A towering figure in the world of women’s empowerment and information technology, Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke is a British CEO and founder of the Women’s WorldWide Web, an online crowdfunding platform dedicated to protecting girls’ and women’s empowerment in developing and developed countries around the world, promoting human rights and access to technology.
A member of the European Young Leaders (EYL40) network since 2012, she has contributed to many policy discussions in Brussels, and brought women’s technological empowerment to the fore. Led by Friends of Europe, each year the European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme brings together talented, established leaders, aged 40 and under, who have made their mark in a wide range of fields such as politics, science, business, media, NGOs, the arts and civil society. You can find more information about the programme here.
To celebrate this year marking the 10th anniversary of the European Young Leaders programme, Nefesh-Clarke was selected for her inimitable feats in advancing girls’ and women’s rights and empowerment. It all started in Bangladesh, where Nefesh-Clarke decided to embark on an IT entrepreneurial adventure. There, she trained with Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, and studied the Grameen microfinance model’s impact on remote Bangladeshi villages. Inspired by Grameen “telephone ladies”’ leading of a wave of telecommunications connectivity via mobile phones purchased through micro-loans, Nefesh-Clarke decided to pursue a similar career in women’s empowerment through IT and further a fight she described as “really connecting Bangladesh to the digital era.”