Topic: Women's Empowerment

Shiza Shahid

Shiza Shahid is an entrepreneur, investor, technologist, activist, and world-renowned impact leader. She co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and led the organization as founding CEO, focusing on creating access to high quality education for all children around the world.

Shiza is passionate about the future of technology and the powerful impact it can have on people’s lives, and actively invests in startups that have the potential to advance humanity.

A former business analyst with McKinsey & Co, Shiza has her finger on the pulse of economic and technology trends around the globe. In partnership with AngelList, the largest Venture Capital Platform in the world, Shiza launched NOW Ventures through which she invests in mission-driven tech startups that are solving the world’s most pressing challenges through technology, innovation, and high-growth business models. Shiza is also the founder of The Collective, a community of leading entrepreneurs that come together to build collaborative change.

Widely recognized for her humanitarian work and tech innovation, Shiza has receiving many awards as a thought leader. She was named one of TIME's "30 Under 30 People Changing the World," Forbes' "30 Under 30 - Social Entrepreneurs," and a Tribeca Institute Disruptive Innovator. She is a member of the WEF Global Agenda Council and has been featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Fast Company, Elle, Glamour, Town and Country, The Edit, CNN, ABC, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, and others.

A prominent speaker, Shiza has spoken regularly at major international events, including Aspen Ideas Fest, Milken Global Institute, Forbes Women, Fortune Most Powerful Women, Inc Women, Women Moving Millions, the World Economic Forum, and others.

Shiza is also the host of the new USA Today show "ASPIREist," which inspires millennials to take action on the issues that matter most.

Shiza graduated from Stanford University with University Distinction and studied exponential technologies at Singularity University, which is dedicated to applying futuristic innovations to advancing humanity.

Tererai Trent

Dr. Tererai Trent, founder of Tinogona Foundation and inspirational speaker, has touched millions with her story—including Oprah Winfrey, who chose Dr. Trent as her “all-time favorite guest” after 25 years and more than 30,000 guests. Because of her amazing never-give-up attitude and desire to give back to others, Dr. Trent's life is an inspiration and a lesson in perseverance.

Dr. Trent is also featured in Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a New York Times bestseller written by columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

In inspiring keynotes, Tererai Trent passionately commands a room as she talks about the power of dreaming with a purpose, the importance of education, women’s empowerment and the four Ps of women in leadership: power, passion, purpose, and procreation. Her eloquence and rich authenticity leave audiences with a lasting impression of what it means to overcome humble beginnings and to achieve one's dreams.

As a child growing up in a cattle-herding family in rural Zimbabwe, Dr. Trent dreamed of getting an education. Married young and the mother of three by age 18; she was bound to an abusive husband who beat her when she expressed her desire to learn. But Dr. Trent was undeterred. She met Jo Luck, a woman who worked for Heifer International and inspired the young mother with the words, “If you desire your dreams they are achievable.” Without a high school diploma and with only her mother’s encouragement to aim high, Tererai subsequently wrote down her five dreams on a scrap of paper; going to America to achieve a bachelor's, a master’s degree, and a doctorate degree along with the seemingly insurmountable goal of giving back to her community.

Sealed the list of dreams in a tin can, and buried the tin under a rock. In doing so, she became her own dream keeper and broke down the vicious cycle of poverty in her life despite facing incredible odds and many obstacles.

Today, Tererai earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in the United States. Now, through her organization Tinogona, which means “it is achievable” in her native language, she is working to realize the last dream— “giving back to her community by creating educational opportunities for girls and women in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

In partnership with Oprah Winfrey and Save the Children, Dr. Trent is rebuilding 9 schools in her native country and improving learning for more than 4,000 girls and boys.

Currently an adjunct professor in Monitoring & Evaluation in Global Health at Drexel University, School of Public Health, Dr. Trent is a senior consultant with more than 18 years of international experience in program and policy evaluation, and has worked on five continents for major humanitarian organizations. As a fellow at the Center of AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at UC San Francisco, Dr. Trent conducted research on HIV prevention in Sub Saharan Africa with a special focus on women and girls.