Physician · Mom · Middle child · LIBYAN-CANADIAN

Peace begins
with survival.

I imagine and build what the field hasn't — so the people closest to crisis have the capital and power to lead. 

At twenty-one, in my final year of medical school, I watched the women holding Libya together under bombardment get shut out of every room where the country's future was being decided. So I founded Voice of Libyan Women. That conviction — that the people closest to the cost carry the clearest read on the cure — is what I carried into the rooms that followed: UN Security Council resolutions, the architecture of the SDGs, and the funds that came after. It's how For Mama became the first zakat-certified collaborative for maternal and child health — $130M+ catalysed across three Ramadans, now used by 50+ organizations — and how I conceived and built The Beginnings Fund, a $600M+ collaborative reaching 34 million mothers and babies.

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A woman wearing a black hijab and white blazer sitting at a desk in a professional setting, with framed artwork on the wall behind her.

  • $40B+

    MOVED TOWARD SURVIVAL, PROSPERITY AND PEACE

  • 193

    COUNTRIES IMPACTED

  • 4

    UN RESOLUTIONS SHAPED

  • 9M+

    TED TALK VIEWS

  • $1B+

    DIRECTLY MANAGED

  • 40+

    COUNTRIES ADVISED AT HEAD OF STATE & EXECUTIVE LEVEL

The people closest to crisis are the architects of peace. That is the spine of everything I build.

RECOGNITION

Honors & Awards

  • harvard radcliffe institute logo

    Harvard Radcliffe Fellow

  • The image shows the word 'PITOW!' written in bold black letters with an exclamation mark, all on a white background.

    Nelson Mandela Changemaker

  • Marisa Bellisario Foundation logo

    Marisa Bellisario International Humanitarian Award Italy

  • CNN logo.

    CNN Leader

  • The word 'WIRED' spelled with black letter tiles on a white background.

    WIRED Global Thought Leader

  • Aspen Institute logo

    Aspen Spotlight Scholar

  • The words "trust conference" in black, stylized text on a white background.

    NYT TrustWomen Hero

  • Governor of Canada logo

    Meritorious Service Cross Canada

  • Logo of the World Economic Forum featuring a stylized globe with interconnected lines.

    WEF Young Global Leader

  • Forbes 30 Under 30 logo in black and white.

    Forbes 30 Under 30

  • BBC Top 100 Women logo

    BBC 100 Women

  • The logo of the Government of Canada featuring a stylized maple leaf next to the text 'Government of Canada'.

    100 Most Influential Women in History Canada

  • MIT Media Lab Director's Fellows Program logo in gray text on a black background.

    MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow

  • Logo for the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award

    WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award

How Can I Help

Find What You Need

I

Explore the Work

From a peacebuilding movement built during revolution, to the SDGs, to faith-aligned capital that reaches those most in need — 16 years of building systems that save lives.

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II

Work Together

Advisory, strategic partnerships, media requests, and institutional collaborations across health, security, and development.

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III

Invite Alaa to Speak

On faith, power, capital, and the local leadership that's already building what everyone else is still waiting to fund. Represented by CAA.

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THROUGH THE LINE

Signature Initiatives

Peace & Security · Women's Leadership

I. The clearest vision comes from the closest vantage point.

Founded at 21 during the revolution

I founded Voice of Libyan Women at 21, in the middle of the Libyan revolution, building a movement across 35+ cities and creating the Noor Campaign. The women holding communities together during bombardment have the clearest vision of what peace requires. I shaped four UN Security Council processes across 16 years of work on women, peace, and security. A body of work Human Rights Watch named as a turning point in women's rights globally.
That same conviction led me to co-found the Omnis Institute and New Now - building the platforms, mentorship pipelines, and leadership coalitions that ensure the next generation of peacebuilders doesn't have to start from scratch.

Faith-Aligned Capital · Maternal Survival

II. Survival is the first act of security.

$600M+ collaborative · 34M mothers & babies · 300K+ lives

Health infrastructure is peace infrastructure. A mother in a fragile state doesn't die for lack of money — the money exists. Over a trillion dollars moves through Muslim giving every year. What was missing was anything built to carry it from the giver to the clinic. I built it. I created For Mama, the first zakat-certified collaborative for maternal and child health, which raised $38M in its first two Ramadans and now operates as the independent organization Every Pregnancy.
That work sat within a $1B+ portfolio I ran for 4 years at the Gates Foundation across 21 strategies, where I conceived The Beginnings Fund - a $600M+ collaborative now reaching 34 million mothers and babies - and built the fragile settings community of practice. Earlier, I launched the Omnis Fund for women's health, displacement, and policy, and led Phase Minus 1 to build health and security capacity before crises hit.

