Amina Kureishi

Social entrepreneur empowering marginalized women through digital literacy in rural India

Amina Kureishi (b.1978) is an Indian social innovator behind Digital Dignity, an NGO training over 500,000 women in digital skills since 2005. Born in a conservative Muslim community in Hyderabad, she defied cultural norms to study computer engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. Her World Economic Forum report highlighted that 82% of rural Indian women lack basic digital access. She developed the 'Digital Dignity Kiosk' - solar-powered mobile units offering free coding classes, financial literacy workshops, and telemedicine consultations. In partnership with Oxfam India, her program has created 15,000+ women-led tech cooperatives. A 2020 study in Scientific Reports showed participants' household incomes increased by 300%. Kureishi's advocacy led to the 2019 National Digital Literacy Mission, which now includes mandatory women's participation clauses. Her TEDxHyderabad talk "Codebreaking for Equality" has 2.3 million views. Current projects include a blockchain-based certification system for women's digital credentials, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2022, she was named one of Time magazine's Most Influential People in Asia.