n Mali as in other African countries, historically few women went to school. Instead, many women were married at an early age and men did not consider women them when making certain core decisions in the society. But today this trend is changing in many regions of Mali and elsewhere. For our work at Mali Rising, we see this change happening in our school committees — the group of local people in charge of managing each school in Mali. I recently met a woman who exemplifies this change — Aicha Kone. Ms. Kone is a female leader who joined the school management committee of the Neways Academy in the village of Touban to champion the cause of girls.