Wasfia Nazreen is the first Bengali in the world and only Bangladeshi to have successfully climbed, amongst others, K2 and the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of every continent. 

Her passion has always been propelled by causes close to her heart and grounded in a strong foundation of meditation and self-realization practices. Thanks to a tragic beginning in life, Wasfia learnt early the true meaning of home. She went on to work with those who were “homeless” and has risked everything, over and over again, for the causes she believes in. In the fields of development and non-profits, mountaineering, guiding, storytelling, and education, she forged her own path far away from the arranged marriages and status quo for women in her country and chose instead to keep climbing. 

An outspoken activist since her late teens, Wasfia has won numerous national and global awards for her activism and commitment to empower women through the field of adventure. She was named by Men's Journal as one of the 25 most adventurous women of the past 25 years and by Outside magazine as one of the 40 women in the last 40 years who have advanced and challenged the outdoor world through their leadership, innovation, and athletic feats. 

Wasfia is the only female to hold the simultaneous titles of National Geographic Explorer & Adventurer, and won the People’s Choice Award at National Geographic Society’s 2016 Explorers Symposium.