Hafsah Muheed is an intersectional feminist, human rights advocate & a sustainability practitioner with over 7 years of grassroots experience working in the nexus of gender, peacebuilding, climate change, disability, health and wellbeing, governance, and labour rights for 11 business units and communities across Sri Lanka, Jordan & Indonesia. She is:

• A core member of Youth Advocacy Network Sri Lanka, focusing on sexual and reproductive health rights,   
• Member of the 30 for 2030 network by UN Women APAC,   
• Sounding Board Member of Local Leadership Labs & Member Advisory Group of CIVICUS  
• Vice Chair < 30 Governance & Ethics Committee & Secretary Adolescent Youth Constituency of PMNCH hosted by the WHO focused on maternal, newborn, and adolescent health & wellbeing. 
• Curator - Global Shapers Hub Colombo  
• Former Board Member of Sri Lanka Unites a youth movement focused on peacebuilding and reconciliation,   
• A Women Deliver Young Leader,   
• Wedu Global Rising Star,   
• Member of the Climate Champion Actions Network  
• Visiting Lecturer integrating SDGs to business management curriculums  
• Advisor – Decolonizing Aid at Bond UK  
• Founder of Amplifying Impact, an informal initiative focusing on enabling accessibility on marginalized communities.  

Being a Board Member at CIVICUS is a privilege especially as a grassroots advocate and mobilizer. It is a space that I can enable accessibility of grassroots voices reaching the policy table. Being part of the Board, allows me as a young person from South Asia to work in oversight and governance of the future landscape of the civil society. With the increased threat to democracies and humanity and halfway point to the 2030 agenda, I bring in the expertise of working in the nexus of key focus areas, accessibility to diverse networks, grassroots perspective and impact, collaborative and feminist leadership and my lived reality as an ethnic minority identifying as a female from South Asia.

1. What is your favorite quote by someone who inspires you?

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” - Margaret Mead

2. What skill are you most proud of or want to learn?

Skill I am most proud of is grassroot activism which for me is a humbling experience as I advocate not only for my rights but also the privilege of being able to carry consented voices and stories of different lived realities.   

Skill, I want to learn is networking in policy spaces.

3. What is your vision for civil society?

My vision for civil society is summed up well by this brilliant quote by Arundhati Roy ‘’Another world is not only possible; she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” The existence and impact of work done by movements such as CIVICUS and intersectional feminist movements visualizes a role where civil society is free as a breath and plays a role of enabling and evaluation of the ability to exercise and access rights and services. It would be an eco-system of equitable accountability and collaborative working in nexus of the causes to provide intersectional solutions. It would be a movement of reflection and critical thinking and questioning systems that do not support humanity. 

4. What lesson(s) have you learnt from failure?

Lessons learnt from failure(s)

• Learning to fail and to fail fast
• Importance of solidarity
• Failure takes different forms
• Its part of the cycle of learning
• Unpacking the privilege of failure