • 2007: Young Australian Muslim of the Year[2]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ [1], AFR Retrieved 9 April 2016.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Yassmin_Abdel-Magied&oldid=723076672"