Meet – Dr. Dambisa Moyo, inspirational and trailblazing Zambian born Global Economist, Investor, Author, Speaker, World Traveler and Marathon Runner.
She is a well respected pre-eminent thinker, who influences key decision-makers in strategic investment and public policy.
Dr. Dambisa Felicia Moyo
She has earned a strong reputation as a top-tier opinion former and trusted advisor on Macroeconomics, Geopolitics, Technology and Millennial themes.
She is a Board member of 3M and Chevron.
Dr. Dambisa Moyo holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics from the University of Oxford, a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University, MBA and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry & Finance from American University.
She is recognized for fresh and innovative ideas as the Author of four (4) New York Times Bestselling Books: 1. Edge of Chaos,
2. Winner Take All
3. How the West Was Lost and Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working
Dr Dambisa Moyo is a world leading economist and one of the most influential people in the world, as named by Forbes.
She analyses macroeconomy and international affairs and proposes economic and social solutions to some of the biggest issues facing our global economy today.
Nothing beats the power of a black woman. Today at Women of Rubies, we have curated inspirational black women quotes from authors, actresses, activists, and more to help you go through your week.
A black woman’s wisdom is endless. This collection is a fraction of it, featuring quotes from insightful, powerful, and beautiful black women. We hope to inspire you during your day whether you are powering through a workday or enjoying a much-needed self-care day.
Whether you choose to scribble your favorite quote in your journal or repost the quote on Instagram, be sure to record your favorites for any time you need a quick motivation to help you go through a rough moment.
So, here we go:
A reminder that you should not settle for less. “Do not settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.” – Angela Bassett
Silence negativity. “There’s always something to suggest that you’ll never be who you wanted to be. Your choice is to take it or keep on moving.” — Phylicia Rashad
About Failure… “You will be wounded many times in your life. You’ll make mistakes. Some people will call them failures but I have learned that failure is really God’s way of saying, “Excuse me, you’re moving in the wrong direction.” It’s just an experience, just an experience.” – Oprah Winfrey
Being Courageous… “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” – Michelle Obama
Risks Are Worth Taking… “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” – Simone Biles
Follow your heart… Don’t settle… “I have always believed that when you follow your heart or your gut, when you really follow the things that feel great to you, you can never lose, because settling is the worst feeling in the world.” – Rihanna
Be relentless… “There have been so many people who have said to me, ‘You can’t do that,’ but I’ve had an innate belief that they were wrong. Be unwavering and relentless in your approach.” – Halle Berry
Let your passion blaze… “Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your goal.” — Ava DuVernay
Place premium value on what you do… “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” ― Oprah Winfrey
You are limitless! “Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.” — Dr. Mae Jemison
Make things happen… You can and you should! “You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.” — Diana Ross
No matter how you define success, self-acceptance is crucial to achieving it. Whether you are on the starting line or half-way through your journey towards self-acceptance, remember that you are not walking alone. Many of the black women featured above have traveled through their own journeys and re-emerged a happier person.
Just give yourself time. Soon, you will reach those personal goals. If you know someone who’s on a similar journey, share with them one of the above quotes through their social media page. Sometimes, all we need is an extra push to keep going.
I hope you find strength and courage to stay afloat this week and beyond.
Tolu Adeleke-Aire is the CEO and founder of ToluTheMidwife. She is an internationally trained, dual-qualified healthcare professional. Tolu is an accomplished senior midwife and nurse. Tolu has over ten years of clinical and management experience.
She completed an MSc in Healthcare Management, after which she worked with the reputable UCL (Department of Nutrition).
Tolu founded ToluTheMidwife to create a holistic experience for families. One that included preparing, supporting and empowering expectant parents as they transition to parenthood. She does this through evidence-based health education.
One parent at a time, Tolu is living her business mantra, “save a mother, save a child, save a community.”
Tolu is a dual certified Nurse and Midwife with over ten years nursing and midwifery experience from hospitals in England and Guernsey. She has cared for and delivered over 1000 mothers and babies.
While still working in England, Tolu visited Nigeria often because she always wanted to move back. During one of these visits, she read an article about the atrocious maternal and neonatal mortality rates. She instantly became obsessed. She struggled to understand why so many women die just because they are having a baby. Upon further research, she discovered many women lack basic evidence-based health education. As a result, she created Tolu the Midwife to fill this gap, with the hopes of saving mothers, babies, and communities.
