YASMINE SHERIF NAMED 2020 GLOBAL EDUCATOR AT MY HERO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Yasmine Sherif - MY HERO 2020 Global Educator

CONTACT: Jeanne Meyers                                                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Co-founder & Director, The MY HERO Project
www.myheroproject.org

YASMINE SHERIF NAMED 2020 GLOBAL EDUCATOR AT MY HERO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL  

DECEMBER 17, 2020 – LAGUNA BEACH, CA - The MY HERO Project is proud to announce that Yasmine Sherif is the winner of the 2020 Global Educator Award. The award is presented each year at the MY HERO International Film Festival. Sherif’s award was presented at the festival's Virtual Award Ceremony on December 12, 2020. 

Sherif is the director of the Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a United Nations global fund for education. A human rights lawyer, she has worked with the United Nations as since 1998. She aids refugees, women and children in war-torn areas and conflict zones, including in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Sudan. 

In 2016, Sherif was appointed to lead ECW, which works to fill the needed education gap in relief efforts, helping children in unstable areas stay in school. She tells MY HERO: “Education is the key. As you turn that key, a whole sea of human rights will open for you.” To date, ECW has raised over $700 million—a record total and speed for a global fund.

Sherif’s book “The Case for Humanity: An Extraordinary Session,” was published in 2014. In it, changemakers from the past, including humanitarians, poets, and philosophers, gather at a UN summit at the New York headquarters to discuss the case for humanity. Sherif used direct quotes from the great thinkers, while interweaving her own experience as a global humanitarian, to argue agenda items for a global vision for humanity in the current political climate.

Each year, The MY HERO Project recognizes an individual for their contributions to global education. Past recipients include Esther Wojcicki and Sal Khan. This year MY HERO recognizes Sherif’s widespread efforts and their monumental, critical impact for some of the world’s most marginalized learners. 

Watch MY HERO's video tribute to Yasmine Sherif, which includes her acceptance speech that was shown at the festival.