Belsem Aljobory
Belsem Aljobory is an advocate for girls’ education and women’s empowerment, dedicated to creating safe, female-led learning environments for underserved girls in Pakistan. A Presidential Scholar at The George Washington University, she has presented her ethnographic research at the Oxford International Roundtable Symposium, received the nomination to attend the United Nations Arab Forum for Equality, and earned both the GW Undergraduate Research Award and the Sigelman Undergraduate Research Enhancement Award for her work. Through As We Rise, she channels her passion into uniting women across communities and fostering lasting change.
My Story
I was raised by a single mother whose resilience and determination shaped the very core of who I am. Watching her navigate life with strength and grace taught me that leadership is not about power, but about responsibility, to lift others as you rise. My earliest role model, however, was my grandmother, who immigrated to the United States in the 1950s. Her courage to leave everything behind for the promise of a better life for her and her family is a legacy I carry with me in every project I take on. Her commitment to serving others is unparalleled and remains a theme in the generations that have followed her.
The minute I stepped off the plane in Pakistan, I felt an instant connection to my roots… an unshakable fascination and joy that stayed with me throughout my journey. Yet, what I could not have expected was the emptiness I would feel when meeting girls my age who spoke of their dreams but lacked the means to pursue them. I was 13 years old, filled with big ideas but unsure how to solve a problem that had persisted for centuries. It was a feat, ALMOST, too big to take. In that moment, I did what I could without speaking the language, buying books, food, or small trinkets to spark a smile.
After, when I would look in the mirror. I saw not just a girl who went to 13 schools and have lived in intercity Philadelphia, the suburbs of Philadelphia, and Jordan but the girls I had met in Pakistan. That my story would have been theirs if not for the persistence of my grandmother many, many years ago.
They carried my culture, my hopes, and my vision for a brighter future, not just for Pakistan, but for women everywhere. The language barrier didn’t matter; we were united in spirit. I realized that to create real change, I had to think beyond charity. The answer lay in empowering local women who understood their communities best. That’s why As We Rise was founded: a female-run, female-directed, and female-controlled space where education becomes the bridge to opportunity.
Unity has always been the heartbeat of my vision, the belief that when women uplift each other across borders, communities transform. It’s not just the name of this foundation; it’s the way forward. This is how we rise.