Prior to relocating to Nigeria, Tolu completed an MSc in Healthcare Management and worked with the University College, London (Department of Nutrition) as a (Band 8) Research Midwife studying breastmilk, the nutrients within and factors which affect and contribute to mothers achieving their breastfeeding goals.
Tolu has a B.Sc in Registered Nursing from Middlesex University and another in Midwifery from the University of Hertfordshire.
In a bid to provide holistic care and support, Tolu also started antenatal classes just for men, #DadsAntenatalNg. Also, upon her return to Nigeria, Tolu was shocked and heartbroken to discover new mothers in Nigeria barely have any professional postnatal support, she decided to host a postnatal support group – Mums & Bubs Brunch.
In 2019, Tolu won the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award for Nursing and Midwifery Excellence.
We celebrate Tolu for her contribution to reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in Nigeria through her holistic system.
was sworn in as Tanzania’s president at State House in Dar es Salaam on Friday, making history as the first woman to hold the top job in the East African country.
The 61-year-old’s inauguration comes two days after she announced the passing of President John Magufili
Born in Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago, in 1960, Hassan went to primary school and secondary school at a time when very few girls in Tanzania were getting educations as parents thought a woman’s place was that of wife and homemaker.
Tanzania’s new president Samia Suluhu Hassan signs a book of condolences for former president John Magufuli.Anthony Siame/EPA-EFE/Shuttersto
After graduating from secondary school in 1977, Hassan studied statistics and started working for the government, in the Ministry of Planning and Development. She worked for a World Food Program project in Tanzania in 1992 and then attended the University of Manchester in London to earn a postgraduate diploma in economics. In 2005, she earned a master’s degree in community economic development through a joint program between the Open University of Tanzania and Southern New Hampshire University in the U.S.
Hassan went into politics in 2000 when she became a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives. In 2010, she won the Makunduchi parliamentary seat with more than 80% percent of the vote. She was appointed a Cabinet minister in 2014 and became vice-chairperson of the Constituent Assembly that drafted a new constitution for Tanzania, a role in which she won respect for deftly handling several challenges.
In 2015, Magufuli selected Suluhu Hassan as his running mate — a surprise choice over many more prominent members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
Suluhu Hassan is also the country’s first president born in semi-autonomous Zanzibar. She attended school at a time when very few Tanzanian girls were offered the opportunity of an education outside the traditional roles of wife and homemaker. She is also a practicing Muslim.
Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi said the significance of her background should not be underestimated in the context of Tanzanian politics.
In 1978, Suluhu married Hafidh Ameir, at present a retired agricultural officer. They have four children. Her daughter Mwanu Hafidh Ameir (born 1982), the couple’s second child, is a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives.
‘Time to stand together’
In her first public address as president, Suluhu Hassan — who is affectionately known as Mama Samia — said it was a difficult day in her political career.
“Today I have taken an oath different from the rest that I have taken in my career,” she said. “Those were taken in happiness. Today I took the highest oath of office in mourning.”
However she assured Tanzanians that Magufuli, “who always liked teaching,” had prepared her for the task ahead and encouraged national unity.
“This is the time to stand together and get connected,” she said. “It’s time to bury our differences and show love to one another and look forward with confidence.”
Suluhu Hassan will complete Magufuli’s second five-year term in office, which began in October 2020 after he won general elections. Hassan also announced 21 days of mourning for the former President as well as public holidays on March 22 and March 25, when Magufuli is due to be buried.
Forever First Lady Michelle Obama is being inducted into the U.S. National Women’s Hall of Fame
The organization released a statement announcing the induction, noting Obama’s influence as the first Black First Lady and her tireless advocacy for women and girls. During her two terms in the White House, Obama established Let’s Move!, an organization centered around ending childhood obesity, the Joining Forces organization supporting veterans, and Let Girls Learn, which supported the education of adolescent girls.
— NATIONAL WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME (@WOMENOFTHEHALL) MARCH 8, 2021
In addition to her humanitarian work, Obama also released ”Becoming,” the best-selling memoir in 2018, and won the 2020 Grammy for Best Spoken Word album.
The National Women’s Hall of Fame said Obama’s induction was due to her being an, “Advocate, author, lawyer, and 44th First Lady of the United States – the first Black person to serve in the role – Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most influential and iconic women of the 21st century. During her eight years as First Lady, Michelle Obama helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, transforming the White House into the ‘People’s House.’ Since leaving the White House, she has continued to have a profound public impact.”
Obama is set to be inducted alongside the late iconic science fiction author Octavia E. Butler and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who are both receiving posthumous inductions.
