Activist Malala Yousafzai only graduated from Oxford University in June 2020, but she already has another major project lined up with her new production company Extracurricular.
The 23-year-old announced on Monday, International Women’s Day, that she’s teaming up with Apple TV+ to produce dramas, comedies, documentaries, and more that center women and children, according to Al Jazeera.
"I’m grateful for the opportunity to support women, young people, writers, and artists in reflecting the world as they see it," the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement released by Apple TV+. "I believe in the power of stories to bring families together, forge friendships, build movements, and inspire children to dream."
The multi-year partnership will also include animated and children’s series and Yousafzai hopes people of all ages will enjoy the programming.
Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for advocating for girls' education under a pen name in 2012, has not stopped using her voice to uplift others since. She helped bring global attention to the militant group’s violent threat to Pakistan’s young women by talking about her experience and went on to release her first book, I Am Malala, at the age of 16. She then founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit organization that works to promote girls’ education.
Apple has been a supporter of the advocate for years, producing a documentary about her in 2015. The company later became Yousafzai’s first laureate partner in 2018 and sponsored her organization’s work with local advocates to address girls’ education challenges in eight countries. The tech company has also published articles on Apple News from Yousafzai’s digital publication for girls and women, Assembly.
Tim Cook, CEO at Apple, met Yousafzai in 2017 and said he knew he wanted to work with her right away.
"Apple TV+ for us is a platform for very impactful and creative storytellers that really want to connect with their audience and change the world in the process," Cook told CBS News. "And there's no better example of that than Malala."
Yousafzai is one of several influential figures to recently partner with Apple TV+ to create content, including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and more.
What a perfect way to kick off #InternationalWomensDay! @Malala, this is such exciting news! And thank you @GayleKing for the great conversation. https://t.co/YhWJEYGR7Y
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 8, 2021
"This is something I'm really excited about," Yousafzai told CNN. "There's my own story, I have been telling that and I have met so many girls, and I have been able to build a platform that they can tell a story. But now it's time to go even more and to do even more and to have the platform of storytelling and bring new perspectives."