Azida Ahmad Azmi

Azida Ahmad Azmi is a current student in the M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program and serves as the Social Media Engagement & Outreach Officer of the student group Association for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (ANCoRS).

All the way from Malaysia, Azida aspires to thrive as a researcher focusing on deconstructing social inequalities. She considers education as a form of privilege that is a key to enhancing the academic trajectories of children from underprivileged backgrounds. She previously served as the President of MRA Siswa, focusing on humanitarian efforts as well as leadership development programs. She founded Suara Kritikal which was a non-profit that aimed to mobilize people and resources to champion equal access of opportunities to every single individual, regardless of identity. She now leads Resilient Circles to deconstruct complex social issues as an effort to encourage engagement from the general public and bridge the knowledge gap. She was the only female among 5 other Malaysian fellows selected for the YSEALI Academic Fellowship 2023, sponsored by the U.S Department of State.

In the future, Azida intends to strengthen her convergent and divergent thinking skills through research and work in the third sector to strengthen her understanding in areas involving capacity building. She believes that tackling systemic cultures that are discriminatory is critical to foster social cohesiveness that would allow all cultural groups to thrive in Malaysia. Although most first impressions have described her as an introvert due to her 'crazy cat and book lady' characteristic, she recharges her energy by forming new friendships!