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WCW | Our Woman Crush Wednessday is Juliet Ehimaun

Juliet Ehimuan is an expert and entrepreneur who currently serves as Google‘s Country Manager in Nigeria.

In August 2011, she was listed in Forbes ‘ “20 Youngest Power Women In Africa.”

According to London Business School Reviews she is one of 30 People Who Are Changing the World, according to London Business School Review.

Below is a brief profile of her by London Business review

  • Juliet Ehimuan wants to raise human dignity by helping to develop human capacity and create opportunities for growth. But Ehimuan is not a charity boss or a UN chief. As Country Director of Google Nigeria, she’s a global tech leader whose contributions to technology and entrepreneurship have won her multiple awards and recognition, including being named one of Forbes’ 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa and featuring in the third series of the BBC Women of Africa strand, Power Women.

She is a member of the London Business School Global Women’s Scholarship. In 2012, she won the “IT Personality of the Year” at the 2012 National Information Technology Merit Award.

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Meghan Markle’s British Vogue Issue The Fastest Selling In The History Of The Magazine

With Megan Markle becoming a member of the royal house, her space has constantly been thrown in the spotlight.

It’s common for members of the royal house to appear on magazine covers but when Meghan was asked to guest-edit the 2019 September issue of British Vogue she further edged herself into history.

The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, announced that the issue was the fasted selling issue in the history of British Vogue, having been sold out in 10 days, and was the best-selling issue of the decade. In its 103-year history, it was also the first time a September issue was guest-edited.

Meghan’s concept for the issue was to put a spotlight on women who are making a positive change in the world. Instead of her face on the cover, she had the likes of supermodel Adut Akech, English actress Gemma Chan and activist and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

“You have an editor’s eye, I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Edward says about Meghan’s editorial direction. Wit this influence as Duchess of Sussex is the clear cut reason for the success of the “Forces of Change” issue.

Although Meghan,  has recently stepped away from her official royal duties, she was expected to join the list of other royals who have graced the magazine’s cover – but she chose to pay homage to other women instead. Other royals like  Princess Diana in 1981 and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, who appeared in 2016 have graced the British Vogue’s cover.

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Meet Juliana Stratton, Illinois First Black Lieutenant Governor

During black history month, light is shed  on many people who show and prove that black lives matter.

Juliana Stratton is one such person, she became the first African-American to serve as Illinois’ lieutenant governor. She is also the fourth African-American woman in U.S. history to hold a lieutenant governorship.

A lawyer and politician she has been serving as the 48th lieutenant governor of Illinois leading the Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative, and chairing the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, the Military Economic Development Council and the Illinois River Coordinating Council.

She began her own consulting firm which focuses on alternative dispute resolution and served as a mediator, arbitrator and administrative law judge for several government agencies.

Born September 8, 1965, in Chicago, Illinois, she has been known with notable works such as sponsoring 38 bills, eight of which she managed to sign into law, including legislation on prison and criminal justice reform.

Lieutenant Governor Stratton previously served as Director of the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was Executive Director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council, and a Deputy Hearing Commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection.

Stratton advocates for the creation of safe spaces for the youth, and is also a restorative justice practitioner and trained peace circle keeper whose aim is to improve public safety and building stronger communities.

She was also a founding board member of the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center and served on the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Protective Association.

On her words during her inauguration ceremony after she took the oath of office she remembered how her great-great-grandfather, William Stevens, rose out of slavery.

“On Dec. 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state. Two hundred years later, with the DNA of my formerly enslaved great-great-grandfather William Stevens as part of my genetic makeup, I am proud to stand before you as our state’s first black lieutenant governor,” Stratton said.

“These brothers, formerly enslaved, were industrious, and continued to build this community,” Stratton said.

“They farmed the land, growing cotton, vegetables, and fruit, and tended to livestock and poultry. They helped create every institution their tenants needed to live full lives: a church, a school, a general store, a post office.”

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Ntsiki Mazwai wants women to stop ‘hiding’ afros under their weaves

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Chimamanda Adichie Comes First At This Again!