CELEBRATING #WOMENSHISTORYMONTH
TODAY WE CELEBRATE MICHELLE OBAMA, THE FORMER US FIRST LADY.
SHE WILL BE INDUCTED INTO THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME IN OCTOBER. CONGRATULATIONS! PIC.TWITTER.COM/OE7UJOSLS5
— BLACK BODY HEALTH (@BLACKBODYHEALTH) MARCH 9, 2021
The U.S. National Women’s Hall of Fame ceremony will take place in person on October 2, 2021, at the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.
Brehanna Daniels has made history as the first Black woman in NASCAR’s pit crew as a tire changer.
27-year-old Daniels never envisioned a career in NASCAR racing, much less as a pit crew member. During her senior year of college at Norfolk State University, a random chance allowed her to try out for the pit crew, and she’s been in love ever since.
“I was sitting in the cafeteria, mid-bite of my Chick-fil-A sandwich, when my friend from the school’s athletic department, Tiffany, tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, NASCAR is holding tryouts for their pit crews on Wednesday, you should go.’ I looked at her like, ‘Girl, I don’t even watch NASCAR,’” Daniels recalled.
A basketball point guard, Daniels pursued the opportunity, eventually being invited to join NASCAR’s pit crew member program after graduating in 2016. Her mere presence marked a shift for the historically white male sport. Out of almost 3,000 NASCAR drivers who have made it to the Cup level, only 16 have been women. It wasn’t even until 2013 that NASCAR got its first woman as a pit crew member. In 2017, Daniels made history as the first Black woman to work the pit crew for a NASCAR race, and in 2019 she became the first Black woman to work the pit crew for the Daytona 500 race.
“God couldn’t have picked anybody else better to do the job. It takes a strong person to be able to make that change…knowing the history of NASCAR and the faces people are used to seeing on the track. Even though I was a little nervous at first because I didn’t know how I would be judged or looked at, I’m like, ‘You know what? Somebody has to do this, and I guess I’m going to be the one to do this,” Daniels told reporters.
On February 14th and 15th, Daniels worked the 63rd annual Daytona 500, making history as one of just three women working for the pit crew alongside Breanna O’Leary and Dalanda Ouendeno. Only five years into a historic run, Daniels is already reflecting on the weight of her presence in the sport.
“At first, I think a lot of people were like, ‘She’s not doing it for real; she’s just here for show.’ But obviously, I got sent to the track to do my job, and I can do it well; otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten here,” Daniels said.
Nigerian Comedienne Emmanuella has won Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Award 2021, for Favourite African Social Media Star. She posted this on her Instagram handle, and thanked her family and fans for their massive support.
She wrote:
“Congratulations to me as I won the Favourite African Social Media Star category at the Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2021.
I am so happy to be a winner, thank you! To all my fans out there, I say thank you.
To all those who voted for me, I love you so much, this win would not have been possible without you.”
She was nominated alongside Nigerian comedy group, Ikorodu Bois, South African Magician, Wian Van Den Berg; Ugandan Youth Dance Group, Ghetto Kids, Kenyan social media sensation, Elsa Majimbo, and South African media personality, Bonang Matheba.
The Awards ceremony hosted by Kenan Thompson (Kenan, Saturday Night Live), the KCAs featured show-stopping performances by the talented Justin Bieber. He took the stage to sing hit songs “Intentions” with Quavo, “Anyone” and “Hold On.”
He leads the pack with five nominations this year, winning two.
Emmanuella was just five years old and on a family holiday when she partook in a comedy skit that would shoot her to stardom and win her four international awards.
In the skit titled, “My Real Face,” she deformed her face to avoid the wrath of the headmistress and her daughter.
Her catchphrase “This Is Not My Real Face Oh” quickly became household slang and a source of fascination for the kid whose actions and words defied her age.
Emmanuella’s daring yet hilarious actions evoked laughter and curiosity as to who the little girl was.
The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, also known as the KCAs or Kids’ Choice, is an annual American children’s awards ceremony show that is produced by Nickelodeon.
The show honours the year’s biggest television, movie, and music acts as voted by viewers worldwide on Nickelodeon networks.
