Mevan Babakar is a writer and social entrepreneur.
Born in Baghdad, Mevan spent five years as a child refugee after her family fled Saddam Hussein’s genocide of the Kurds. Twenty-four years later, during a career sabbatical, she retraced the arduous path her family had once taken. This journey captured global hearts when she successfully located and thanked the aid worker who had gifted her a bicycle more than two decades earlier—a story of gratitude that inspired her debut children’s book, The Bicycle (HarperCollins/Farshore).
This deep-rooted understanding of human stories informs her work in the tech sector. At Google, Mevan specialized in information quality, partnering with DeepMind to launch BackStory, a pioneering tool for verifying online context. Her expertise was built at Full Fact, the UK’s leading fact checking charity, where as Deputy CEO she led a team building AI-powered fact checking tools. Their award-winning work won the Google AI Impact Challenge and continues to support fact checkers worldwide.
A recognized leader in democratic empowerment, Mevan was named an Obama Leader for Europe in 2023. She remains a tireless advocate for refugee support and voter access, serving as a trustee for UK for UNHCR and chairing Democracy Club. She also helped found the UK’s inaugural National Voter Registration Day, ensuring that every voice has the opportunity to be heard.
PS: It’s pronounced “me-van”
Mevan Babakar 