Award winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will become the first black woman  to deliver the address of the University of Pennsylvania at the 264th Commencement since 1978, and will also receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. This will take place on the 18th of May.

The announcement was made by the Vice President and University Secretary, Medha Narvekar.

Amy Gutmann, president of the University said: “We are honored to bestow our highest degree on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and have her address our graduates at Penn’s 264th Commencement. Her compelling narratives and absolutely fascinating commentary on complex cultural issues elevate the power of the individual voice.”

Penn trustee and chair of the trustee Honorary Degree Committee Julie Beren Platt, stated that: “It will be our pleasure to welcome renowned author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as our 2020 Commencement speaker and to celebrate the contributions of all of our extraordinary honorees. Their exceptional achievements encompass world-changing discovery, creativity, scholarship, the guardianship of justice, and compassionate service to others. We are privileged to honor them as we celebrate Commencement and our wonderful Class of 2020.”

Congrats to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie!

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Nigerian Academy Of Science Elects Its First Female President

On February 6, the Nigerian Academy of Science appointed professor, Ekanem Braide, as President-elect.

Ms Braide, who is the immediate past Vice-President of the Academy, will be the first female president of the Academy in 43 years of existence when she takes over office in January 2021.

Ms Braide, was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. She was a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, with a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. She is a former Vice-Chancellor at Nassarawa State University, Lafia.

She is to take over from Mosto Onuoha (Professor of pure and applied geophysics) and will then lead the Academy in achieving an improved quality of life for the Nigerian society through the promotion and application of science and technology; as well as strengthen the nation’s ability to deliver the fruits of science to society by the acquisition, growth, and dissemination of sound scientific knowledge and facilitation of its use in the solution of major national problems.

While, Abubakar Sambo (Professor of Mechanical Engineering) takes over from Ms Braide as the new Vice-President of the Nigerian Academy of Science.

Congratulations to her.

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Meet South Africa’s First Black Female Police Pilot Inspiring The Next Generation -CNN

Refilwe Ledwaba is a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, a flight instructor, an advocate for women’s rights and a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation goalkeeper who made history by becoming the first black female pilot to fly for the police service in South Africa.

“For a long time, I was the only black female that was holding the highest license for helicopters… But being the first for me is not important. The important is the 20th person, the 30th person, then we can start talking,” she said.

The numbers are hard to come by but according to a report by the University of Nebraska, women make up less than 10% of pilots, maintenance technicians and airline executives globally.

Why are there so few women in aviation?

Ledwaba says she’s on a mission to improve the numbers — starting in Africa.

She teaches young pilots in training how to operate aircraft. She also runs the Girls Fly Programme in Africa (GFPA), a foundation with a focus on introducing elementary and high school students to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Raised by a ‘superwoman’

She would later become the first black woman to pilot a helicopter in the South African Police Service (SAPS). Today, she is a contract flyer for various charter companies on the continent.

(Courtesy of Gypseenia Lion / Forbes Africa )
Pic Credit: Gypseenia Lion

Ledwaba, who is qualified to fly both helicopters and airplanes, credits her journey to the strong women in her community while growing up in an apartheid era.

Ledwaba grew up in Limpopo, a province in the northeast of South Africa. Her mother, a teacher, raised seven children alone.

She says her upbringing influenced her chosen path.

“I don’t know how she (her mother) did it, she sent us all to university. So, from a very young age, I always thought I could be anything because I looked at her and I’m like ‘Oh, there’s a superwoman,'” she said.

Ledwaba initially planned to become a doctor, and to help fund her studies, she got a job as a flight attendant. She later realized she was interested in learning to fly so she began taking private flying lesson.

Thirteen years later, she has gained experience flying a range of choppers and airplanes.

Changing the face of aviation

In 2010, Ledwaba started the Girls Fly Programme in Africa (GFPA) to introduce girls in elementary and high school to STEM at a young age

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Female Astronaut Christina Koch Breaks Record: “Do What Scares You” She Says

Christina Koch a female astronaut returned to Earth last Thursday after a record-breaking 328 days in space, the longest single spaceflight by a woman.  She did the simple things as soon as she arrived home, like reuniting with her dog, eating her favorite foods and taking a family trip to the beach, Koch said during a press conference Wednesday.

