Start Small. Think Big. Act Now.

This April, Chatham Hall welcomed Shiza Shahid as the 2025-2026 Polly Wheeler Guth ’44 Leader in Residence for two days that challenged, energized, and inspired our community to think differently about leadership, purpose, and the power of action.

Each year, through the Polly Wheeler Guth ’44 Leader in Residence program, Chatham Hall brings women of impact to campus, leaders who are actively shaping the world in meaningful ways. These visits are more than speaking engagements; they are transformational moments. Students have the opportunity to see, up close, what it looks like to live a life of purpose, to lead with conviction, and to navigate the real-world complexities of impact. Shiza’s visit was a powerful example of that mission in action.

From the moment she arrived, Shiza brought both global perspective and deeply personal insight. Her story, growing up in Islamabad, volunteering as a teenager in women’s prisons, organizing relief efforts in Kashmir, and later attending Stanford University on scholarship, set the stage for a conversation that was as grounded as it was expansive.

While at Stanford, Shiza reached out to Malala Yousafzai and her father, eventually co-founding the Malala Fund after the 2012 attack that brought global attention to Malala’s advocacy. At that moment, one of many in Shiza’s life, reflected a defining pattern: when she sees something that needs to exist, she doesn’t wait. She builds it.

And that was her message to Chatham Hall students.

Start small. Take action. Trust that it will grow.

“The biggest things I’ve done started as the smallest things,” she shared. “If you show up, you will find your path.”

Throughout her time on campus, Shiza met with groups of students, including community meals, joint classes, and the Global Entrepreneurship I, where she broke down the real skills behind entrepreneurship, not as abstract ideas, but as lived practices:

She spoke candidly about challenge and uncertainty, offering students a refreshing honesty about success. “When you do hard things, it doesn’t get easier,” she said. “But you realize you can do hard things.”

That mindset, leaning into discomfort, seeing failure as a gift, and staying open to possibility, resonated deeply with students navigating their own ambitions and questions about the future. Shiza also spoke about the importance of values as a guiding force. Her life, she explained, did not unfold as she expected; it became something far greater. “I never imagined living in the United States,” she reflected. “I focused on what was in front of me and where I could make a difference, and it led me to places I never thought possible.”

Her advice to students was both simple and profound: don’t get stuck overthinking the future.

“Young people can get paralyzed by possibilities. Go down the street and help someone. When you do that, you will make a difference.”

Again and again, she returned to the idea that leadership is not about waiting for the perfect moment; it’s about responding to what moves you.

“Pay attention to what stirs something in you,” she said. “That’s where your path begins.”

Shiza’s visit also underscored a powerful truth about investing in women and girls. When you invest in a young woman, she explained, the impact extends far beyond the individual—into families, communities, and across generations.

Today, as co-founder of Our Place and NOW Ventures, Shiza continues to build ventures that center purpose, culture, and connection. Yet, she remains grounded in the same principle that guided her from the beginning: start where you are.

“If you take the right attitude,” she told students, “you can take on hard things better.”

Over two days, Chatham Hall students didn’t just hear from a global leader; they experienced what it means to live with courage, conviction, and curiosity. Through her words and her presence, Shiza challenged each student to consider not just what they want to do, but who they want to be.

And perhaps most importantly, she left them with this reminder: