Sarah Hesterman

Sarah Hesterman is an American gender equality activist and a U.S. delegate to the United Nations Youth Assembly.^[1] In 2014 she was named as one of the BBC 100 Women.^[2]

Early life and education

Hesterman was born in the United States to John W. Hesterman, a lieutenant general in the Air Force, and Dr. Jennifer Hesterman, a professor and retired Air Force colonel.^[1][3] As a child in a military family, she moved frequently as a child, living in places such as Washington D.C., Qatar, and the United Kingdom.^[1]

Hesterman is a student at Long Island University Global.^[1]

Activism

Hesterman's family moved to Qatar in 2013.^[4] She was driven to become an activist while living in the Middle East,^[5] and founded the Qatari branch of the United Nations Girl Up program at the American School of Doha^[6] in August 2014.^[1][3][4]

In 2015, Hesterman was involved in campaigning for the passage of the Girls Count Act, an American bill which aimed to improve registration and documentation of girls' births around the world.^[7]

In 2022, Hesterman became a program associate with #ShePersisted, an organization co-founded by gender equality expert Lucina Di Meco and democracy activist and elections specialist Kristina Wilfore.^[8][9] Hesterman has also written on how women's rights are threatened online by gendered disinformation in Hungary^[10] and Tunisia.^[11] These reports are a part of #ShePersisted's Monetizing Misogyny research series which examines the usage of gendered disinformation as a weapon to undermine the involvement of women in politics and to weaken democratic institutions and human rights.^[12]

Recognition

In 2015, Hesterman received the Air Force Military Child of the Year award from Operation Homefront.^[3][4]

In 2016, Hesterman was named one of the United Nations' Empower Women's Champions for Change.^[13][14]