Amnani Abdul Kadir is a feminist, women’s rights advocate, and a community mobilizer committed to resolving social issues. She began her career as a volunteer at Women's Aid Organization (WAO) Malaysia, handling crisis calls. She spent a decade as WAO's Partnerships and Development Director, promoting the mission to eliminate violence and discrimination against women and children. Amnani has worn many hats, from content creator, fundraiser, trainer, and crisis support officer, to serving as a member of the domestic violence key messaging committee under the Ministry for Women, Family and Community.

IVLP Impact Award Project: Mobilizing Community and Youth Assistant Child Protectors 

Amnani’s project will create a coalition of Assistant Child Protectors, bringing together committed community members who step up to volunteer in the protection of children against violence and abuse. This program bridges the gap between community and government services, resolving the problem of lack of capacity and manpower in child protection. Trained volunteer child protectors will be installed under the social welfare department, providing more on-the-ground child protectors to support and protect children from abuse.

“Never underestimate the power of exchanges of ideas and knowledge sharing. Ideas from anywhere when shared can inspire greatness that can change lives and create impact. Dr. Sherry Mueller from the American University taught me about synthesis and reflection as a method to imprint knowledge that we learned from one another.”- Amnani Abdul Kadir

IVLP Exchange Experience

Amnani participated in the IVLP Project NGO Management I, organized by the U.S. Department of State and World Leaning, in partnership with the New York Program Branch, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, International Institute of Wisconsin, and Global Minnesota.

Amnani’s exchange experience led to the development of her project: “It was the framework of community service conducted by Cleveland young adults, high school graduates who come back to support high school students in their studies and act as mentors, that inspired me to develop the current program. I thought it was a brilliant national service initiative. Samantha, who was the program coordinator, spoke about how the program allowed young adults to support high school students in their studies to ensure that they graduated high school. I am in touch with her on LinkedIn and will connect with her to discuss City High leadership methodology and training of their volunteers so I may utilize the content and apply it locally to the Malaysian context.”

“IVLP inspired me to develop programs that link all stakeholders in creating impact. I learned that volunteers can play a pivotal role in the theory of change and that young adults can be nurtured and developed to be leaders who have empathy and who understand that they too, in their own capacity as volunteers and giving back to the community, can impact change and help save a life.” -Amnani Abdul Kadir

U.S. Communities Visited 

Washington, DC; Minneapolis, MN; New York City, NY; Cleveland, OH; Philadelphia, PA; Milwaukee, WI

Country: Malaysia

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