English subtitles for clip: File:Maryana Iskander self-narrated biography.ogg

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I was born in Cairo, Egypt.

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My parents emigrated to the United States
when I was four years old.

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Did some growing up in the bottom
corner of Washington State,

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I lived in Pullman, Washington.

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And then I suppose we moved
or emigrated to Texas,

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and then grew up outside of Austin, Texas
in a community called Round Rock.

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I was very fortunate to have
a great education at Rice University

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which is in Houston, Texas.

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And then I went
and studied in the UK briefly,

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before coming back and attending
a law school, which I did.

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I would say that the value
of going to law school was

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the opportunity to think and write better

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but I actually never practiced law
so I spent a year working as a law clerk

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in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals,
which is based in Chicago.

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And then my professional career began

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through a kind of serendipitous
set of conversations

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first with the incoming president
of Rice University.

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So I've had the privilege of working
in an academic institution.

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And I think that that's been
a great learning experience

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for some of the opportunities
and challenges in the Wikiverse.

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Then I found my way to Planned Parenthood

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which provides women's
reproductive health care

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and I did that for six years
based in New York City.

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And then I fell in love which was
not at all in my work plan or life plan

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and move to Johannesburg, South Africa.

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It took a while to figure out
how to live in a very different place

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and found myself gravitating
towards one of,

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I think, the most intractable
issues on the African continent

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and probably in many other societies,

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which is the challenge
of youth unemployment.

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We have almost a 70% unemployment rate
amongst our young people.

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So you can imagine the challenges
that that poses for the entire society,

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which is what I've been doing.

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I'm an eldest child,

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I have a sister who lives actually
in Albuquerque, New Mexico,

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with two beautiful nephews.