“After 328 days in space, the first six days back on Earth were full of just as much wonder and excitement,” she said. “We all live on a wonderful planet and it’s great to be back.”
Koch described the joy of seeing so many people again and feeling her body reacclimate as “her mind [wakes] up to sensory experiences that define Earth.”
Apart from regaining her balance and getting used to walking again, Koch has been lucky. Unlike previous astronauts who returned from long-duration spaceflight missions, Koch didn’t experience motion sickness. Muscle aches are normal, and she felt a few in her neck — something she compared to a two-week-old working hard to hold up her head after floating in microgravity for close to a year.
She received advice from astronauts Scott Kelly and Peggy Whitson, who also hold records for long spaceflights (Koch has surpassed Whitson’s record of 288 days). They told her to pace herself and do what she loved. Long missions on the space station are “an ultra-marathon, not a marathon,” they’re fond of saying.

Astronaut Christina Koch spent a record-breaking 328 days in space. Here's what she did

Astronaut Christina Koch spent a record-breaking 328 days in space. Here’s what she did-did-CNN
Mentally, Koch decided to focus on the fact that her time on the station was special. So rather than focusing on the things she missed from Earth, Koch thought about the things she’d never have again once her mission was over. This “mental cheerleading” allowed Koch to put positive messages on repeat in her head, she said.
But Koch adjusted well to space initially. One of her favorite moments was when they arrived at the space station. “I regarded it as this amazing place, my new home for the next year,” Koch said. “Something I had trained for so long had come to life.”
It only took three months for Koch to feel like the space station was home, and replacing her routine from Earth with the unusual aspects of microgravity became normal. She forgot she was floating until a new crew would arrive, because they were so excited about experiencing the sensation.
When it was time to come home, Koch’s personal effects making the return trip all fit in a shoebox — mainly mementos donated by friends and family members that she was excited to give back with a new memory attached to their sentiment.
Koch’s message to young people who aspire to be astronauts is to “follow your passions, live the life you’ve imagined and do what scares you.”

Christina Koch just set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman

Christina Koch just set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman
Koch herself knew she wanted to be an astronaut at five years old — but she also knew the chances of becoming one were low. She began with a single-minded goal, but when she went to Space Camp and learned about the process for becoming an astronaut, she made a key decision.
“I wasn’t going to live according to a checklist,” Koch said. “If the experience I gained would allow me to contribute in a great way to the space program, only then would I apply.”

After an historic all-female spacewalk, astronaut has moon dream

After an historic all-female spacewalk, astronaut has moon dream
Koch pursued other passions, like rock-climbing and quitting an engineering job at NASA to pursue work in Antarctica — both of which helped her become a better astronaut, she said.
As far as her records achieved in space — longest spaceflight, and the first three all-female spacewalks — Koch isn’t a stats person who keeps score. To her, the best thing that can happen when a record is set is when someone else breaks it
Koch will never forget how she felt when she saw Earth for the first time. She was in the Soyuz capsule on the six-hour rendezvous with the space station in March 2019, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin. She looked out at Earth and exclaimed, “oh, my goodness.” Then she realized how dangerous that could be without explaining her reaction — because in space, it could mean any number of issues had come up. She clarified, “Everything is OK. It’s just Earth.”
“I looked out the window and there was Earth. It looked brighter and way more real than I imagined it could be,” Koch said. “I realized this was real and that I had left our planet.”
Source CNN
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Benefits Of Sugarcane Juice You Need To Know

Having a fresh sugarcane juice is not just yummy but highly refreshing. The juice is not just another drink, but one of the healthiest drinks that you could lay your hands on. Here are a list of health benefits of sugarcane juice that will put a lot of and artificial energy drinks to behind.