Winners received a hollow orange blimp figurine, a logo outline for much of the network’s 1984–2009 era, which also functions as a kaleidoscope. (NAN)
London photographer Nadine Ijewere just made history as the first Black woman to shoot a cover for American Vogue
Ijewere is no stranger to firsts; she was also the first woman of color to shoot a British Vogue cover in 2018. When speaking to the cut magazine about the lack of diversity in the industry she said, “When I was studying, there were virtually no female photographers of colour…I feel like in doing this I’m proving to younger girls from a similar background that it’s achievable. It also feels like part of a broader shift within our culture to include far more diversity, both behind the camera and in front of it.”
The Jamaican-Nigerian photographer worked with fellow trailblazer, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who served as stylist and fashion editor for this historic cover. In January 2021, Karefa-Johnson made history as the first Black woman to style a Vogue cover. As she continues to break down walls, Ijewere hopes her work will pave the way for more Black women in a historically male-dominated industry.
“As a young Black woman, I didn’t imagine that I would one day have the opportunity to shoot a cover for American Vogue. I’m so honored to have been able to work with my fellow sister Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. I hope this encourages Black women that there is space for us to take in this industry,” the 29-year-old said.
Habiba Ali, the founder/CEO of Sosai Renewable Energies Company, a social enterprise set up to meet the energy needs of rural communities. The company strives to promote the use of affordable and reliable renewable energy products that improve rural livelihoods.
Habiba wanted to solve the problems associated with indoor air pollution especially with women, some facing inefficient fires constantly inhaling an equivalent of 2 packs of cigarettes, that’s why she founded Sosai Renewable Energies Company.
The company, based in Kaduna, Nigeria, provides renewable energy products like solar lamps, water purifiers and solar panels, as well as improved cooking stoves. The company also provides energy consulting services to help bring clean, renewable energy solutions to Nigeria’s budding communities.
In its effort to to have successful women energy entrepreneurs in every community in the North, Habiba established the Matan Arewan Sosai (Women of the North for Excellence) platform with a mission to strengthen the capacity of women in northern Nigeria on the production, sales, service and installation of renewable energy products, empowering them to contribute their quota to support their families and ensure progress towards the sustainable development goals.
Habiba also co-founded the Developmental Association for Renewable Energies (DARE), and is a member of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air and the Nigerian Energy Network.
Habiba is a 2019 Global Leadership Honoree, 2018 WE Empower Honoree (addressing Sustainable Development Goals 1 (no poverty), 7 (affordable and clean energy) and 10 (reduced inequality),) a VV GROW Fellow and a Global Ambassador Program Mentee. She’s also won the UNDP/BOI Access to Renewable Energies award in 2012; the United Nations South-South Development award in 2013; the DFID Solar Nigeria award in 2016; and the USADF award for Powering Africa 2017.
Habiba was named a Cherie Blaire mentee in 2016 and is a graduate of the Cherie Blaire Road to Business Growth program. She has also been named a Vital Voices GROW fellow, a Vital Voices Global Ambassador’s Program mentee and a World Bank WomenX fellow.
Habiba has a bachelors degree in Accounting and Finance from Bayero University, Kano, a masters in the same discipline from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as well as certificates in social entrepreneurship, community development and sustainable development.
We celebrate Habiba for contributing her quota to making clean energy accessible to rural areas, while empowering women in these communities in the process. We’re rooting for her and her team.
Beauty Kumesine, the founding Executive Director of Blazing Heart Autism Center (BHAC), an orgnanisation providing the highest quality therapy for autistic children as well as support for their families.
We cannot deny the fact that caring for kids/people with special needs is a huge task in this part of the world with some people seeing it as a burden due to cultural beliefs, but not Beauty. Since 2007, Beauty has been advocating for individuals living with Autism Spectrum Disorders, giving quality holistic non-evasive interventions.
Beauty had always loved children but she has a deeper connection with children who find it difficult to express themselves or do not “act like” their mates. She decided she wanted to understand them and the reason they do what they do, when they do it and how they do it.
Beauty spent 2 years understanding people living with ASD and qualified as a therapist in that time. Since then, she’s been a voice for kids with special needs and never ceases to advocate and drive conversations around ASD and special needs in Nigeria. She’s the organiser of PortHarcourtWalk4Autism and also plays host to seminars spreading the word about ASD.
Beauty holds a bachelors degree in Human Anatomy from the University of Port Harcourt and an education degree from National Teachers’ Institute, Kaduna, Nigeria. She’s also 2018/19 fellow of LEAP Africa’s Social Innovators Program.
BHAC’s mission is to bring hope and help to individuals on the autism spectrum by ensuring the best possible education through inclusion, care, support and life opportunities for them and we’re proud of what Beauty and her team have achieved so far.
