Yenny Zannuba Wahid is a social and political activist who works to promote peace and tolerance in the world. Her sphere of influence within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the biggest Islamic organization, with around 80 million members, enables her to work effectively on the ground. Her work experiences include working as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age Melbourne, working as special staff for President Susilo Yudhoyono, and working as secretary-general for the biggest Moslem party in Indonesia, PKB.
As a member of a prominent political dynasty in Indonesia–her great grandfather founded NU and remained loved to this day, her grandfather was a minister in President Soekarno’s cabinet, and her father, President Wahid, was the 4th President of Indonesia—Yenny is expected to follow on the footstep one day.
At the moment, the Harvard graduate prefers to focus on her work on the grassroots, trying to empower many marginalized women through her foundation, The Wahid Foundation. One of the key programs she’s initiating is the Peace Village initiative, a joint program with the UN Women that aims to create social cohesion in the society by combining economic empowerment and training on prevention of radicalism and promotion of tolerance. Her foundation’s “Peace School” program helps to train young adults to become agents of peace in society.
Yenny is a recipient of numerous awards and accolades. Among them: The Walkley Awards (Australia’s highest award in journalism), Women of Peace Award from Soka Gakkai; Tokoh Perubahan 2019 (Republika Media group), Young Global Leader from the World Economic Forum; Ambassador of Peace from Universal Peace Federation; Pendekar Anak from Unicef; -Indonesia’s Tattler ‘Most Promising Woman’ in the society.
She is currently serving as a member of the Steering Committee of the Paris Peace Forum, initiated by President Macron of France, as well as one of the founding members of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, a UAE led initiative.
