Our first leader for this year is Algerian Human Rights Activist Ikram Ais. She was born in Oran ,Algeria. Ikram Ais is a Law graduate and Human Rights educator and the youngest person to have been elected as a board member of Amnesty Algeria.  Her journey into human rights began the summer she graduated from high school after she noticed numerous human rights violations against women ,young children and girls in her home town. During her summer vacation she streamed the movie "The Lady" about Aung Sung Kyi ,the political prisoner that Amnesty International had worked to release. The inspiring story behind the film led Ikram to joining an Amnesty reading club based in Canada. She discovered that there was an amnesty section in Algeria and joined human rights training in Algiers and has never looked back ever since.

In an interview Ikram let out that the things she learnt at her trainings cannot be compared to what she learnt in University. She felt like she had discovered what she really wanted to do ,which was to fight injustice ,stand up for those who cannot speak about their rights and educate them about their rights.

Her upcoming book is just one of the many projects she is involved in with the aim of raising awareness of human rights violations and promoting human rights education all over Algeria. Her choice to study law was motivated by the same wish to make a difference in her community. She hopes  to combine these two interests law and human rights to become a legislator in Algeria to influence policies and to make sure law makers take into account the needs of the most vulnerable.

LESSON: Academics may lead us a certain direction but that should not stop us from pursuing our passions.

Tell us what you think about Ikram on the comments section below.