Maria Al-Masani (born 1984) is a

Yemeni Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

fashion designer and public relations executive who co-founded the ''Yemen Rights Monitor'', a blog to record human rights violations. In 2012, she was named as one of eight 'agents of change' by

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

's ''Inside the Middle East''.

Early life and career

Maria Al-Masani was born in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and moved to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

at age three. At 16, she moved to

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, attending a local college before relocating to Ottawa to study economic development at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

. Al-Masani came to national and international attention as the first contestant of Yemeni origin to enter the Miss Universe pageant at the national level for

Miss Universe Canada The Miss Universe Canada or "The Beauties of Canada" is a national beauty pageant in Canada, which sends its winners to the Miss Universe pageant. The Beauties of Canada Organization gained the exclusive rights to send a Canadian representativ ...

, and the first Yemeni contestant to win a title, of Miss Congeniality at the competition in 2010. She also worked for two political parties in the Parliament of Canada, one as an intern in 2006, the other as a staffer in 2013.

Activism

Al-Masani founded ''Yemen Rights Monitor'' during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

in 2011, providing a means of updating news via social media when traditional news media had been blocked – she was later cited by

Andy Carvin Andy Carvin is an American blogger and former senior product manager for online communities at National Public Radio (NPR). He accepted a position at First Look Media in February, 2014. Carvin was the founding editor and former coordinator of th ...

as one of his most reliable sources about opposition activities in Yemen. She has appeared as an activist against forced marriage on

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

's ''The Stream'', recounting her own escape from a potential forced marriage in Yemen. In 2012, Al-Masani was among the speakers at a summit hosted by Yahoo! in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

on women's use of technology to create positive change. In 2011, she spoke at the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference, discussing how social media has been used to circumvent censorship in Yemen. Maria Al-Masani supports free speech as the foundation of western civilization, modern civil society and decries censorship inspired by her late uncle Dr Abdulaziz Al Saqqaf.

Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf Professor Abdulaziz Y. Al-Saqqaf (24 October 1954 in Taiz – 2 June 1999) was a Yemeni human-rights activist, economist, and journalist. Saqqaf established the ''Yemen Times'', unified Yemen's first and most widely read English language, Engli ...

Dr Al-Saqqaf was the winner of the N.P.C.'s International Award for Freedom of the Press for 1995. Al-Masani serves on the board of Madbakh Women's International, a group whose projects have included raising funds for the National Boroma Fistula Hospital in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. She also discussed

fistula A fistula (plural: fistulas or fistulae ; from Latin ''fistula'', "tube, pipe") in anatomy is an abnormal connection between two hollow spaces (technically, two epithelialized surfaces), such as blood vessels, intestines, or other hollow or ...

on Al Jazeera's ''The Stream'' and in a feature in the Canadian political and government newspaper ''

The Hill Times ''The Hill Times'' is a Canadian twice-weekly newspaper and daily news website, published in Ottawa, Ontario, which covers the Parliament of Canada, the federal government, and other federal political news. Founded in 1989 by Ross Dickson and Jim ...

''.

Opera

Maria Al-Masani is a supporter of traditional classical music and organized Evening of Beauty along with Pellegrini Opera to fund-raise for the Evening of Beauty.

Happy Yemens and Haute Couture

Since Sept 24, 2014, during Yemeni civil war, Al-Masani started a collective Happy Yemen
www.happyyemens.org
to raise awareness for her besieged town of Taiz, besieged by Houthis. The expose of corruption had caused an outrage amongst many pro Houthi radical Islamist Twitter platform users, especially her post on UN corruption in collaboration with Houthi militias in Yemen. As her uncle Dr. Abdulaziz Alsaqqaf, founder of Yemen Times, was assassinated for his endeavors for a free press in Yemen, Al-Masani supports journalist ethics and truth in media, asking journalists to fact check, and is a supporter for truth in media for GamerGate. Since 2015, she has been studying classic haute couture at the Richard Robinson Academy, a school found by Richard Robinson who worked under Christian Dior himself. Her blog Ottawa Royal Style, popular among elegant discerning women
www.ottawaroyalstyle.com
focuses on a classic chic elegance, with an emphasis on aesthetics that will bring joy to the wearer, and help the client achieve her personal and professional goals. Her influences are vintage Dior, Jacques Fath and vintage Givency, Richard Robinson, Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad. She currently is a fashion designer, starting her own brand, Al-Masani Royal House, based on ideals of promoting elegance and beauty to help increase women's self esteem. www.almasaniroyalhouse.com

References

External sources

Yemen Rights Monitor
* ww.tvrogers.com/media?lid=237&rid=4&gid=284995/ Rogers Television br>CNN ''Inside the Middle East'' Women and the Arab uprisings: 8 'agents of change' to follow by Laura BohnChange Your World Cairo 2012 Women's Summit (PDF)

Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference report (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masani, Maria Al- 1984 births Living people Yemeni emigrants to Canada Yemeni women's rights activists People of the Arab Spring Place of birth missing (living people)