Dr. Lauryn Oates

Executive Director, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan

Please note, the event will begin at 12:00 pm MST / 2 pm EST / 3:30 pm NL

Dr. Lauryn Oates is a women’s human rights advocate for education in conflict zones. At age 14, Lauryn read about the Taliban, and their treatment of women and girls. She developed a petition demanding that the world respond to their misogynist policies, and has continued this work ever since, working in close partnership with a variety of Afghan women’s organizations and international charities.

Lauryn is the Executive Director with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, a charity that has helped make the human right to education real for Afghan women and girls through teacher training, village libraries, literacy classes, schools and more.

Lauryn earned a BA in international development (McGill University), an MA in human Security (Royal Roads University), and a PhD in language and literacy education (UBC). Her doctoral research focused on northern Uganda where she worked with teachers there to create local language educational materials for their classrooms through digital technology. She is Adjunct Faculty at the University of British Columbia and has also taught graduate students in the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University since 2014.

Lauryn is the recipient of a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded by the province of BC. As well, Lauryn enjoys a loving family life and travel!

Murwarid Ziayee

Senior Director, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan

Murwarid Ziayee is responsible for program management and supporting public engagement outreach and fund development. Murwarid has a BA in Political Science and Law from Kabul University. She has over two decades experience working with various national and international organizations in Afghanistan on policy development, program design and management. Her focus is on gender equality, human rights and women’s empowerment.

Before joining CW4WAfghan, she worked with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan as a National Gender Affairs Officer and later as a National Human Rights Officer. She has worked closely with the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and served the Afghan Office of the President as Program Officer with a focus on women’s rights issues. She is a leader and advocate for women’s rights and the recipient of the CW4WAfghan Champion for Education Award (2015). This award is in recognition of her many achievements, her dedication, knowledge and passion for advancing education for Afghan women and girls.

WITH OUR VIP HOST

Mellissa Fung

Journalist, Best Selling Author, Filmmaker & Director

Mellissa Fung is a veteran journalist, best-selling author, filmmaker, and director of the feature documentary Captive. She has traveled the world producing original documentaries for Al-Jazeera International, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and other media outlets.

Mellissa covered the war in Afghanistan for the CBC, leading to her best-selling first book, Under an Afghan Sky, which chronicles her experience as a hostage after she was kidnapped while on assignment in Kabul in 2008. Since leaving the CBC, Fung has focused on human rights reporting, returning to Afghanistan again and again to continue reporting on the challenges that continue to exist there, particularly for women and children. In addition, her work has been featured in The Globe and Mail, The Huffington Post, The Walrus, The Toronto Star, TRT, CNN, and PBS.

Mellissa has received numerous awards, including the Gracie Award, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association award and the New York Festivals Gold award. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Global Reporting Centre.

Get your ticket

While Pink Teas were used to gather women together to strategize how best to gain the vote and right to run for elected office, our Pink Teas will feature a variety of female leaders so we learn about various issues and opportunities. Hopefully, we will be inspired and work together to realize our dreams – or perhaps your dream.

Tickets on sale now for the 2021 Virtual Pink Tea Conversations! Register for one, or all and join us as we hear inspirational stories, timely topics, and network among your peers. Engage in the chat and Q&A in our online Famous 5 Fridays Pink Tea Conversation setting.

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December 3

Our thanks to Enbridge for their ongoing support!

Visit Famous 5 Events for more information or contact f5f@mosaicevents.ca.

About the Enbridge Famous 5 Speaker Series

This series profiled extraordinarily successful women who spoke candidly about their careers, and the passion, vision and determination that drives them. The speakers discussed our place in society and the ethical responsibilities and consequences of our actions. In relating their lives, guests heard about challenges as well as triumphs, humorous incidents and stories of loss, humbling moments of reflection and inspiring calls to action. The Famous 5 Foundation’s Leadership Lunches launched on Oct. 18, 1996. In 2004, Enbridge became our title sponsor and we are very grateful for their on-going support!

