Founders

"At our Congress a minor tone resounded for the affliction of our co-religionists in Russia. The only answer to our prayers was a mournful echo of our own helplessness, and to-night our hearts go out to our fellow-beings in Armenia. Would we know the details of their suffering, let us read our own History, where torture, famine, and cold track with dead bodies our pilgrimage through the centuries. Let us hope for a time when the pure robe of Religion will no more be trailed in the dust to cover national sins, greed, and ambition."

"In all our efforts in the widest fields we must aim at the elevation of the home, that bulwark of society, remembering the standard established by our fore-fathers. We must train the children to love the higher things of life — the treasures that cannot be bought and sold — thus securing for them the consolations of thought-life that never fail."

"We must add our voices to those who cry out that there is a standard below which we will not allow human beings to live, and that that standard is not at the freezing nor starving point....In a democracy all are responsible."

"woman's sphere is the whole wide world."

"“I saw flashes of the manifestations of the war on Nigerian women: women arrested on trumped up charges and raped in custody, commercial sex workers arrested for the sexual pleasure of the Police and detained for days, I saw women who were killed for trying to resist their Police abductors and labelled armed robbers or girlfriends of criminals, accused of illegal possession of hard drugs (which they would have planted on their victims), and so on and so forth. I told God that Temisan should not be added to the statistics and quickly threw a boubou on my night gown, and raced out to save my daughter!“"

"“Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge comes change, so let us all #ChooseToChallenge and call out gender bias and inequity,”"

"“It is our collective responsibility to break the culture of silence around women’s human rights violations; feminisation of poverty and women’s exclusion from decision-making arenas. Let us demand accountability everywhere and together we shall make meaningful change happen,”"

"“Who should we hold accountable for improving the lives of women in order to enrich the nation on the long run? Why should we hold them accountable?”"

"I am a feminist because I am unapologetically passionate about improving the status of women. I believe in the capability and potential of women and I acknowledge the role of patriarchy in the oppression of women around the world. I disagree completely with the perception of women as inferior, subordinate, and second-class citizens. I believe every woman must have a voice to make choices. I work in solidarity with other women and some men to fight patriarchy and make women visible as critical stakeholders to improve their condition and position."

"“Which opportunities have we lost? How can younger women stand on the shoulders of older women so that they can see farther ahead?""

"“Much as I am against the death penalty I think we are at a point where we have to take drastic measures to protect Nigerian girls and women from the war unleashed on them by the perpetrators of sexual violence. So, that may be an option to life imprisonment. That will surely help reduce the incidences of rape in our society as offenders will have an idea of the fate that would befall them if they dare break the law. It is in our hands to make things happen. If we really want the war on rape to stop the policy of death penalty on rape in Nigeria needs to be adopted.”"

"“We have to be proactive by providing sexuality education to boys and girls in primary and secondary schools, as well as make conscious efforts to reorient men by teaching our boys about respect for a woman’s personal space.”"

"“With this Name & Shame Project, we are saying to victims and survivors that we believe their account of a rape incident and we stand with them as they call out their rapists.”"

"“One of the reasons rapists get away with the crime is that society has a way of violating the victims of rape all over again when they speak up. That happens when we disbelieve or blame them for putting themselves in the line of the rapists.""

"Small breakthroughs inspire me. I am motivated when I see smiles on the face of a woman who took a decision to leave an abusive relationship; I am inspired when a young woman sees the big picture and dedicates herself to championing the cause of women. I rededicate myself when I see women in positions of power stand with other women."

"“I have wanted to say these eight words for a very long time, that ‘I am the woman God has shown mercy"."

""I am constantly chasing the next opportunity to create something that adds value”"

"I would like to see more women play an active role in all film related fields. From lighting, finance, cinematography, editing to directing, we need more women taking space."

"When you meet someone that is the definition of kindness, of partnership, of love, of understanding, it just makes life easy."

"There can be beauty in things that are not necessarily deemed as beautiful."

"Beauty isn’t what you think I should look like, or what you say I should be. Beauty is simply ME."

"Prove them wrong. Every last one of them."

"Talent is scarce and hard to keep."

