Let’s honor Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate (which she received at age 17!). She has advocated for the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had often banned girls from attending school. On October 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman attempted to assassinate Yousafzai in retaliation for her activism. Following her recovery, Yousafzai became a prominent activist for the right to education.

“Traditions are not sent from heaven, they are not sent from God. It is we who make cultures and we have the right to change it and we should change it.”

Malala Yousafzai