Dre Lauryn Oates

Directrice générale, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan

Lauryn Oates, Ph.D., est une défenseure des droits des femmes spécialisée en éducation dans les zones de conflit. À l'âge de 14 ans, Lauryn a lu des articles sur les talibans et leur traitement des femmes et des filles. Elle a rédigé une pétition demandant au monde de réagir à leurs politiques misogynes, et a poursuivi ce travail depuis lors, en étroite collaboration avec diverses organisations de femmes afghanes et des organisations caritatives internationales.

Lauryn est la directrice générale de Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, un organisme de bienfaisance qui a aidé à concrétiser le droit à l'éducation pour les femmes et les filles afghanes en formant des enseignants, en créant des bibliothèques de village, des cours d'alphabétisation, des écoles, etc.

Lauryn est titulaire d'un baccalauréat en développement international (Université McGill), d'une maîtrise en sécurité humaine (Royal Roads University) et d'un doctorat en enseignement des langues et en alphabétisation (UBC). Sa recherche doctorale s'est concentrée sur le nord de l'Ouganda, où elle a travaillé avec des enseignants pour créer du matériel pédagogique en langue locale pour leurs salles de classe grâce à la technologie numérique. Elle est membre auxiliaire du corps professoral de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique, et enseigne également aux étudiants diplômés de l'école d'études humanitaires de l'Université Royal Roads depuis 2014.

Lauryn a reçu la médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine, décernée par la Colombie-Britannique. En outre, Lauryn aime aussi la vie de famille et les voyages!

Murwarid Ziayee

Directrice principale, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan

Murwarid Ziayee est responsable de la gestion des programmes et du soutien à l'engagement public et au développement des fonds. Murwarid est titulaire d'une license en sciences politiques et en droit de l'université de Kaboul. Elle a plus de vingt ans d'expérience dans l'élaboration de politiques, la conception et la gestion de programmes au sein de diverses organisations nationales et internationales en Afghanistan. Elle se concentre sur l'égalité des sexes, les droits de la personne et l'indépendance des femmes.

Avant de rejoindre CW4WAfghan, elle a travaillé avec la Mission d'assistance des Nations unies en Afghanistan en tant que responsable nationale des questions de genre, puis en tant que responsable nationale des droits de la personne. Elle a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec le ministère afghan des affaires féminines et a servi le bureau afghan du président en tant que responsable de programme, en mettant l'accent sur les questions relatives aux droits des femmes. Elle a reçu le prix CW4WAfghan Champion for Education (2015). Ce prix est une reconnaissance de ses nombreuses réalisations, de son dévouement, de ses connaissances et de sa passion pour faire progresser l'éducation des femmes et des filles afghanes.

Obtenez votre billet

Pink Teas servaient à rassembler les femmes pour mettre au point des stratégies pour obtenir le droit de vote et se présenter aux élections. Les nôtres présenteront des femmes influentes et inspirantes qui nous parleront de questions d’actualité et des possibilités qui s’offrent à nous. Qui sait, nous pourrons peut-être réaliser leur rêve, peut-être même le vôtre.

Achetez vos billets pour la saison 2022 maintenant.

le 3 décembre

Nos remerciements à Enbridge pour leur soutien continu!

Visitez le Famous 5 Events et par email contactf5f@mosaicevents.ca pour plus d'informations.

Get your tickets

Our speakers talk candidly about their careers, and the passion, vision and determination that drive them. They discuss our place in our society and the ethical responsibilities and consequences of our actions.

In relating their lives, you will hear about challenges as well as triumphs; humorous incidents and stories of loss; humbling moments of reflection and inspiring calls to action.

The Famous 5 Foundation’s Leadership Lunches were launched on Oct. 18, 1996 to bring women together to plan the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the "Persons" Case on Oct. 18, 1999.