Lilia Khousnoutdinova (CZE)

Lilia was born into a Tatar family as the eldest of five siblings. She grew up in the Czech Republic, France, the UK and the USA, studied Political Science and History at Oxford University and then added Gender & Development at the London School of Economics. She is an entrepreneur, publicist and initiator of awareness programmes. She founded the Propolis 33 Foundation, which is dedicated to planned parenthood, maternity, reproduction and feminist-themed projects. She is a member of the Board of the Czech Helsinki Committee. In recent years, as a doula and Active Birth lecturer, she has been actively supporting initiatives for positive changes in Czech obstetrics, e.g. the #kozaven campaign or the @naporoduzalezi.cz project. Last year, she and Czech singer Olga Lounová finished 46th in the East African Safari Classic rally, the toughest challenge in their category, which they rode under the banner of "Birth rally" with the idea of respectful and safe care for women in the perinatal period.
As an avid traveller, Lilia loves the mysterious Bhutan, where she has returned at least once a year for the past 15 years, including working under the patronage of the Queen Mother or ensuring the reconstruction of the chorten at Kila Gompa Monastery.
Lilia is also the author of a number of successful books on women's issues as well as collections of jewellery and dresses.
In 2022, together with her husband Karel Janeček, they ranked 9th on Forbes magazine's list of the Czech Republic's greatest philanthropists.