Ayah Tafesh

Class of 2020

Hometown: Gaza, Palestine

Ayah graduated in 2019 from Al-Azhar University in Gaza with a B.A. in English Language and Literature. As a student, Ayah dedicated most of her time to being an active youth council coordinator at Save Youth Future Society (an NGO promoting youth development and civic engagement), working with women to improve their living conditions. Ayah was also an active Youth Exchange and Study (YES) alumna, working alongside AMIDEAST on projects targeting some of her community’s major challenges, including gender inequality, youth unemployment, under representation, and environmental pollution. Ayah’s volunteering journey at local NGO’s was transformative and further motivated her to help women access better public service in underprivileged and underrepresented societies such as her home country. In addition, she wants to advocate for initiatives around the development of women’s rights and gender research, as well as study how gender affects access to education, work, positions of leadership, and power.