Zainab Salbi
زينب سلبي
Zainab Salbi, wearing a black jacket, speaking on stage on a podium. The lectern has the logo "Girls Impact The World Film Festival"
Salbi at the Paley Center for Media in 2013
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Baghdad, Iraq
CitizenshipUnited States (since 1996)
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Author
  • media host
  • organization founder
  • podcaster
Organizations
Notable work
Board member of
  • Vital Voices
  • International Refugee Assistance Program (IRAP)
  • Synergos International"
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2007)​
Websitewww.zainabsalbi.com

Zainab Salbi (Arabic: زينب سلبي; born 1969) is an Iraqi American women's rights activist, writer, television show host, and podcaster. She is the co-founder of Daughters for Earth,[1] a fund and a movement of Daughters rising up worldwide with climate solutions to protect and restore Mother Earth. She is also the co-founder of Women for Women International, a non-profit organization that helps women affected by sexual violence and conflict. She hosted Through Her Eyes and #MeToo, Now What? television shows, about issues affecting women. From 2022 she hosted the Redefined podcast.

In her 2005 memoir Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, Salbi recounted her early life: Born in Baghdad to a father who later became Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family arranged her marriage and emigration to the United States, in order to remove her from the proximity of Hussein, who had started showing unwanted attention to her. After an abusive marriage in the U.S., she divorced her husband and started her humanitarian career. She is also the author of the nonfiction book The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival & Hope which documents the stories of women survivors of war.

In September of 2023, Zainab Salbi was honored with the Time100 Impact Award.

Early life and education

Salbi is a Muslim[2] woman born in 1969[3] in Baghdad, Iraq[4] who grew up with her younger brother.[5] In 1971, she moved to the Mansour district with her parents.[6] Her mother was a biology teacher[3] while her father was an airline pilot.[4] Her mother Alia was a secular[7] Muslim.[8] When Salbi was 11, her father became the personal pilot for Saddam Hussein, who then regularly visited the family at their home while he was president of Iraq.[9][6] The Iran-Iraq War occurred during her childhood, including missile attacks on Baghdad.[6][9] She studied languages at an Iraqi university.[10]

In 1990, at the age of 20,[8] Salbi was sent to the United States[9] for an arranged marriage[2] after her mother became concerned about the attention she received from Hussein.[9][11] She left the marriage after her husband became abusive[12] but could not return to Iraq due to the start of the first Gulf War.[11] She moved to Washington, D.C., worked as a translator, and married Palestinian-American lawyer Amjad Atallah.[13][10] In 1996, she became a US citizen and completed her bachelor's degree in sociology and women's studies at George Mason University.[14] She has a 2001 master's degree in development studies from the London School of Economics.[14][15]

Career

While studying at George Mason University, Salbi learned about the systematic rape during the Bosnian war.[16] In 1993, with Atallah, she launched Women for Women International.[17] Salbi began serving as president, initially with a focus on supporting women in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia[13][10] expanding to Iraq in 2003.[18] The program linked sponsors in North America with women in Bosnia.[19] Salbi led the organization until her resignation in 2011,[5] during which time its humanitarian and development efforts helped 315,000 women and distributed over $108 million in direct aid and micro-credit loans.[20][3] Among the 185[3] countries that Women for Women International focused on were Afghanistan, Bosnia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, and Iraq.[19][21][20]

Salbi is an activist who speaks about sexual violence in conflict.[5] She contributed the 2003 report Winning the Peace Conference Report: Women’s Role in Post-Conflict Iraq[22] published by Women Waging Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center.[23] She later testified before the United States Congress about the contents of the report.[24] By 2006, Salbi had appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show six times discussing the work of Women for Women International.[18] The same year, the organization was awarded the $1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize.[9][25] In January 2005, it produced a report presenting findings from a survey of 1,000 Iraqi women. The report conveyed women's concerns about their safety during the war.[26]

Salbi smiling and speaking while sitting in a chair, filled books shelves in the background
Salbi at Mount Holyoke College, 2016

