Livingston—The National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section (NCJW/Essex) announces its 2015 Opening Event featuring Shiza Shahid, friend, advocate and global ambassador for Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani activist who, at 15 years old, dared to advocate for girls’ education and was shot by the Taliban in 2012. The NCJW/Essex Opening Event will take place on Tuesday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m., at Brooklake Country Club, 139 Brooklake Road, Florham Park, NJ.

Shahid, along with a recovered Malala and her father, designed the Malala Fund, a NYC-based nonprofit that empowers girls through education and leadership around the world. From her hometown of Islamabad, Pakistan, to the halls of Stanford University, 25-year-old Shahid has gone on to gain international recognition as a social entrepreneur who has made it her life’s work to drive social change and invest in others who are passionate about marching forward for global progress.

Malala’s story resonated throughout the world and she was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. A documentary about her life, “He Named Me Malala,” opens in theaters on October 2, 2015.

Registration is required for the Opening Event which is open to the public and is free of charge to NCJW/Essex members and $20 for nonmembers. Boutique shopping, coffee and dessert are available from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; the program begins at 7:30 p.m. Those nonmembers wishing to join NCJW/Essex can apply $20 toward a new yearly membership of $50. Attendees can register for the event by calling (973) 740-0588, or online at ncjwessex.org.

“Shiza Shahid’s energy and activism can inspire us all to search for ways to work for social change to make the world a better place,” says Deborah Legow Schatz, president of NCJW/Essex. “We look forward to hearing about what she has already learned in her young life and her drive to be an activist for social change.”