Sakena Yacoobi is an educator and health advocate for women and children in Afghanistan. Since 1995, Sakena is the Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL). Among her many awards are six honorary doctorates, Sunhak Peace Prize, WISE Prize for Education, Opus Prize, Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights, Afghan National Peace Award and Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence in education. Skena has been recognized for Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, Ashoka Fellow and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Sakena is the Vice President of Creating Hope International (CHI), a former board member for the Global Fund for Women, a Fetzer Institute advisor, and a member of the US-Afghan Women's Council.