Nwe Oo

Monarch 2014

Owner, Weaving Through Change

Nwe is a mother, a refugee, a worker, and a struggler who was born near the Bangladeshi-Burmese border. She is a social worker turned political activist and advocate for religious, immigrant, and indigenous rights, having co-founded the Rakhaing Women’s Union, the United Ethnic Nationalities Association, and the Burma Refugee Family Network.

She has served as a board member of the Refugee Women Network and Burmese Youth association, and has advised national and international organizations and campaigns, including initiatives of the United Nations and the White House.

Nwe is the owner of Weaving Through Change. Through this enterprise, she has helped Burmese women refugees empower themselves economically while preserving their traditions, as they create quality, natural, ethnic hand-woven products.

Nwe was honored as the Most Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011 and the Best Refugee Advocate of the Year in 2012.

She has a degree in Social Sciences from Potuakhali Women’s College in Bangladesh and a degree in Human Rights and Peoples Diplomacy from Thammasat University in Thailand.