  1. Prevents cancer: Sugarcane juice is alkaline in nature because of the high concentration of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese, which helps prevent diseases like cancer, that cannot survive in an alkaline environment. Thus it helps in fighting various types of cancer such as prostate and breast cancer.
  2. Aids in digestion: It is good for the well-being of the digestive system due to its high potassium levels. It helps in keeping the digestive system in good shape, prevents stomach infections and is considered to be particularly useful in treating the problem of constipation.
  3. Prevents heart diseases: It also prevents heart diseases and stroke as it helps decrease the levels of unhealthy or cholesterol and triglycerides.
  4. Helps in reducing weight: As sugarcane juice reduces the bad cholesterol levels in the body and has natural sugars, it helps in reducing weight. It is high in soluble fibre which aids in shedding weight.
  5. Good for treating diabetes: Sugarcane is sweet in taste and is full of natural sweeteners, which have a low gylcemic index (GI), hence it works very well for diabetic patients.
  6. Clears skin imperfections: When it comes to healthy skin, Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) which are part of the natural constituents of sugarcane juice, are supposed to have a lot of benefits. They fight acne, reduce blemishes, prevent ageing and help in keeping the skin hydrated. Just apply sugarcane juice to your skin and let it dry or add it to your favourite face mask and scrub, and your skin will look radiant and clean.

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Why Minority Women Now Control Almost Half Of All Women-Running Businesses In America

 A Snapchat changed Vandra Caldwell‘s life.

Last year, her friend Trishona Helm was visiting L.A. from their native Omaha and snapped Caldwell a picture of rolled ice cream–which is rolls of ice cream placed vertically in a cup, finished off with various sweet toppings.

In August, they invested $10,000 of their savings and a $30,000 loan into launching Mixins Rolled Ice Cream in downtown Omaha. By the end of October, the business had generated $100,000 in sales–and Caldwell is already planning to create a rooftop ice cream bar at Mixins next summer as well as mulling franchising the business.

Caldwell has a lot of company: Nearly 63 percent of women financed their businesses from their own savings, according to the 2018 State of Women and Entrepreneurship survey of 279 women. Compare that to versus 43 percent of surveyed Inc. 5000 CEOs.

Caldwell, a 25-year-old biracial single mother with three kids, previously worked at a news station and childcare learning center. She sees her business as a means to provide a better life for her kids, even as it forces her to juggle competing demands. One vivid memory for Caldwell is signing the loan before going straight into labor the next day.

Her parents would help take care of the kids. But that meant she couldn’t see her children for more than a few days at a time–and would often turn to her business partner for a shoulder to cry on. In this, too, Caldwell isn’t alone. Spending time away from family is one of the biggest sacrifices female founders cited in our survey.

“I’m just trying to make a sacrifice now,” she says. “I’m trying to make a better life for them in the future.”

The face of female entrepreneurship is becoming a lot less white. Minority women control 44 percent of women-owned businesses in the United States, up from 20 percent in 1997, according to Census data and projections by research firm Womenable–even though “there’s this notion that we don’t exist,” says Esosa Ighodaro, founder of the social media shopping app CoSign and the networking organization Black Women Talk Tech. “Entrepreneurship is very lonely and even lonelier in minority communities.”

Even so, minority women are starting up businesses at much a faster rate than their white counterparts. While the number of white women-owned businesses grew 40 percent from 1997 to 2016, those owned by black and Hispanic women showed much higher growth rates at 518 percent and 452 percent, respectively, according to the analyzed data.

Researchers attribute this burst of entrepreneurial activity to both educational progress and economic necessity. “Women have been taking control, frankly, for centuries,” says Kathy McShane of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership. “But now we’re talking about it.”

But one of the biggest hurdles women–particularly, minority women–continue to face is “access to capital,” says Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Part of it has to do with the industry in which women are founding businesses. According to a 2016 report from the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the majority of women-owned businesses are in the service industry.

Men still get the vast majority of venture capital–only 2 percent of all VC funding goes to U.S.-based female-only founder teams, according to PitchBook. But an uptick in female-focused funds is “encouraging women of color to enter the field,” says Miriam Rivera, co-founder of Palo Alto, California-based Ulu Ventures. She says that more women-led VC firms have become more public about their portfolios having larger percentages of women CEOs. According to our survey, 38 percent of the women who raised money sought out female investors; they cited female investors’ better understanding of their target market as a key reason.

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