Safeena Husain, Founder, Educate Girls
Educate Girls was awarded “Changemaker: Social Transformation Award” for 2023 from Hindu Businessline. Since receiving the HBL Changemaker award, Educate Girls has continued its impactful work and made history. The organisation has become the first NGO dedicated to girls’ education to be listed on the Social Stock Exchange (SSE).
“Being the first Indian nonprofit to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award is a historic moment for Educate Girls and for the country. This recognition places a global spotlight on India’s people-powered movement for girls’ education, one that began with a single girl in the remotest village and grew to reshape entire communities, challenging traditions and shifting mindsets” said Safeena Husain, Founder, Educate Girls.
She added, “ This Award honours our dedicated Team Balika volunteers, valued partners, passionate gender champions, and supporters, and acknowledges the millions of girls who reclaimed their right to education. As we work to reach 10 million learners in the next decade and share this blueprint beyond India, we carry forward a simple truth that when one girl is educated, she takes others with her, multiplying change across families, generations, and nations,”
Founded in 2007, Educate Girls has been working for nearly two decades to break cycles of poverty and illiteracy by empowering girls through education. It has worked across 30,000+ villages with the support of 55,000+ community volunteers, bringing over 2 million girls back to education and supporting over 2.4 million children in remedial learning. Educate Girls aims to impact over 10 million learners over the next decade, driving systemic change alongside government partnerships, while ensuring last-mile access for those girls and young women who are most at risk of being left behind. Educate Girls’ recognition highlights the global urgency of investing in girls’ education as a catalyst for social and economic transformation.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award celebrates greatness of spirit and transformative leadership across Asia. Awardees are chosen annually by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation from nominations submitted through a confidential, global pool of experts, undergoing a rigorous and independent evaluation process. Educate Girls’ selection reflects the maturity, innovation and impact of India’s development sector, which has long been at the forefront of people-powered solutions to complex social challenges.
The 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees will formally receive their medallions and certificates during the 67th Ramon Magsaysay Awards Presentation Ceremonies on 7 November 2025 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Manila, Philippines.
Published on August 31, 2025