Vusala Eynullayeva

What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?

I am from Baku, Azerbaijan — the country still facing gender inequality, domestic violence, limited education, and earlier marriage for girls and women. I had an open-minded family who loved and cared about our education and let us make our choices freely. I followed my education abroad and found a job, staying in Europe. However, I saw how many girls were deprived to live their youth life, finish education, travel, and learn. I decided to step in and contribute by sharing knowledge and experiences and by educating girls and women on gender equality.

Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.

I organized a CV writing workshop online through Skype for up to 20 girls who were unemployed to improve their work opportunities. After the workshop, they were sharing prepared CVs and later job opportunities they got with me.

Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?

I am working on developing my technical skills (Tableau, SQL) by taking courses in the Coursera platform. I am doing Vinyasa Yoga on a daily basis and currently holding online yoga sessions with girls and women to support their mental well-being in lockdown. I love cycling and use it as a transport mode in traveling. Hiking is another activity I am doing monthly basis. I am learning Spanish, and have studied it for a year and a half and aim to make it fluent. Learning a language is another journey to understanding and learning about a different culture. I am also traveling to different countries three to four times a year and sharing these experiences on my Instagram blog.