"The most successful entrepreneurs I know are optimistic. It's part of the job description."

"Therefore, seven years ago I started Dare to Dream, to give the upcoming generation a chance I never had!"

"When I was growing up as a dusty little village girl, I never had the chance to sit down with a pilot nor see the inside of a flying machine until I had the opportunity to fly it"

"This time around I knew nobody was going to stand on my way, now I was going to follow my dreams. My mother cried. I told her “No mother, this is my dream, this what I want; this is what resonates in my hear"

"At the time, as a girl in my community, the best you could do was be a nurse or a teacher. There was little inspiration to be a pilot. I had to rely on my own research and the little career guidance to learn more about aviation."

"I realized that teaching was not my passion"

"But even then, I did not get the blessing of my parents"

"There were times I felt like throwing in the towel but, I liked the idea of serving my country, and at the back of my mind, I also wanted to see myself in the cockpit of a military plane"

"When I was growing up, I never had the chance to sit like this with a pilot or get into an airplane until I had the chance to fly one. After I qualified as a pilot, I sat down and thought: ‘What can I do to give the upcoming generation, especially those who grew up in a village, like me, an opportunity to do that?’"

"This initiative will train 30 youth aged between 18 and 35 years for three months and equip them with the latest skills in CV writing, social media and digital branding, and business planning, among others"

"I started Dare to Dream to give back to the community and to try and open up their eyes to opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to"

"I have fulfilled my dreams. I hope to inspire young women to be fearless in pursuing what sets their souls on fire. I want to teach them to be brave enough to explore uncharted territory and make strides in male-dominated industries"

"I always wondered how it would be to be in the sky like a bird, flying that huge machine."

"It is such grassroots programs that are helping young people to develop an interest in aviation and engineering. Botswana is one of the few countries in which Airbus Foundation has launched the famed Little Engineers Discovery program"

"To date, we have flown close to 400 students in partnership with Air Botswana and the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana"

"In other African countries such as Rwanda, you’ll find that coding and robotics are part of the curriculum"

"We just need to channel the youth in the right direction to take advantage of the technological era, and prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the businesses of tomorrow, which will be definitely different from the businesses of today,” she says."

"Speaking from the viewpoint of an educator, I might mention that acting in all countries and with all races reflects and expresses to some extent the quality of life. Acting follows the drama by necessity, realistic actors for the realistic drama. And we have here in our country fine acting and good actors in plays written and cast to their type, but as for so-called 'stylized' acting, we have almost none at all. This is largely due to the fact that we are not trained in acting in the classics or in the eighteenth century drama. Perhaps the reason we have not had more Shakespeare revivals is that it is difficult to find actors sufficiently trained and capable."

"As a people, we Americans love the theatrical art and in order that the theater may be a significant factor in our national life, we have had it said we should produce plays representative of American life. This is obviously true, but is it not true also that a generous sprinkling of Shakespeare would be a fine racial tonic for us?"

"I always say – let all your doubts happen before you commit. Once you’ve committed to pursuing something, don’t look back."

"Sometimes when you have choices that actually makes it harder. But when I knew that I had no choice but to survive. That is when my determination kicked in."

"Founders Spotlight: Tuduetso Masire (Founder, MatchAPro) (18 May 2022)"

"“Being patient and listening to your intuition helps you decide when to keep going or when to refine your strategy.”"

"I would advise young girls to build a strong relationship with their intuition and become its best friend because that is what keeps you reassured at every step of the way. Identify what your inner critic says to you and learn how to cut it out because that is usually what stops us from making moves. Don’t be afraid to fail, also don’t do mediocre work, take yourself seriously because people treat you how you treat yourself. And lastly, believe in abundance, because nothing is out of reach; God made enough for everybody, so it’s up to you to find where your bread is."

"I made sure to always have a respectable reference; people don’t like to talk to complete strangers therefore I advise people to network as often as possible; join clubs, go to conferences, go to business social events and really talk to as many people as possible on a regular basis so that you constantly know someone who knows someone."

"There is always someone rooting for you and trying to connect you, which has really been instrumental."

"I build innovation models just from being annoyed by waiting in line for something that I don’t believe I should be waiting for."