Zainab Salbi

Zainab Salbi
Zainab Salbi (2013)
Born	September 24, 1969 (1969-09-24) (age 54) Baghdad, Iraq
Alma mater	George Mason University London School of Economics
Occupation(s)	Author, media host, and founder of Women for Women International
Spouse	Amjad Atallah (1993) divorced (2007)
Website	www.zainabsalbi.com

Zainab Salbi (Arabic: زينب سلبي) is an Iraqi American women's rights activist and writer. She is the founder of Women for Women International and host of Through Her Eyes with Yahoo News and #Me Too, Now What?, an original series on PBS.

Early years

Salbi was born in 1969 in Baghdad, Iraq. Her life was impacted by the Iran-Iraq war. Her father was the former personal pilot of Saddam Hussein as well as head of the Iraqi civil aviation. Experiencing psychological abuse from Hussein, Salbi's family sent her out through an arranged marriage to an older Iraqi American living in the US when she was 19 years old. The marriage was abusive and shed escape three months after, but did not return to Iraq due to the First Gulf War in 1990.

Salbi's experience with war sensitized her to the plight of women in war worldwide. When she learned of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a few years after her arrival to the US, she decided to act by founding Women for Women International with her second husband Amjad Atallah. Salbi was 23 years old at the time and the group started by assisting 33 Croatian and Bosnian women in 1993.

Education

Salbi graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor of Individualized Study degree in Sociology and Women's Studies and from London School of Economics with master's degree in development studies.

Career

Under Salbi's leadership as Women for Women International's CEO (1993-2011), the organization, humanitarian, and development efforts has helped more than 478,000 women in eight conflict areas and distributed more than $120 million in direct aid and micro credit loans.

Salbi has written and spoken on the use of rape and other forms of violence against women during war. Her work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1995, President Bill Clinton honored Salbi at the White House for her humanitarian work in Bosnia. She was also identified as one of the 100 most influential women in the world in Time Magazine and The Guardian.

Salbi announced her resignation from Women for Women International in 2011 to explore the “world of inspiration” through the media sector.

She was selected as a jury member of The Hilton Humanitarian Prize. Salbi sits on the Board of Directors of Synergos and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP).

Media work

In 2015, Salbi launched a talk show with TLC Arabia called The Nidaa Show. The show airs across 22 countries in the Arab World, and focuses on the acknowledgment of Arab and Muslim women. It started it with the first interview of Oprah Winfrey in the Arab world. Salbi was identified as #1 Most Influential Arab Women by Arabian Business, one of the 100 Global Thinkers in the World by Foreign Policy Magazine and Oprah identified her as one of 25 women changing the world to People Magazine.  

Salbi then launched The Zainab Salbi Project, an original series with Huffington Post (2016); #MeToo, Now What? with PBS (2018); and Through Her Eyes with Zainab Salbi, an original series with Yahoo! News (2019).

Awards

• Honored by President Clinton at a White House ceremony for her humanitarian work (1995)
• Time magazine Innovator of the Month for her pioneering work as philanthropist
• Forbes Magazine Trailblazer Award (2005)
• World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader (2007)
• David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2010)
• Austin College Posey Leadership Award (2011)
• Visionary Leadership Award - International Festival Of Arts and Ideas (2011)
• One of the Most Influential Women on Twitter, Fortune Magazine (2014)
• Honorary doctoral degree from York University (2014)
• One of the Most Influential Women on Social Media, Wear Your Voice (2015)
• One of the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women, Arabian Business (2015)
• One of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers, Foreign Policy Magazine (2016)
• One of 25 Women Changing The World, People Magazine (2016)
• One of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for being a voice of change in the Middle East, Fast Company (2016)
• One of the World's 100 Most Powerful Arab Women, Arabian Business (2016)
• George Mason University, Honorary Doctorate (2019)
• Glasgow University, Honorary Doctorate (2019)
• Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Award - Champion for Women Survivors and Inspirational Global Journalist (2019)
• One of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, Watkins (2019)
• One of the 100 Most Powerful Arabs, Gulf Business (2019)

Books

• Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, 2005, ISBN 9781592401567, OCLC 948315384
• Hidden in plain sight : growing up in the shadow of Saddam, London : Vision, 2006. ISBN 9781904132974, OCLC 768470387
• The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival & Hope Washington, D.C : National Geographic, 2006. ISBN 9780792262114, OCLC 150261088
• If You Knew Me You Would Care New York : PowerHouse, 2012. ISBN 9781576876190, OCLC 920738001
• Freedom Is an Inside Job: Owning Our Darkness and Our Light to Heal Ourselves and the World, Sounds True, Incorporated, 2018. ISBN 9781683641773, OCLC 1077718721

External links

Official website