Health Financing Architecture · Maternal & Child Survival

III. Faith-aligned capital is development infrastructure.

$130M raised in 3 Ramadans · 500K+ mothers & babies served

Islamic social finance moves over a trillion dollars annually. The barrier has never been generosity; it's been architecture. Proving the model once isn't the same as building the institution. For Mama showed faith-aligned capital can reach mothers at scale; the next layer is permanent architecture for it. I'm building the evidence base that turns one campaign into a standing system - faith-aligned capital treated as development infrastructure, not a seasonal appeal.

Private Sector Partnership · Blended Finance for Development

IV. Governance is design.

Co-architect · 193 countries · Trillions aligned

Trillions in global capital move according to frameworks that someone, somewhere, designed. I've spent my career making sure those rooms include the people the frameworks will affect: co-architecting the Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and serving as UN High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment, and Economic Growth.

That work reframed health workers as economic infrastructure (and the health workforce as one of the largest engines of women's employment and inclusive growth globally), shaping recommendations targeting 40 million new health sector jobs. I was appointed UN SDG Advocate by two successive Secretaries-General.

Global Governance · Health, Security, Education & Poverty Elimination

V. Capital should build coalitions and sustainable opportunities.

Created the Sustainable Growth platform at 500 Global

Capital chases stability, which leaves the least stable economies starved of exactly what would stabilize them. The countries on the wrong side of that loop need to be able to attract real capital. I created the Sustainable Growth practice at 500 Global to build it: public-private coalitions moving climate, development, health, and security capital into the economies, and people, the market prices out.

FEATURED IN

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Forbes 30 Under 30 Alaa Murabit
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IN THEIR WORDS

What Leaders Say

“

  • As a Canadian, I am well aware of Alaa’s reputation as a leader. Alaa is often selected to speak alongside our Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Women, and others, both nationally and globally. Universities like the Rotman School of Business, which is a prestigious institution in Canada, regularly seek her as a speaker too. Needless to say, her reputation precedes her.

    — Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Company

  • Alaa Murabit is a force for change and a global champion of women's rights.

    — President Jimmy Carter

  • Alaa's record is exemplary and evidence of her service to the community. She is truly extraordinary, in every way. Her leadership is recognized and celebrated internationally for her unique abilities.

    — Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Laureate

  • There are very few voices in the world like that of my sister, Alaa Murabit.

    — Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Laureate

  • Alaa truly embodies the spirit of a 'Goalkeeper' - this vital next generation of leaders who are going to ensure we keep making progress on the world's largest issues.

    — Bill Gates, Founder, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

  • Everyone who meets Alaa walks ways away with the firm conviction that she has dedicated her life to the vision of a world which appreciates the experiences of women and girls and respects, amplifies and intentionally protects inclusivity and justice in all spaces — making her one of the world’s most valuable voices for a sustainable and more peaceful future.

    — Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin

  • Alaa commands respect, and people look to her for wisdom, insight, and leadership. On a global scale, I have personally witnessed her consistent efforts to ensure that women leaders have access to mentors and the resources they need to increase their impact. Her commitment to social change is both practical and idealistic. Ultimately, everything she does is deeply rooted in her desire to help others reach their full potential.

    — Jamira Burley, Apple

  • To say she has succeeded in making both her own voice and the voices of other young women, heard is an understatement. As an adviser and the chair of a handful of different think tanks and organizations around the world, Alaa contributes daily to young minority women gaining an ever-widening local and global audience that is willing to listen.

    — Margot Wallstrom, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs

  • Alaa is a global leader with an inspiring voice and a truly unique range. Her life experience bridges east and west, science and literature, high-level diplomacy and grassroots peacebuilding. She has vitally important insights that must be heard in our troubled times.

    — Lara Setrakian, NewsDeeply founder

  • Alaa is incredibly effective in the way she can both teach and inspire other business leaders, shifting perspectives and broadening their range of possibility, all for the purpose of better business.

    — Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever

  • Alaa is a deeply remarkable woman, fearless and radical, wise and full of wonder at the possibilities of and need for change in the world. I feel there’s nothing she can’t achieve and when you’re with her, it makes you believe that the world can change, and together with her, we can make that happen.

    — Richard Curtis, Filmmaker & Global Advocate

  • I celebrate the commitment and outstanding work of Dr. Alaa Murabit, a woman who has shown her dedication to improving the lives of girls and women around the world.

    — Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director

  • Alaa is a true inspiration to us all. Her unwavering commitment to advancing gender equality and human rights has earned her a place among the world's most courageous and visionary leaders.

    — Emma Bonino, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy

  • Alaa's work and unwavering commitment to creating a more just and equitable world serve as inspiration for all of us.

    — Jeff Sachs, Economist

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