As a preschool teacher in the 1980s, Souadou had already begun working with women’s associations. She became aware of the problem of violence against women in the home and encouraged the school to set up a counseling center to help victims. Souadou continued her fight, collaborating with a large number of local associations, clubs and national and international civil society organizations in an effort to develop extracurricular activities related to the environment, the fight against female circumcision, micro-credit and various activities focusing on women and teenagers.

In 1995, Souadou and a group of women decided to set up an association in Burkina Faso to focus on the problems of teenagers. Three years later, she created the Association Malienne pour la Promotion des Jeunes Filles et des Femmes (AMPJF), choosing to devote herself entirely to the plight of adolescent girls in Mali.