Isha Isatu Sesay is a British journalist of Sierra Leonean descent. From 2005 to 2018, she worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN International. Originally based at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. and now based in Los Angeles, California, where she hosted the news programs CNN Newsroom Live from Los Angeles. In addition, she was the presenter of the 360 Bulletin on Anderson Cooper 360°. In 2012, Sesay also joined HLN as a co-anchor for Evening Express. She left CNN in 2018 to support a girl's education project called W.E. Can Lead for African girls, write a book and follow various other personal projects.
CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute is a television special created by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and make a difference in their communities. The program was started in 2007. Since 2016, the program was hosted by Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa. Honorees are introduced during the fall of each year and the audience is encouraged to vote online for the CNN Hero of the Year. Ten recipients are honored and each receive US$10,000. The top recipient is chosen as the CNN Hero of the Year and receives an additional US$100,000 to continue their work. During the broadcast celebrating their achievements, the honorees are introduced by celebrities who actively support their charity work. To celebrate the 10th anniversary, the 2016 edition had an additional segment where five previous Hero of the Year winners were chosen as candidates for the Superhero of the Year award, which was decided with an online poll.
Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, in the UK in May 2010. Shoneyin has forged a reputation as an adventurous, humorous and outspoken poet, having published three volumes of poetry. Her writing delves into themes related to female sexuality and the difficulties of domestic life in Africa. In April 2014 she was named on the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Lola won the PEN Award in America as well as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Award for prose in Nigeria. She was also on the list for the Orange Prize in the UK for her debut novel, The Secret of Baba Segi's Wives, in 2010. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where she runs the annual Aké Arts and Book Festival. In 2017, she was named African Literary Person of the Year by Brittle Paper.
Pushpa Basnet was born in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1984, and is a social worker and the founder/president of Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) and Butterfly Home, non-profit organizations, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Her organization works to strengthen the rights of children living behind bars with their incarcerated parents.
Marieme Jamme is a Senegalese-born French-British businesswoman and technology activist. In 2016 she founded the iamtheCODE Foundation and served on the World Wide Web Foundation board. In 2017, Quartz Africa included Jamme in their "Quartz Africa Innovators 2017" list. In 2013 she was nominated as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum. In 2017, she won the Innovation Award at the Global Goals Award as a Goalkeepers for her work in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, curated by UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for globally supporting girls and young women and advancing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. That same year, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
Regina Honu, is a Ghanaian social entrepreneur, software developer and founder of Soronko Solutions, a software development company in Ghana. She opened Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa. Honu has received multiple awards, including being named by CNN as one of the 12 inspirational women who rock STEM. She was also named as one of the six women making an impact in Tech in Africa and one of the ten female entrepreneurs to watch in emerging economies.
Amina Temitope Ajayi is a United States-based Nigerian business consultant who is an accountant by training, a social entrepreneur and an ardent community activist. Temitope Ajayi was the former President of All Nigerian American Congress (ANAC). Her efforts and continued advocacy on the Nigerian Diaspora issues have earned her in the media the moniker "Mama Diaspora".
Theo Sowa CBE is a Ghanaian-born independent adviser working on a wide range of international issues with a focus on social development issues and has spoken publicly on a number of socio-political issues. She has worked with a number of organisations, including UNICEF, Stephen Lewis Foundation, the African Union, DfID, and UNDP, among others, and is currently CEO of the African Women's Development Fund. Her work has included working with Graça Machel on issues pertaining to the youth as well as contributing and editing a number of publications. Sowa is also a trustee of Comic Relief. In June 2010, Sowa was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Dr. Abayomi Ajayi is a Nigerian obstetrician/gynecologist.
Oreoluwa Somolu Lesi is a Nigerian social entrepreneur and UK-trained economist and information technology expert. She is the founder and executive director of Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), a non-profit organisation that empowers women and girls socially and economically through education in Information technology. W.TEC was established in the year 2008. She is a fellow of Ashoka and a recipient of the Anita Borg Institute (ABIE) Change Agent Award.
Rabia Salihu Sa'id is a Nigerian physicist, professor of atmospheric and space-weather physics, and a researcher at Bayero University Kano. She conducts research in atmospheric and space weather physics, particle physics, and electronics. Sa'id is an advocate and mentor for young women in science with the Visiola Foundation and Peace Corps; she co-founded Nigeria's Association of Women Physicists. She is an advocate and mentor of Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and is a facilitator for the British Council's Active Citizens' Programme.
Unoma Ndili Okorafor is a Nigerian computer scientist and entrepreneur. Okorafor founded Working to Advance African Women, a non-profit that supports the education of African women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in 2007. She is the chief executive officer at Herbal Goodness and Fairview Data Technologies. She is the fifth child of Frank Nwachukwu Ndili, the first Nigerian nuclear physicist and the 7th Vice-Chancellor (President) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Njideka Françoise Harry is a World Economic Forum Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Fellow.
GirlForward is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2011 by Blair Brettschneider. It is dedicated to empowering refugee girls aged 12 to 21 from over 40 different countries, who have resettled in areas around Chicago, Illinois, and Austin, Texas. GirlForward uses three core programs to assist refugee girls: the Mentoring Program, the Education Program and the Safe Spaces Program. All three provide English language instruction, financial literacy, and opportunities to meet friends and role models in the community. GirlForward also provides tutoring and mentors to guide the girls throughout their schooling.
ELOY Awards is an award for women excelling in their field of work. It was established by Tewa Onasanya in 2009.
ACE Charity is a non-profit organization located in Nigeria"It focuses on educating and training children, providing affordable healthcare, and to generate economic empowerment in the country. It has implemented development and humanitarian interventions aimed at improving the living conditions of orphans, and vulnerable children and women in Nigeria," praised BellaNaija, a lifestyle and entertainment website. It aims to provide quality education for underprivileged people all over Africa starting with Nigeria.
Osayi Alile is a Nigerian entrepreneur, an executive human development officer, a core professional and published columnist. In the course of her work in various roles, she has been active in entrepreneurship, education, youth development, and public leadership. She currently serves as the chief executive officer of the Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation, also known as ACT Foundation, and the co-administrator of CACOVID. Osayi is a member of the African Leadership Network, The Future Awards Africa, and was the CSR Consultant at Access Bank Plc.
Rehmah Kasule is a Ugandan social entrepreneur, public speaker and author. She is the founder of CEDA International a non-profit organization in Uganda.
Veasna Chea Leth is a lawyer from Cambodia, who was the first female law student at the Royal University of Law and Economics. During her studies in the 1990s she lived in an underground space under the university due to the lack of female dormitories. During her work as a lawyer she raised awareness of the issues that Cambodian women face in accessing university education, due to a lack of appropriate accommodation. This led to the author Alan Lightman establishing the Harpswell Foundation to support women, of which she is an Honorary Board Member.
Osasu Edobor is a Nigerian gender advocate and founder of Think Help Restore (THR) Media and the Safe Space Initiative. She is a licensed mental health first-aider, peer educator trainer, and counselor. As a campaigner for gender inclusion, Osasu created the HERFessions app, which provides support for survivors of sexual abuse. She is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow alumna and a Young African Leaders Initiative member.
