Fatima Shabaan

Jordanian social entrepreneur improving refugee education access

Fatima Shabaan (b. 1988) is a Jordanian-Palestinian educator and founder of KnowMore, an NGO that provides free online education to refugees across the Middle East. Since launching in 2021, her platform has delivered over 1.2 million courses in Arabic and English to displaced populations in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. In 2023, she partnered with the UNHCR to integrate her curriculum into official refugee camps' education programs.

Shabaan developed the revolutionary 'Mobile Learning Pods' - solar-powered classrooms in shipping containers equipped with offline learning tools. These have been deployed in 15 conflict zones, enabling 80,000 students to continue studies despite internet disruptions. Her 2024 TED Talk highlighted how education reduces radicalization risks among displaced youth. Recently, her team created the first Arabic-language AI tutor system, Alif Learning, now used by 500+ schools in MENA region.