Pittsburgh Strong Awards is this Friday, August 18th! Join us as we honor Aya Shehata, our Undergraduate College Woman recipient. Get your tickets here.
Aya Shehata has dedicated much of her time at the University of Pittsburgh to empowering women. She has been a mentor with Strong Women Strong Girls since her freshmen year. It was the first organization she joined and was the gateway in realizing her passion for empowering women and girls.
Aya was born to two Egyptian immigrants, both physicians with ties to UPMC. At Pitt, she was freshman representative and female social chair of the Muslim Student Association. She has also spoken at various political rallies. “It was an amazing experience, and I was proud to represent Muslims at such an important time in our country’s history.” Her nominator, Randa Foda says, “She has experienced discrimination in her day-to-day life from this but has always found ways to come out stronger on the other end.”
Last year, in addition to her dedication to SWSG, Aya helped start the student organization called Female Empowerment Movement (FEM) which empowers collegiate women and prepares them for their post-graduate life. She acted as Vice President last year and will be President in the fall.
Aya is a rising Junior with a double major in Psychology and Sociology, a minor in Chemistry, and a certificate in Arabic. She also does research at Magee Women’s Research Institute.