June 21-24, 2021

Speaker

Speaker Headshot

Hajara Kabeer Abdulfatah

Founder, Girl in STEM Initiative / Northern Nigeria

Born and raised in Nigeria, Hajara Kabeer Abdulfatah is a young Northern Nigerian woman working in STEM. A Petroleum and Gas Engineer by profession, she is passionate about building capacity in energy, environmental sustainability, and low-carbon future. Her aim is to become a Future Energy Leader and acquire skills in the use of energy and econometric models to access the long-term implications of energy and environmental policy decisions on different sectors of the economy. Additionally, Hajara aspires to be a functional part of the paradigm-shifting effort to address net zero challenges. She founded Girl in STEM Initiative to help counter the narrative of Northern Nigerian females being the most educationally disenfranchised. She has coached and trained about 360 talented young girls (and some boys) from government/private primary and secondary school, enabling them to achieve their aspirations of pursuing careers in STEM. She leads an advocacy on #GiveGirlsRoleModels, a movement aimed at normalizing female role models in STEM. Hajara's dedication to STEM advocacy has earned her both International and local recognition as a Global STEM Ambassador. Hajara has received various awards for her work, including the nascent Girl in STEM Leadership Award by SPE Nigeria, STEM Ambassador for Coder in Africa (Coderina), Distinguished Merit Award "Achiever par Excellence" by the Voice of Northern Nigerian Students (VONNIS), and the Price of Peace Award in S.T.E.A.M and the Environment by Federation of International Gender and Human Rights (FIGHR). Utmost is Hajara's powerful determination to encourage and inspire young girls and women to break through the ceiling and make a positive and lasting impact in the world of STEM.