It was co-founded by Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and her father, Ziauddin.

[4] As of July 2020[update], the organization has 48 staff and supports 58 advocates working across Afghanistan, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

[10] In 2015, when the government of Sierra Leone closed schools due to the Ebola epidemic, Malala Fund bought radios and created classrooms for 1,200 marginalized girls to continue their education.

[18][19] In 2017, Malala Fund significantly expanded investment projects that Newsweek described as, "education advocacy programs run by local people — the kind Yousafzai and her father led when they lived in Pakistan — and will disburse up to $10 million a year over the next decade.

[40] Malala Fund has conducted research on the impact of girls' secondary education in collaboration with Brookings Institution, World Bank and Results for Development.