Tawakkol Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 in recognition of her non-violent struggle for democracy and her advocacy for women’s rights in Yemen. 

Karman has been imprisoned on a number of occasions for her pro-democracy, pro-human rights protests. Amongst Yemen’s Youth movement, she is known as the “mother of the revolution,” “the iron woman,” and the Lady of the Arab Spring. 

She is a human rights activist, journalist, and politician, and the Founder of Women Journalists Without Chains, Tawakkol Karman Foundation, and Peaceful Youth Revolution Council. 

TIME Magazine described her as a 'Torchbearer of the Arab Spring' and named her both one of the 100 most influential women defining the last century and one of the Most Rebellious Women in History.

She was a member of the High-Level Panel of eminent persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

She is now a board member of the Facebook oversight board and Nobel Women initiative.

She holds a master's degree in global security from UMass Lowel, Boston.