---

My husband John and I discovered this / very deep connection / to Malala’s cause for women’s education / spurred on / by the arrival of our two daughters. // She and her extraordinary father / agreed to meet with us in London. // It’s a train ride away / from where they now live in Birmingham / in England. // So, Malala / is the name / of a 19th century Afghan freedom fighter. // It’s a soft sounding name / that certainly packs a punch / and how appropriate for the person who bears it. // The most / compassionate / of hearts, but courage and will / of steel. // Her name / is sort of seared / into our memories when news broke of the 15-year-old girl / who was shot in the head by the Taliban / on her school bus / after hearing the demand, / ‘Which one is Malala?’ // And we wanted to know the same, / who was she. // This girl shot in the head / for championing girls’ education. / Who was she? // She along with her friends on that bus / was determined / to continue her education / no matter the threat. // And as schools were bombed / and houses were raided, / and teachers were killed. // She was unbowed / and untethered / by the intolerable limitations / that were placed on her freedom / to be in the one place that she wanted to be / in school. // And when the bullets / rained down on these girls, / the world stopped in their tracks / and they listened to Malala. // But most importantly / so did millions of girls around the world / put in the same position. // This courageous / eloquent / and inspiring girl / became their light. // There are over 130 / million girls / missing out on an education. // Because they have to work, / or they are married by the age of 12 / or they lack access to school facilities / or have to care for younger siblings. // Denying them / their fundamental right / to an education. // And the Malala fund / is working tirelessly / to ensure 12 years of school until they are 18 / for every girl worldwide. // So, from empowering local leaders / to shift the old-fashioned / mindsets of early marriage in Pakistan / and many other countries, / creating learning programs / for out-of-school married girls in Kenya. // They give access to quality education for Syrian refugees, / building schools / in remote / and rural areas. // They are girl by girl / transforming communities. // The potential / for socio-economic growth / when the other half / of the population / is given the opportunity / to learn / and then to work / is limitless. // Malala knows this / and they are seeing it / firsthand / in the communities they have touched. // That if women are given a voice, / they are using it. // When they are handed the purse strings, / the communities thrive. // When they are given a job, / they flourish. // They organize better, / they galvanize more passionately, / and they are more likely to encourage peace / where peace should be the priority. // I remember / Malala’s father / saying something to me / that, I will never forget. // He said, / ‘Too many women die / as if they have never been born.’ // And I have never / forgotten it. // And John and I both feel / we want to do as much as we can / to help ensure that that statement / doesn’t hold true / in the future. // And I know / that I will never meet / anyone / more inspiring than Malala / in my lifetime. // I mean she’s only the youngest ever / Nobel peace prize laureate. // I doubt anyone / could top her really. // She has set such a high bar, / but her dream / is that there will be others / just like her. // Because if one girl / with an education can change the world, / well we just have to imagine what 130 million can do. // So, thank you so much. // I’m so honored, / thank you. //