NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright, the former U.S. Secretary of State, was the founding
vice-chairman of NDI before her election as chairman of the Institute in January 2001.
NDI established the Madeleine K. Albright Grant in 2005 to recognize her contributions
to the empowerment of women across the globe.

Winners are selected from a competitive pool of applicants to receive $25,000 to
support an initiative promoting women’s participation in civic or political life.
The award builds on NDI’s Win with Women Global Initiative, which promotes
strategies for increasing women’s political leadership worldwide. Political leaders
from more than 100 countries have become part of the Initiative. Previous grant
recipients are the Women’s Discussion Club of Kyrgyzstan; the ACT from Egypt;
Chocó Women of Colombia; the Women’s League of Burma;
the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone; the Mostar Women’s Citizen Initiative;
the Women’s Political Caucus of Indonesia; and Aswat Nisaa (Women’s Voices) of Tunisia.

The Madeleine K. Albright Grant is made possible through the generosity of
the Melvin and Bren Simon Foundation. NDI is grateful to the foundation for
its commitment to the Institute’s women’s political participation programs.

Worker Women Social Organization (WWSO) is a nongovernmental and 
nonprofit organization based in Kandahar, Afghanistan, dedicated to social 
development, with a particular focus on women’s and youth engagement in 
public life and peacebuilding.

Established in 2010 by a group of young women activists, WWSO supports 
and empowers vulnerable communities without access to basic services through 
vocational training, leadership development and civic education. Through its 
work, WWSO seeks to help women and youth in Kandahar address critical 
social needs – such as education, health care, civil rights and legal literacy – 
as well as to meaningfully participate in their local communities.

As a non-partisan organization, WWSO has coordinated with key Afghan 
government agencies, such as the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and other NGOs 
to promote an educated, healthy, and active Afghan society.