I’m Headed to DC Today for the ONE AYA Summit!

Hey folks! I’m really excited to be going to DC for the next couple of days for the ONE Campaign’s AYA Summit, co-hosted by Google. I’m part of 75 women and girls who are being brought together from the U.S. and elsewhere for a 2-day summit that focuses on issues facing women and girls in developing countries in Africa.

We’ll be talking about how we can fight and eliminate extreme poverty, covering topics that include health, child birth, trade, technology, jobs, food, activism and more.

Digital influencers and leaders from nonprofits and government with be on hand, as well as people flown in from other continents. The diversity in the room for that conversation to really matter needs to go beyond color to class to cultural background so I’m looking forward to seeing the diversity.

As an African-born woman and as someone who runs a nonprofit that focuses on empowering women and girls about their health and as an activist, I am especially honored to be a part of this. I feel obligated to reach back and pull up, and being a global citizen means trying to be a part of the solutions to the world’s problems.

There’ll be talks and panels and all that good stuff happening, and one of my favorite people Kelly Wickham (@MochaMomma) is on a panel. Many people I love and respect will be there too, including Karen Walrond, Stacey Ferguson, Heather Barmore, Stacy Morrison, Kirsten Howerton, Barbara Jones… The list goes on! It’s gonna be a grand time.

I’ll be sharing my adventures and the happenings on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The hashtag is #AYASummit.

P.S. The conference is called AYA as a nod to one of the Adinkra symbols of Ghana. It’s a fern that represents endurance, resourcefulness and growth.

P.P.S. I might be having a Scandal watch party in my hotel room on Thursday night. Don’t tell my hotel. 😉

Update to my fall travel schedule

I’ll be in New York twice in the next 2 weeks and I won’t be going to Accra, Ghana this December (*wall slide).