Jennifer Riria Quotes

Kenyan business woman, corporate executive, banker and academic

Jennifer Riria is a Kenyan businesswoman, corporate executive, banker, and academic who serves as the group chief executive officer of Kenya Women Holding Group, a microfinance, banking and insurance group serving nearly one million mostly rural Kenyan women.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for ALL.

There are many poor people in Africa and the majority of them are women. We chose to work with women because they are the mainstay of the economy. We want women to transform the way the world works for them and their families. You cannot transform it for them but you can build their capacity to transform their own lives. That is what is sustainable.

I think one of the things that women suffer from is talking about themselves... We grow up to serve and never to think about ourselves. Women are the last to admit their accomplishments.

“At the end of the day, a leader knows it is not about them but rather about the people you empower, and it is not about what you get from the organisation but more importantly what you give to the organization, the legacy that you leave behind."

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others.

I am a visionary leader. I like to work with people because I believe that I can't do it alone. I am committed, consistent and I have the Lord in me.

You don't have to know everything for you to embark on a task; you can take up the role, learn on the job, and seek knowledge, support, and advice from those around you. That is what I did.

I was the loan officer; I was the accountant; I was the auditor, I was everything. But I knew what poverty means; I knew what hunger means; I knew these women.

The woman is the core. She holds us up. It is essential to support women, if we want to make a difference.

I watched my mother and other women in the village operate as donkeys. They would carry on their backs firewood, bananas, a bag of other stuff and a baby. I saw them get abused, beaten and work 24 hours a day” “I remember kneeling by my bedside every night asking God to send me far away from this environment.

“The woman is the core. She holds us up. In Africa, you just have to deal with the issues that affect the productivity of women. They bring food to the table. They bring education to the household. They bring medical care in the household... It is essential to support women, if we want to make a difference, if we want to transform the way the world works, for them and their families."

Women disproportionately face financial access barriers that prevent them from participating in the economy and from improving their lives.

I kept stumbling and falling and stumbling and falling as I searched for the good. 'Why?' I asked myself. Now I believe that I was on the right path all along, particularly with the Green Belt Movement, but then others told me that I shouldn't have a career, that I shouldn't raise my voice, that women are supposed to have a master. That I needed to be someone else. Finally I was able to see that if I had a contribution I wanted to make, I must do it, despite what others said. That I was OK the way I was. That it was all right to be strong.

“We have proven women are bankable. That you can invest in women and they can be trusted to pay back and grow their business."

People should not become leaders so they can be worshipped by the people, but so that they can truly serve the people with commitment and with sincerity.

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