In 2015, Salbi launched the TLC Arabia talk show The Calling,[11] with Oprah Winfrey appearing on the first show.[13] The show was broadcast in 22 countries[11] in the Middle East and North Africa and focused on Arab and Muslim women.[27] In response to her television work, Salbia has been called the "Oprah of the Middle East" and "The Voice of Arabia".[13] In 2016, she launched The Zainab Salbi Project, an original series with Huffington Post. As the host, she dealt with social issues from different parts of the world.[28] In February 2018, she started hosting the PBS television shows #MeToo, Now What?. The five part series explored how positive change could occur after the aftermath of the MeToo movement, examining issues of gender, race, and social class.[29] As the host, Salbi interviewed political commentator Angela Rye, writer Ijeoma Oluo, activist Nadine Strossen, and a former Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's blog editor who was accused of sexual assault.[30][31] In 2018, Salbi hosted the Yahoo! News show Through Her Eyes with Zainab Salbi, focusing global issues affecting women.[32][33]

Salbi is the author of the 2005 memoir Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam that documents her childhood, her family's proximity to Saddam Hussein, her arranged marriage, escape from Iraq to the United States, marital abuse, and the start of her humanitarian career.[34][12][35] Salbi is the author of the 2006 nonfiction book The Other Side of War, which documents the stories of women who have lived through conflict and inequality and succeeded in community leadership and business.[36] She is also the author of the 2018 self-help book Freedom Is an Inside Job.[37] In 2022, she joined the online mindfulness and spirituality platform FindCenter and began to host the center's podcast Redefined.[8]

In February of 2022, Salbi co-founded Daughters for Earth[38] and was honored with Time100 Impact Award[38] in September of 2023.

Awards and recognition

Salbi speaking into a microphone, the United States Department of State crest is in the background. She is dressed in black, with short hair, looking confident and making hand gestures.
Salbi in New York, 2005

In 1995, President Bill Clinton honored Salbi at the White House for her humanitarian work and identified her as a "21st Century Heroine".[5][39] Time magazine named her Innovator of the Month in March 2005[39] and she was later profiled for her work as philanthropist.[40][41] In April the same year, Salbi received a Forbes magazine Trailblazer Award.[39] In 2012, she was one of Barclays' Women of the Year.[5] In 2011, Salbi received a Visionary Leadership Award from the International Festival of Arts & Ideas[42] and was identified as one of the Top 100 Women Activists and Campaigners for her role in setting up Women for Women International by The Guardian.[43] Salbi was identified as an influential Arab woman by Arabian Business,[44] and one of the 100 Global Thinkers in the World by Foreign Policy.[45] With almost 24,000 followers, Fortune identified Salbi as one of the Most Influential Women on Twitter in 2014, noting her women-focused humanitarian work.[46] Gulf Business declared her one of the 100 Most Powerful Arabs in 2019, noting her role leading Women for Women International.[47] Salbi was selected as a jury member of The Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 2020[48] and 2021.[49]

Zainab Salbi was honored with the Time100 Impact Award[38] in 2023 (watch her acceptance speech here[50]).

She has honorary doctorates from the University of York (2014),[51] George Mason University (2019)[52] and Glasgow University (2019).[53] She received the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Award in 2019[54] for her writing and television work to advance awareness of issues affecting women.[55] In 2005 she was given the Human Security Award by the University of California, Irvine's Blum Centre for Poverty Alleviation.[56]

Books

  • Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, 2005, ISBN 9781592401567, OCLC 948315384[57]
  • Hidden in plain sight: growing up in the shadow of Saddam, London: Vision, 2006. ISBN 9781904132974, OCLC 768470387
  • The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival & Hope Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2006. ISBN 9780792262114, OCLC 150261088[36]
  • If You Knew Me You Would Care New York: PowerHouse Books, 2012. ISBN 9781576876190, OCLC 920738001
  • Freedom Is an Inside Job: Owning Our Darkness and Our Light to Heal Ourselves and the World, Sounds True, Incorporated, 2018. ISBN 9781683641773, OCLC 1077718721[58]

