Global Health, Gender Activist and President of the Yasmin Leadership Academy
Washington, DC

Yasmin Halima is an award-winning activist, recognized for building powerful partnerships that engage voices often unheard.

With two decades in global health, Yasmin has worked across philanthropy, academia and government. As consultant to the Gates Foundation, Yasmin helped to resolve conflicts related to the early HIV prevention trials. She co-founded the Industry Liaison Forum with the President of the International AIDS Society to accelerate clinical research in developing nations.

While director of the Global Campaign for Microbicides, Yasmin led the shift of resources from Washington DC to sub-Saharan Africa.  At Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations agency, she offered strategic counsel and prepared pharmaceutical executives for public scrutiny.In her most recent role as head of communications for Right to Care in South Africa, Yasmin launched EQUIP as a global brand, profiling EQUIP’s impact as a rapid response program for HIV treatment across four continents.

Yasmin has chaired congressional briefings, served on the boards of European and U.S. AIDS activist coalitions and taught global health at American University in Washington DC.

She completed her Master of Public Health at Columbia University. In 2010, Yasmin received the British Asian Woman of Achievement Social and Humanitarian Award recognizing her work with women and HIV.

From her childhood in Gujarat, India, to growing up in the heart of industrial England, and later making a home in Washington DC, Yasmin’s fierce independence has focused on creating opportunities for women of color. She co-founded the Yasmin Leadership Academy with her daughter, Dr. Seema Yasmin, a physician, professor and journalist. The Yasmin Leadership Academy nurtures future women leaders and challenges gendered attributes of power and leadership.