“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 t… - Jennifer Riria

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.

Women in Africa do not need charity to finance the issue. Control of the resources that they create is the issue, and respect in the financial sector is the issue.

“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."