Esra'a Al Shafei

Esra'a al-Shafei "a blogger from Bahrain, is the co-founder of Mideast Youth and its associated projects. She also runs FreeKareem.org aimed to free a jailed friend and fellow blogger", Kareem Amer. She is a 2009 TED Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow, the recipient of the Berkman Award and an Atlas Economic Research Foundation award.

Background
In June 2007, Esra'a Al Shafei from won the Atlas Economic Research Foundation's $5,000 award for the "New Intellectual Entrepreneurship Project" for Promoting Liberty. The award announcement stated: "Her project, Mideast Youth, is a growing independent student network that promotes constructive dialogue and understanding within the Middle East and North Africa. Arabs, Iranians, Kurds, and Israelis work side by side on a variety of different projects in order to advance towards moderation and interfaith understanding."

In May 2008, Esra'a Al Shafei won the Berkman Award for "outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society."

In 2009, Esra'a Al Shafei became a TED fellow and an Echoing Green Fellow.

Website operations
She operates the following websites:


 * MideastYouth.com
 * The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights
 * MigrantRights
 * The Free Kareem Campaign
 * March 18 Movement
 * The Arab Association for Kurdish Rights
 * Alliance for Kurdish Rights
 * Postcards for Iran

She notes that "No one supports us financially, we support ourselves."

Affiliations

 * Member, FutureShapers Collaborative
 * Advisory Board, Meta-Activism Project