References

  1. ↑ "Daughters for Earth". Daughters for Earth. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Zainab Salbi, the story of a Muslim who knows of war but strives for peace". Yemen Times. October 11, 2010. Gale A239133867.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bond, Shannon (November 16, 2012). "At home: Zainab Salbi". Financial Times. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Zainab Salbi". Gale Biography Online Collection. Gale. 2019. Gale K1650011715.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Zainab Salbi: Why I cried for Uncle Saddam". The Independent. October 27, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Williams, Timothy (January 6, 2010). "In Baghdad, ravaged walls tell their story: One house encapsulates, in many ways, 3 decades of the rise and fall of Iraq". International Herald Tribune. ProQuest 319027076
  7. ↑ "Between Two Worlds". Kirkus Reviews. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 McGonegal, Julie (January 27, 2022). "She was part of Saddam Hussein's inner circle. Now she wants to help heal others". Broadview Magazine. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Richardson, Lisa (September 21, 2006). "Group Honored for Easing Plight of World's Women; After fleeing Iraq in 1991, Zainab Salbi began an effort to provide job training and financial support for those in war-ravaged areas". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 422078274
  10. 1 2 3 "Zainab Salbi". Newsmakers. Gale. 2008. Gale K1618004739.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Khaleli, Homa (November 9, 2015). "Meet Zainab Salbi – from aid worker to talkshow revolutionary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Between Two Worlds: Escaping from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam by Zainab Salbi, Laurie Becklund". Publishers Weekly. 2005. p. 196. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Zainab Salbi: The Voice of Arabia". Harper's Bazaar Arabia. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Zainab Salbi". Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale. October 3, 2006. Gale H1000165021.
  15. ↑ Wolff, Margaret (2006), In Sweet Company: Conversations with Extraordinary Women about Living a Spiritual Life, Wiley, pp. 135–137, ISBN 9780787983383
  16. ↑ Roosevelt, Margot (February 27, 2005). "Philanthropy: The Power of Sisters-In-Arms: THE WARTIME LIFELINE". Time. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  17. ↑ "My uncle, the tyrant". New Internationalist. March 2, 2011. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  18. 1 2 Perry, Suzanne (March 9, 2006). "Iraqi-Born Charity Worker Strives to Empower Women". Chronicle of Philanthropy – via EBSCOhost.
  19. 1 2 Womankind: Faces of Change Around the World by Donna Nebenzahl, photographs by Nance Ackerman, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2003, pages 152–5.
  20. 1 2 Kennedy, Caroline (May 1, 2008). "Zainab Salbi Helps Women Recover". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  21. ↑ Elshinnawi, Mohamed (April 9, 2010). "Iraqi-American Zainab Salbi Assists Women in War Zones". VOA. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  22. ↑ Winning the Peace Conference Report Archived February 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, 2003, Women Waging Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center
  23. ↑ "Statement Submitted by Senator Barbara Boxer Archived April 24, 2023, at the Wayback Machine," Constitutionalism, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law in Iraq: Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, First Session, June 25, 2003, Volume 4, U.S. Government Printing Office.
  24. ↑ Constitutionalism, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law in Iraq: Joint Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, First Session, June 25, 2003. (2003). United States: U.S. Government Printing Office. p35
  25. ↑ Hanley, Delinda C. (December 2006). "Women for Women Wins Hilton Humanitarian Prize". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – via EBSCOhost.
  26. ↑ Hallett, Vicky (January 24, 2005). "Worrying about Iraqi women". US News & World Report – via EBSCOhost.
  27. ↑ "'Nida'a' to give Arab woman a voice". Arab News. July 12, 2015. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  28. ↑ "The Zainab Salbi Project (2016)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  29. ↑ Elber, Lynn (January 17, 2018). "PBS series examines sexual misconduct, chance for change". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  30. ↑ Moser, Erica (April 27, 2019). "Women's rights activist, TV host to talk at Community Foundation event". The Day. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  31. ↑ Desta, Yohana (February 9, 2018). "Why PBS's #MeToo Docuseries Wants to Give a Voice to the Accused". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Environmental Hero: Zainab Salbi". One Earth. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  33. ↑ "Through Her Eyes". ART19. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  34. ↑ Abdul-Jabbar, Wisam Khalid (2015). "Lacanian Selfhood, Parental Figures, and Trauma in Zainab Salbi's Between Two Worlds". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 11 (2): 161–178. doi:10.1215/15525864-2886523. JSTOR 26571690. S2CID 143231560.
