Portfolio

MAKING SOME NOISE

Hayat Mirshad is a Lebanese feminist activist, journalist, trainer and communications and advocacy expert. Born in 1988, Hayat’s educational background included Gender in Development and Humanitarian Assistance (GDHA) Diploma from the Lebanese American University- Beirut and BA in English literature from the Lebanese University.

Unapologetic and uncompromising, Hayat’s mission is to ensure girls and women have access to justice, information, protection and human rights. She continues to spread her message through various platforms by organising nationwide marches, and rallying the masses to challenge corrupt, patriarchal regimes and demand change. She was ranked among BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2020.

Hayat is an advocate for women and girls’ rights since 2007, where she coordinated and led various projects and campaigns about gender equality and women’s rights in Lebanon. She is a co-founder and executive director at FE-MALE, Editor in Chief of Sharika wa Laken feminist platform, Feminist Advisory Board member at Care International, Board of trustees member at Takatoat feminist collective-Jordan, and former Head of communications and campaigning at the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering- RDFL.

Hayat is a gender, communications and campaigning trainer since 2009, where she managed and conducted more than 100 trainings targeting more than 2500 women, girls, men and boys with various reputable organizations, including BBC media action, Internews, UNFPA, Plan International, UNDP, Women’s Learning Partnership- WLP, Euromed Feminist Initiative and YWCA.
A loud and proud feminist and experienced communicator, Hayat has spoken at a number of national, regional and international platforms, conferences and events about women’s rights and media, and was chosen as a member in a number of boards and consultative committees for different national and international organizations including UN Women and Action Aid.

Her feminist production included producing and contributing to a number of documentaries, articles, studies, researches and toolkits including a Code of Conduct between Media institutions/personnel and Women NGOs in Lebanon on gender-sensitive media coverage in conflict/post-conflict situation and a training toolkit on gender-sensitive media coverage. She also produced in 2019, a media handbook defining the principles of ethical and balanced reporting on
migration in the North-Africa and Mediterranean region for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Her passion towards journalism led her to practice it at young age precisely since the year 2006, where she worked and contributed as a writer, reporter, content producer and guest producer for a number of media outlets including Aljadeed TV, OTV, Al- Akhbar newspaper, Annahar newspaper and Al Nidaa magazine. In May 2012, Hayat initiated and was the anchor and producer of the first feminist radio program in Lebanon “Sharika Wa Laken” (A Partner Not Yet Equal), which was broadcast on Sawt El Chaab (Voice of People) Lebanese radio station. The radio show was transferred in 2015 into a leading feminist online platform in Lebanon and the region, where she is now its Editor in Chief.