Home Sheroes of Qatar Natalie Magness – Be the one to bring the change

Sheroes of Qatar

Natalie Magness – Be the one to bring the change

July 4, 2021

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Natalie Magness is a 17-year-old high school senior studying at Doha British School. She is from Malaysia and moved to Doha, Qatar at the age of 4. She currently studies A levels in biology, chemistry and music, and learns the piano at Qatar Music Academy. Natalie currently holds a conditional offer to pursue an undergraduate BSc degree in the Human Sciences at University College London, starting September 2021.

Natalie is a high achiever in both the academic and musical fields and is an active member of both her school and community.

Academically, she consistently achieves stellar results, for instance, in 2019 she scored 10 grade 9s/A** in her IGCSE examinations and was one of only two students in Qatar to achieve this. This achievement earned her a mention in The Peninsula, Qatar Tribune, Gulf Times and Marhaba news. In 2020, in her 1^st paper of AS level chemistry, she scored 100%, the highest in her school and the world. Link to The Peninsula article

In 7^th grade, Natalie was selected by her school to attend the WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) Learning Labs and had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Michelle Obama. Link to Obama White House archive article of the event

Natalie began learning the piano at age 6 and has since achieved much in the musical field. She has completed ABRSM exams in music theory to Grade 8 and has held a full scholarship at Qatar Music Academy for two consecutive years. Natalie held her debut solo recital at Ziriab Hall of Qatar Music Academy at age 14 to a full house. In 2018, she participated in the Chethams International Piano Summer School and in 2019 at the Austrian Master Classes and was selected to perform in the closing public concert. Natalie has performed at many notable venues including the Katara Opera House where she was selected as a soloist to play with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra at age 15. During the lockdown period, she also won 2^nd prize in the Odin International Online Music Competition. Link to YouTube channel of her piano performances.

In 2019, Natalie was selected to present a workshop at the Qatar Leadership Conference titled ‘Music: The Key to a Harmonious World’ on the topic of the power of classical music and its uses in different fields like politics, medicine, social issues and more. She was subsequently also chosen to present this at the WISE Doha Learning Days event. Link to the Qatar Foundation write-up of the event

Natalie is also passionate about musical outreach where she uses her talents, combined with her sensitivity to different societal issues to create positive change in her community. She founded STARS4EDUCATION, a charity music concert to raise money for Education Above All’s ‘Together’ project aimed at supporting local disadvantaged students gain quality education. Through ticket sales and additional donations, she raised over QAR5000. Natalie was also awarded the Qatar Foundation Pre-University Education award for Outstanding Student in recognition of her work in creating and organizing the concert. Currently, she is planning another charity concert in support of the Qatar Cancer Society at her school.

In May 2021, Natalie was also fortunate to have been selected for the Education Above All Youth Advocate Program where she will have the opportunity to work with other young leaders and activists in helping EAA achieve its mission of bringing quality education to more children and youth around the world.

Natalie is an avid member of her school community, from being deputy head girl and previously holding the position of MUN (Model United Nations) Impact Lead. She has founded the initiative ‘Doha British School Listen to my Voice’ which is a public speaking platform for students to share their passions in the form of talks to an audience; similar to TEDx. This project has been successful and the 3^rd season will be taking place next term.

Natalie is the founder and executive director of a youth organization. The Sapien is an international youth organization dedicated to uniting students all over the world in a shared passion for learning through hosting discussions on the human-centred. As yet, The Sapien has reached secondary school and university students in over 20 countries spanning every continent. Some previous session titles include: Literature, Music & Art: Why do Humans tell Stories?, The Sociopolitical Impacts of Social Media and TikTok and Racism: Innate or Cultured? Furthermore, they have invited guest speakers to several sessions to share their insights on certain topics including university students and founders of other youth organizations around the world. The Sapien’s vision is to create a world in which youth from every geographic location can be connected and united through a shared passion for meaningful discussions and learning, while fostering a sensitivity to diverse perspectives of youth from every background and culture. Please visit their website and Instagram page.

Lastly, Natalie is passionate about fighting for gender equality whether that be in the education sphere or any other industry. She was selected as an ambassador for The Future is Female Qatar at Georgetown University Qatar, an initiative that aims to increase women’s participation in the public sphere, and she hopes to use this position to fight and advocate for women’s rights to education. Furthermore, she is fortunate to have been offered a full scholarship to attend the 2021 First Generation Activist’s Women Ambassador Forum, a platform to unite, empower and inspire women activists around the world.

As a Malaysian citizen, Natalie is proud and fortunate to have been selected as a Youth Ambassador for the ASEAN Youth Organization where she will have the opportunity to connect with other youth change-makers from South-East Asia to create positive sustainable change.

Most recently, Natalie was selected to participate in the Your Big Year Virtual Travel Impact Challenge, an exchange program to meet like-minded young people to bridge cultural divides, learn how to be a better global citizen and about the fields of travel and tourism.

Lastly, Natalie acknowledges the incredible opportunities and exposure this nation has given her over the years and in an effort to give back to the community that has shaped her to who she is today, she founded the Qatar Youth Power Conference, the first and only student-initiated conference in Qatar to develop, connect and empower the youth of Qatar to positively impact their communities through learning from Qatar’s brightest change-makers. The QYP Conference offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn from Qatar’s brightest change-makers through interactive workshops, keynotes, panel discussions and more. Attendees will gain the key skills and resources to be stronger drivers of change in their communities as well as have the chance to meet and build connections with like-minded students of Qatar. The QYP Conference is proudly partnered and supported by Maker Majlis of Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

The QYP Conference’s Official Digital Media Partner is I Love Qatar and the Other Partners are Qatar Medical Students’ Association (QMSA), Students Qatar, Greener Future and Doha Environmental Actions Project Qatar (DEAP)

Notable guest speakers include Khalifa Al Haroon (Mr. Q), CEO and Founder of I Love Qatar, Hamad Al Amari (The Qatari Guy), Comedian, producer, entrepreneur, Dr Mohamed Evren Tok, Assistant Dean of Innovation and Community Engagement and Associate Professor of Islam and Global Affairs and founder of Maker Majlis, Dr. Ameena Hussain Chief Curator and Director of Programs at WISE, Fatima El Mahdi Head of THIMUN Qatar, Neeshad Shafi Climate Advocate, Energy and Policy Expert on the Middle East and many more.

In the future, she hopes to venture into the humanitarian sector and work with non-profit non-governmental organizations. Though she is still undecided on the specific career path, Natalie is determined to use her unique skill set and experiences to continue to fight for positive social change and a better world.