Hawa Tarawally

Hawa Tarawally joined Legal Aid DC as an intake program generalist in October of 2023. Prior to working at Legal Aid DC, Hawa was a student at Smith College in Massachusetts, where she studied Government and is two courses away from receiving her B.A.

Hawa was born at the height of the Blood Diamond Civil War in Sierra Leone, West Africa. That experience quickly gave her an understanding of the desperate need to address inequality. At eleven years old, she committed to using her voice to advocate for the rights of women and girls in her community and around the world. She is a leading advocate for the rights of women and girls and against the harmful practices of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/c) and child marriage.

Over the last couple of years, Hawa has had the opportunity to intern for two employers: Break the Cycle, a nonprofit that provides legal protection for minors in the Washington, D.C area, and the D.C Office of Human Rights, a government agency that investigates and guarantee remedies to Human Rights violations.

Hawa is the founder and Executive Director of Every Step Counts Foundation, an organization that educates and empowers women and girls about their fundamental human rights in Sierra Leone. Her experience working with women and girls in poor communities has inspired her to develop ideas that improve conditions that lead to better outcomes for all, especially in communities where these have been lacking.