  35. ↑ Alkoriji, Sadiq (August 15, 2005). "Salbi, Zainab & Laurie Becklund. Between Two Worlds: Escaping from Tyranny; Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam". Library Journal. 130 (13): 97. EBSCOhost 17912925.
  36. 1 2 Reviews of The Other Side of War
    • Langbein, Sarah (September 14, 2006). "Lives rise out of the ashes of war ; A new book tells the stories of women who turn tragedy into hope". Orlando Sentinel. ProQuest 280495798
    • Grinker, Lori (December 24, 2006). "Women, transcendent; The Other Side of War Women's Stories of Survival & Hope Zainab Salbi National Geographic". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 422146708
    • Mitchell, Penni (Summer 2007). "The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival & Hope". Herizons. 21 (1): 49 – via EBSCOhost.
  37. ↑ Nargi, Lela. "Toward Freedom and Joy: PW Talks with Zainab Salbi". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  38. 1 2 3 "To Zainab Salbi, Supporting Women Is the Key to Social Progress". Time.com. September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  39. 1 2 3 Duke, Lynne (May 28, 2005). "Drop by Drop, a Flood of Support". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  40. ↑ "Beyond Charity: It's not just the big bucks that count. How four pioneering philanthropists offer new ways to give. Archived December 27, 2022, at the Wayback Machine" Time Magazine, March 7, 2005, Vol. 165, No. 10, pages 77–8.
  41. ↑ Roosevelt, Margot (February 27, 2005). "Philanthropy: The Power of Sisters-In-Arms: THE WARTIME LIFELINE". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  42. ↑ "ARTS: Zainab Salbi honored by Arts & Ideas with award that's a tribute to Jean Handley". New Haven Register. November 14, 2010. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  43. ↑ Khaleeli, Homa (March 8, 2011). "Zainab Salbi". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  44. ↑ The World's Most Influential Arab Women, Zainab Salbi Archived December 27, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Arabian Business, 2017
  45. ↑ "Chasing Cancer: Women & Cancer with Thalie Martini & Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  46. ↑ "Fortune's 55 most influential women on Twitter". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  47. ↑ "Top 100 most powerful Arabs 2019". Gulf Business. February 20, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  48. ↑ Gardner, Chris (August 3, 2020). "Hilton Foundation to Honor L.A.'s Homeboy Industries With Humanitarian Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  49. ↑ "The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Announces CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education, as the 2021 Recipient of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize". News Ghana. August 4, 2021. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  50. ↑ "Zainab Salbi's TIME100 Impact Awards Acceptance Speech". YouTube. September 17, 2023.
  51. ↑ "University of York honours 16 for their contribution to society". University of York. July 11, 2014. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  52. ↑ Williams, Preston (December 19, 2019). "Largest-ever group of winter graduates encouraged to live the journey of their own truth". Statistics. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  53. ↑ "Degree honours BBC Scotland chief Donalda". Edinburgh Evening News. July 4, 2019. p. 8 – via ProQuest.
  54. ↑ Sloofman, Cheryl (November 11, 2019). "The Ms. Q&A: Where Zainab Salbi's Fight Meets Eleanor Roosevelt's Legacy". Ms. Magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  55. ↑ Santistevan, Ryan (October 14, 2019). "Chelsea Clinton gets honored by her mom: Mother-daughter duo first to receive Val-Kill award". The Poughkeepsie Journal; Poughkeepsie, N.Y. pp. A.2 – via ProQuest.
  56. ↑ Powers, Elia (November 5, 2005). "Writer: U.S. should send aid not troops". Daily Pilot. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  57. ↑ Reviews of Between Two Worlds
  58. ↑ "Don't Let the Battle Over Kavanaugh Overshadow the Nobel Peace Prize's Recognition of Sexual Violence". Time. October 8, 2018. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
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