Meet the founders.
Zoha (left) and Hannah (right) cataloging books for the HER-ACF community library in Amezray, Morocco.
Zoha and Hannah founded HER in 2016, when they were sophomores in high school. They met on their school’s Cross Country team, and during their runs they would talk about their shared passion for education and community service. From those conversations, they decided to start a club for other students to learn about girls’ education. That club eventually turned into a non-profit called HER, which would impact tens of thousands students across the word.
Hannah Ford
Hannah has always believed education is a gift, and with that gift comes the responsibility to give back. Since ninth grade, Hannah has been motivated and committed to improving the educational lives of girls in developing countries. When she hears stories about girls like herself, who are excited about learning but don’t have the resources to go school, don’t have access to books, and don’t have a supportive environment to explore their ideas and
zoha siddiqui
When two of my aunts, who grew up in Pakistan, were fourteen years old, their parents forced them out of school and into long hours of earning wages to pay for their two brothers’ private education. Seeing these educational disparities in my own family prompted me to research girls’ education in Pakistan in 2014. After interviewing local teachers, students, and politicians, I found that public girls’ schools are often underfunded by the government and consequently lack basic educational resources. That’s why I founded HER: to ensure that other young women in Pakistan, and elsewhere, have equal access to quality educational resources.
