"The HRDC was conceptualized almost 20 years ago to address challenges emerging in the management of the higher education sector in Botswana. At the time, Botswana had one national university, the University of Botswana, but there was a shift in the education ecosystem with new private service providers entering. It became clear that one university would not meet all the needs in terms of intake and access."

"We also look at ways to address the challenge of youth unemployment by utilizing resources to develop programs targeting young people, providing them with entrepreneurship skills and artisanal training. In the context of policy advisory, we produce knowledge products like foresight research to anticipate future job demands and those that will be phased out of the industry."

"It looks good when it has a positive impact on people’s lives. In Botswana, which has been driven mainly by the diamond mining sector, innovation means ensuring that key value chain beneficiaries are the communities in and around where the resources come from, and that these technical solutions are sustainable and won’t bring negative impacts on the environment and livelihoods."

"“Providing an escape”"

"At the end of the day, women have the constitutional right to be at decision making tables and they should ensure that they have a voice and contribute to develop programmes and laws that benefit them."

"I am driven by the thought of seeing myself reach the pinnacle of success."

"I am also driven daily by the belief that I was made to be a positive influence in people’s lives and make a meaningful impact in my community and globally."

"I would like to be remembered as a woman who cared about youth development and women development and who went about doing that in innovative ways."

"Go where you are needed, look for a gap that you can fill and go for it!"

"I really believe the Internet is a well of wealth when it comes to opportunities- be it sponsorships, scholarships, jobs etc."

"I have the audacity to dream, there is nothing that I believe is impossible for me to achieve with enough patience, time, hard work and determination."

"I have been down and out and have had circumstances on every front which could have potentially broken me and made me give up. But I have a tenacious fighting spirit and have learnt not to see rejection and failure as a reflection of my abilities or as a reflection of my journey but as necessary growing pains."

"It is always when I do the things that are purpose-driven that I am happiest, most fulfilled and go the furthest. I’ve learnt to listen out for the voice of God regarding my purpose and follow that."

"I am inspired by women who work hard to make ends meet. The woman who is a street vendor while carrying a child on her back in the heat and rain, the woman who walks Kilometers to go to the farm so that her children can eat."

"Never stop investing in yourself, take that short course, take a year off and go to school, do whatever you need to do to further your dreams."

"You are your own most prized commodity so you need to place yourself as your own highest priority"

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, to learn more, to do more and become more, then you are a leader."

"For me, the most rewarding thing is that I am able to influence people’s lives in my own small way."

"Radio puts one in a position of influence. Many people look up to you for guidance. This makes one humble, because you cannot give people advice when you do not practice what you preach."

"The time is ripe now for women to prove it beyond doubt that they deserve positions of responsibility by merit not by virtue of gender."

"We want our seat at the top table on merit, not because we are women. We should respect each other’s businesses and talents. At some point we should engage each other for a rewarded aid. Let’s be open with each other and advise one another. We need to team up and be passionate with what we do"

"Africa’s future belongs to its young people"

"The fight against Gender-Based Violence cannot be won by an individual or a movement that works in isolation and we all need to join hands in fighting for the rights of women and children."

"I speak to issues that people would rather not talk about and it makes them very uncomfortable."

"I would stage a nude protest by myself because it's a unique approach to addressing issues of Gender Based Violence."

"Most of my constituents were socialized to believe a woman cannot lead, meaning I have to double my efforts to lure people to my side."

"But hey, women who make history do not succumb to societal pressure."

"I've always known there was something in me about speaking on behalf of people and advocating for certain motions and things in the society."

"When you enter politics, you psychologically prepare yourself for the highs and lows but still, when bad things happen you think, "Oh my goodness...it is happening to me.""

"It remains a challenge for women to be active in partisan politics because the systematic challenges in our political landscape demoralize them."

"As women we have to fight until the decision-making-table is diverse."

"I encourage Batswana women to stop being fearful because when this nation tumbles down, we are going to struggle the most, together with our children."

"You become unstoppable when you work on things that people cant take away from you. Things like your mindset, character, personality, transparency, your entire big."

"Growth comes with pain."

"Man is not his race or ethnicity."

"Queer Literature and Culture: A Dialogue with Katlego Kai Kolanyane-Kesupile (November 2016)"

"Being trans* is becoming a black woman of complications (February 2017)"

"Kat’s Nine Lives: Performing Trans Identity/ies in Botswana (June 2017)"

"Developing the nerve to possess yourself | Katlego K Kolanyane-Kesupile | TEDxGoodenoughCollege (August 2017)"

"#TurnItAround UN SDG Action Campaign | Katlego K Kolanyane-Kesupile (Botswana) (September 2020)"

"Katlego K Kolanyane-Kesupile (2020)"

"The world we live in is created and it’s been being created and it is still being created. So why can’t we take things that we assume are the building blocks of what we know about our lives, about every single thing that we trust, and turn them upside down just to be a bit more accommodating."

"The core behind my work is to ensure that as Batswana we start discovering and learning from what we experience."

"I understand that it both is and is not my duty to deconstruct and then reconstruct my government’s views on the validity of citizens like me whom colonial constitutions factored out and vilified."

"Freedom will come when all Batswana can assume and inhabit whatever gender and other identities they are comfortable with."

"One thing you will learn from a lifetime of biting your tongue; memories lose their flavors."

"To truly understand that attaining accessible education, accessible healthcare, and ending poverty, means ensuring that we are cognizant of the voices and lives of people like me; whether it's people who are brown skinned, African, Indigenous, Queer identifying, disabled"

"If there is any place I don't belong, it's in a mind where the story of me starts with the branch of me being queer and not with my rural roots."

"We are the change makers"