Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Engineer and human rights advocate

Activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied is used to standing up for what she believes in. The 26-year-old found herself at the heart of a media slanging match when she defended Sharia law and proclaimed Islam to be “a feminist religion”.

It was a bold defence weighing into a hot political topic and it is this courage in the face of controversy that makes Yassmin a valuable and inspiring new judge for this year’s Women of the Future Awards.

Raised in suburban Brisbane, Yassmin found her motivation close to home. “I was hugely inspired by the sacrifice my parents made moving to Brisbane – where we were only the second Sudanese family – when I was two.”

Today, Yassmin is inspired by the Women of the Future. “I look at them and think, these are my peers,” she says, “and I get very excited. These women and I will be part of shaping the world.”

Her advice to young women with big dreams is, “Never let other people’s expectations limit you.”