Pakistani girl wins state department’s emerging young leaders award

ISLAMABAD: The US Department of State honored 10 outstanding young leaders from around the world, including Dania Hassan from Pakistan in recognition of her efforts to promote positive social change in the education sector of Pakistan.

Dania Hassan, 18, after attending summer school at John’s Hopkins University through the US Summer Sisters Exchange Program, a program of US Pakistan Women Council, established an organization called ‘Fun to Learn’, through which teams of volunteers conduct extracurricular programs in underprivileged schools in Pakistan.

She is the youngest high achiever of the Pakistan-US Alumni Network ’30 Under 30 Series’.

Earlier, the US-Pakistan Women Council organized a pre-award event at the residence of Shaista Mahmood, who is the founding member of the council, to celebrate the achievement of Hassan.

Speaking at the occasion, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Aizaz Chaudhry applauded the efforts made by the US Pakistan Women Council to promote Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship. While congratulating Ms. Hassan, Ambassador Chaudhry remarked that Pakistani Youth and Pakistani women are vibrant, robust and passionate and are excelling in various fields.

He urged the Council and its partners to identify more opportunities to enhance future cooperation. The event was well attended by the senior officials of the State Department, board members of US Pakistan Business Council, prominent community members and students.